New Balance before signing Leonard in November was looking for "uncommon personalities" in sportPATRICK CASSIDY
A New Balance billboard in downtown Toronto featuring Kawhi Leonard and the tagline "Fun Guy" is "capitalizing on what began as an inadvertently funny line from Leonard at his introductory news conference" with the Raptors, according to Lori Ewing of the CP. The billboard is 10 stories high at Yonge-Dundas Square, and in it Leonard has his "arms crossed" and a "serious face." Leonard's "fun guy" moniker "exploded into a meme" shortly after he uttered the phrase last September. It has since been embraced by Raptors fans who have "fallen in love with the quiet superstar." New Balance before signing Leonard in November was "looking for uncommon personalities in sport," and they "got one." New Balance Global Dir of Consumer Marketing Patrick Cassidy said of Leonard, "He’s in on the conversation without having to actually be replying to comments from people on Twitter … burner accounts, etc." Ewing noted Leonard "raised eyebrows when he signed with New Balance." But when his limited edition New Balance OMN1S & 997 Sport pack dropped during the Raptors’ series against the 76ers, they "sold out in minutes." Leonard’s "wide-mouthed smile after his Game 7 buzzer-beater was like money in the bank for New Balance." The brand when negotiating with Leonard liked his "desire to have creative input and share ideas" (CP, 5/21).
NEWS KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Jason Gay wrote basketball fans' "new favorite show needs to be 'Giannis & Kawhi,'" as the two players are "going to be in your life for a long, long time." LeBron James' departure from the Eastern Conference "opened the door to regime change, and this is where" Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo and Leonard "come in." Antetokounmpo and Leonard "are ascending." Gay: "It’s really fun to see; I loved LeBron, but I don’t miss him, at least not here, because the East is a lot more unpredictable." The Bucks-Raptors Eastern Conference Finals series is "new, interesting and a refreshing break from what had been the same old, same old" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/21).
