Fresh off signing a five-year contract extension with the Bulls worth nearly $95 million, Derrick Rose is said to be closing in on another lucrative deal.
Actually?
Lucrative is seriously underselling it based on the figures dribbling in to us.
One industry source insisted to ESPN.com this week that Rose's new shoe deal with adidas will easily crack nine figures and could legitimately approach the $250 million range -- as in $25 million annually over a 10-year span -- in what is known in the shoe game as a "lifetime" deal.
How can the reigning MVP possibly command those kind of dollars as a shoe endorser? Here's how: Rose, as it was explained to me, is adidas' only counter to Kobe Bryant in China. I'm told Rose already outsells LeBron James there.