Sports Biz

Published: Friday, 17 Jul 2009 | 9:58 AM ET

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Last night, we told you that Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade was on the cusp of switching from the Converse to the Jordan brand.

This morning that move will become official.

From a business standpoint, the two brands operate independently, which was spelled out by Wade himself.

"I didn't want to be in the Converse brand anymore because it seemed like they didn't know what to do with me," Wade told The AP. Wade also told AP that he wanted to go global, so this was something he had to do.

The natural question here is if Nike

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[NKE  Loading...      ()   ] thought it was important to grow the Converse basketball business, which Wade at one point had helped them to do, why wouldn't it devote resources to making sure Wade stayed on the brand? Nike has a great reputation as a company in part because they are good at switching roles of top insiders to help out weaker businesses.

And then comes the essential question to ask Wade, who obviously idolized Jordan growing up in Chicago. Wade says that he's making this move to build his brand, but wasn't it easier to build a brand with a company backed by Nike that already had you as the face of that brand? How is jumping to Jordan the solution? The face of that brand is obviously Jordan. Not to mention the fact that he'll have to share the spotlight with Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul.

Nike obviously supports this move and thinks it will be better for their business. Internal budgets for Jordan line - which dominates the basketball shoe category - are obviously much bigger than they are for Converse. And it's understandable to see that Converse, with its retro brand possibilities and lower price point, doesn't necessarily need a high powered endorser to make it sell.

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