The new deal, negotiated by Innovate Sports Group, is expected to place Ayton among the league’s top-3 highest paid athletic brand endorsers at the center position. While Puma has been finding its footing in the hoop space after a nearly two-decade hiatus from landing any NBA endorsers, Ayton has long had an affinity and familiarity with the company. “Growing up in the Bahamas, the first brand really that I wore was Puma. That’s all we saw was Puma,” he said. “A guy like Usain Bolt, who I looked up to as a star of the Caribbean and the face of the Caribbean when it comes to sports, that’s the only thing that he was reppin’. Puma was everywhere.”