Dinwiddie tried to pay millions to sponsor Wizards jerseys originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Monday’s media day gave Spencer Dinwiddie his first opportunity to hold a press conference wearing his new Wizards jersey after signing with them last offseason. If he had it his way, there would have been a patch below the left shoulder promoting the cryptocurrency app he has invested in called Calaxy.
Dinwiddie insists he tried to sponsor the Wizards’ jerseys now that they have an opening following the expiration of their deal with Geico. He says the NBA denied his request due to rules preventing players from entering business relationships with owners due to conflict of interest.
“I wanted my company Calaxy to buy the jersey patch and do the partnership, but the NBA has rules against guys not having business deals with ownership and teams and that stuff. I thought it was a complete crock of BS because, like really, I would have paid full price for it,” Dinwiddie said.
“They were I think selling it for like $12 million or something like that. Like, bro I would pay that. Can I just put my jersey patch? That would be so baller, like, come to a new team [near] Capitol Hill, in a new jersey with a crypto patch on the jersey. But they shot that down, so the NBA be hatin’.”
Whether the money would have come from Dinwiddie’s salary or the company’s profits is unclear. He is due to make $17.1 million this upcoming season, so that would take away a majority of it.
The sponsorship, though, is more about advertising and exposure. Clearly, Dinwiddie’s looking for ways to get the word out about his product.
In previous interviews, Dinwiddie has suggested he might lobby some politicians on his cryptocurrency cause now that he’s playing in Washington, but on Monday he said basketball will come first.
“If we do our job, if we get Brad to sign the supermax, if we make the playoffs then, yeah, maybe I’ll go talk to [President Joe] Biden,” Dinwiddie said.
Well, Biden did technically come to a Wizards playoff game in 2017. Maybe if the Wizards make the postseason, they can catch up there.
