The sports apparel industry is as cutthroat as it gets, and Nike (NYSE: NKE) reigns supreme in almost every major sport in the United States. The National Basketball Association is no exception, with Nike stating it controls 95% of the U.S. Basketball shoe market.

It’s no surprise, then, that top NBA players have been given mega endorsement deals to tie their brand back to Nike. Kevin Durant recently closed a deal with Nike for $300 million over the next ten years (yes, just to wear their shoes and appear in commercials). LeBron James, earns an estimated $20 million per year with his endorsement deal from Nike, and Kobe Bryant receives around $15 million a year under his current contract with the market leader.

Playing catch up

With Nike handing out so much money, it’s been difficult for competitors to shell out enough for endorsement deals to get NBA superstars to be brand ambassadors for their products. Adidas (XETRA:ADS) (ADDYY) best endorsement deal up to this point has been Derrick Rose, who earns $14.25 million a year from the company from their endorsement deal. The problem? Rose has been out for most of the past few years rehabbing from several knee surgeries.

So to try to get back on the radar, Adidas has struck again, luring away NBA superstar James Harden from Nike. The deal is one of the most lucrative in the NBA — $200 million over the next 13 years, with bonuses for hitting certain performance benchmarks — with Harden potentially earning more from his shoe deal than his NBA contract with the Houston Rockets, depending on if he reaches certain performance milestones.

This is a huge win for Adidas, considering their previous problems. We’ve already mentioned Rose, but that’s not all. Signature shoes with John Wall and Damian Lillard have also fallen flat, resulting in the company being surpassed by Under Armour as the second-biggest apparel seller behind Nike.

In fact, according to market retail tracking firm SportsScanInfo, Adidas sold fewer shoes in the first half of 2015 in the United States than Skechers and New Balance. It also didn’t help that Adidas chose not to renew a deal with the NBA to be the official outfitter of the league, likely because it’s just too expensive. Nike took over with an eight-year partnership worth $1 billion.

Adidas’ big investment

The main reason Adidas chose Harden over other superstars is his link to China. Well, not a direct link. But his team, the Houston Rockets, is still very popular in the Asian country because of Yao Ming, who played in Houston for all eight years he was in the league. Harden’s partnership includes him traveling on extensive brand tours in Europe and Asia.

There’s great risk to the endorsement, however. According to Forbes, Harden’s jersey was only the fourteenth most popular NBA jersey, according to sales information from Adidas and NBAStore.com. If Harden can continue to play the way he does with his unique style and the Rockets can build a championship-caliber team, it will likely move the needle enough on Harden’s popularity. But if things remain as they are, this may be yet another dud for Adidas.