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The deals with pro athletes are the first step to getting the shoes onto store shelves Christian Louboutin Pumps the U.S. Last year, Li Ning - a company launched by a former Olympic gold gymnast of the same name - opened its first U.S. retail store 20 minutes down the road from Nike's headquarters in Portland.In early January, as the Phoenix Suns basketball team struggled to turn around a disappointing season, two questions surrounded point christian louboutin feticha ankle boots cl600-5 Steve Nash - would the team trade him to another city, and what's with those Chinese sneakers anyway? After a 15-year tie-up with Nike, the B.C. native announced he had signed a sponsorship deal with Chinese shoemaker Luyou. It wasn't a complete switch. Nash will still wear Christian Louboutin Feticha Botta Platform Boots old Nikes on U.S. courts, while he'll lace up in his Luyous on trips to the Middle Kingdom. But as Chinese shoemakers stomp into the U.S. market, they've determined the two keys to success are a lookalike Nike-style swoosh logo, and an endorsement deal with a major NBA athlete. Over the past couple Christian Louboutin Feticha Pumps years, some two dozen NBAers have stepped into Chinese brand shoes. The Boston Celtics' Shaquille O'Neal sports Li Ning sneakers. His teammate Kevin Garnett wears shoes from a company called Anta. Meanwhile a number of rookies, including Patrick Patterson of the Houston Rockets, have signed with Peak Sports. Unlike Nash, most of the players wear their Chinese sneakers during games. And while the overwhelming majority of fans will have never heard of any of those brands, the companies are banking that will eventually change.