Apparently Hip Hop artist and entrepreneur Sean Carter, a.k.a. Jay-Z, not only has just lyrical talent, but he also possesses tremendous bargaining skills as well. Jay-Z's personally created and owned business Roc Nation, whom has recently taken up representation of Kevin Durant's business affairs, have given the Nike Corporation a strict deadline to deliver their counter offer for Durant's contract renegotiation.

Like Us on Facebook

Nike is a big player in the athletic shoes and apparel industry and has been producing Durant's shoes since early 2007.

Nike Corporations is a multi-billion dollar a year company with outstanding credibility and brand awareness. So naturally, the company is not so accustomed to having to play the defensive, essentially having talent bidding wars with other companies in basketball where Nike normally reigns supreme, as their major competitor Adidas is predominately in soccer.

Durant and representing company Roc Nation have given Nike until Wednesday to match a 10-year sponsorship offer from Under Armour, another quickly rising player in the game of athletic Shoes and Apparel. This particular deal is said to be worth upwards of $285 million for the 10 years span of the contract.

The deal with Under Armour will be more than doubling Durant's current Nike pay - which is a 7-year contract worth just over $70 million. The offer also represents a major indulgence for Under Armour, totaling this deal to almost 10 percent of their entire marketing budget.

With players under contract, such as Stephen Curry, Under Armour has been more of a 'value shopper' when it comes to sponsorship - lucking out by picking Curry up right before he blossomed into an All-Star averaging 24 points per game last season.

Durant, however, did even better by winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award with an average of 36 points per game, giving Nike another reason to start production on the Durant lines and milk their cash cow yet again. This inevitably dialed up the Durant production to include both a continual flow of Kevin Durant "KD" sneakers with a full line of apparel to match. This included $55 toddler kicks, $32 Durant T-shirts and a line of sneaker to honor his late aunt.

Nike obviously has some numbers to crunch. Do they match the Under Armour offer with the possibility of making a substantial amount of money of the term of the contract, or do they forgo one of their revenue streams for the prospect of a younger more promising athlete? Under any decision, Durant and Roc Nation will be signing with either company - propelling Both Durant and Jay-Z income to the next level.

TagsKevin Durant, Jay-z, Roc Nation, Nike, Under Armour, Stephen Curry