Sandals CLARKS Jemsa Dash 261642964 Turquoise KnitMay 28, 2024
It feels like a tipping point has finally arrived in the basketball shoe world. While megabrands like Nike, Adidas and Nike-owned Jordan Brand continue to hold sway in the marketplace, over the last several years, we’re finally starting to see real cracks emerge in their domination. Smaller brands like Puma, Under Armour and New Balance began paving the way in the mid-2010s, but now the barn door is wide open, with a cavalry of reciclado like Skechers, Rigorer, Xtep, Qiaodan, HOLO and Unitus making serious noise.
Add to that madness the emergence of new signature stars like Luka Doncic and the WNBA’s Sabrina Ionescu, the simmering drama over the Kobe Bryant signature line, and the long strange trip away from Nike of mercurial superstar Kyrie Irving, and we’ve got more excitement in the NBA shoe world than ever before.
The Brands
You might think that not too much has changed when you look atop the brand leaderboard, with Nike, Adidas and Jordan Brand accounting for well over 80% of players’ shoes. But the rest of the list tells an increasingly wild story. For those who have been paying attention, the presence of Chinese brands like Peak, Anta and Li-Ning (along with Li-Ning’s Way of Wade) is nothing new. Add in smaller Chinese competitors like 361 Degrees, Qiaodan and Rigorer, and Chinese shoemakers account for five percent of the NBA market, and count big-name players like Kyrie Irving, Nikola Jokic, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins among their roster.
It’s also the era of legacy brands making a comeback. Names like Puma, New Balance and Converse, which are not usually associated with basketball – at least not recently – are making really good shoes and signing really big names. Puma’s All-Pro Nitro, New Balance’s Two Wxy V4, and Converse’s All Star BB Trilliant CX are especially well-reviewed by shoe insiders. These brands came to play, and they’re investing big bucks into making high-quality shoes that consumers actually want.
Finally, ever since LaVar Ball and his Big Baller Brand bullied their way into the basketball consciousness, it seems like more players are willing to attempt their own shoe journey. Consider UNITUS, the off-the-wall devotional brand from occasional NBA player Jonathan Isaac. UNITUS may never become the next Nike, but Isaac has convinced at least one other pro (Matt Ryan) to wear the Judah 1s in the NBA, so maybe he is on to something? Or think about HOLO, the sustainable footwear brand from Cavs forward Isaac Okoro. HOLO is unlikely to gain traction in the competitive footwear landscape, but Okoro has achieved his goal of drawing attention to sustainability issues in the shoe industry.
Sandals CLARKS Jemsa Dash 261642964 Turquoise Knit | The Shoes
Four years on from his untimely passing, Kobe Bryant still rules the roost, with his Kobe 6 Protro, and to a lesser extent the Kobe 5 Protro, being the shoe of choice for a record number of NBA players. At this time, with the unclear contract status between Nike and the Bryant estate, regular folks can’t even purchase a new pair of Kobes, so the on-court popularity continues to be driven by the deep collections that NBA players have accumulated over the years.
Eagle-eyed readers will note that the signature shoes of both Kyrie Irving and Paul George have dropped or even disappeared altogether from the leaderboard, albeit for different reasons. In Kyrie’s case, the basketball world was privy to the unceremonious break between Nike and Kyrie due to his off-court antics; while his signature Anta Kai 1 is already in abridgment, it hasn’t made its way onto any other player’s feet as of yet. For Paul George, it seems as though the market has sadly just moved on. Each iteration of the PG signature shoe had been extremely popular, but with no new iterations being released, most Nike athletes have shifted to Kobes, LeBrons or the GT series instead.
Perhaps the most trailblazing story of all this year is the emergence of the Nike Sabrina 1, the first signature shoe of a WNBA player to gain real traction among the men. And just in case you were wondering, this isn’t just some token fad. When ballers like Jrue Holiday and Anfernee Simons wear it on the regular, you know the shoe came to play. We expect the Sabrina signature line and beyond to become a constant on our top shoe leaderboard in the years to come.