The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 292 — Stand by Morant 🤞🏾
Why Nike chose to stick with Ja Morant and why no one can use this to cover Kyrie Irving's bullshit
Gooooood morning, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you.
Happy Juneteenth! And, once again, happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Some of y’all sent me pics of the shoes that the kiddos got for you yesterday. Let me say — y’all are truly loved.
Let’s jump in.
Apples to oranges
The Ja Morant situation in the NBA has finally come to a head. The NBA has hit Morant with a 25-game suspension after he brandished a gun on social media for the 2nd time in a two-month window.
And with that…Nike has made a decision on Morant, too. The company is choosing to stick by him. The company released a simple statement on the All-Star point guard.
We are pleased that Ja is taking accountability and prioritizing his well-being. We will continue to support him on and off the court.
It’s simple. Short, sweet, and to the point. And, honestly, not at all surprising.
Here’s the thing: It surprised me that so many people thought Morant could potentially be dropped by Nike here. For me, it didn’t feel like there was much of a decision to be made.
Nothing illegal happened. Ja Morant didn’t shoot anyone. No one got hurt. He just did something really, really stupid.
And, folks, the 2nd amendment is a thing in America. This country loves its guns, for better or worse (and it’s mostly worse).
Not to say that what Morant has done here is harmless. It’s not. Like it or not, Morant is a role model. Or, rather, he was. He’s not going to be that anymore for a lot of people. At least not for a while. His behavior put that standing in jeopardy.
There’s a real question that needs to be asked about how much Morant just damaged his reputation. The Washington Post’s Jerry Brewer wrote a brilliant column on that here.
But Nike bet big on Morant. He’s their lone Gen Z athlete and maybe the brightest, youngest face in the NBA. When LeBron James et al is gone, Nike will be depending on Morant to carry the torch. The brand wasn’t just going to let that go because Morant embarrassed himself by making a mindless decision.
The elephant in the room: That leads me to this — I’ve seen a lot of people online comparing this situation to the Kyrie Irving situation and, well, this ain’t that.
For those of you who don’t know:
Nike announced its partnership was over with Kyrie Irving back in December 2022.
That also happened to be around the time that he retweeted a video containing antisemitic propaganda from his Twitter account and refused to apologize for it.
People have used the Morant situation to argue that Nike has treated these situations differently. Not to argue that Morant should but punished, but to argue that Irving actually shouldn’t comparatively.
But…these two situations are completely different. Outside of the transgressions, which we don’t have to relitigate here, the circumstances just aren’t the same. At all.
On one hand, you’ve got Ja Morant who just launched a signature sneaker a few months ago. Nike is just beginning what they hope is a fruitful partnership with the point guard, who is the brand’s only Gen Z signature athlete. He’s the face.
On the other, you’ve got Kyrie Irving who was already itching to get out of his signature shoe deal with Nike before October. Two years ago he called his own signature shoe trash. Then Nike pulled back from Irving’s signature line following a disastrous season with the Brooklyn Nets. Then his deal expired in the fall and the company just chose not to renew it.
Let’s be real: Anyone who is trying to use this Morant situation to create some sort of defense for Kyrie Irving is being willfully obtuse. That’s just not something I’d suggest engaging with.
Zoom out: Nike standing by Morant is good for him, but it won’t matter unless he gets the help that he needs to deal with whatever issues he’s having here. He’ll just do something like this again — maybe it’ll be worse.
So let’s hope that he takes this time off and finds that help. Maybe Nike can use some resources and get it to him.
Is Direct-to-Consumer dying?
Nike’s direct-to-consumer offense is playing a little defense these days.
Catch up: This is the strategy that Nike began in 2017.
The company would peel back product from retailers (i.e. Foot Locker) and sell directly to the consumer itself via Nike stores and e-commerce platforms.
It’s largely worked out fine. Nike’s most recent Nike Direct sales number for Q3 was at $18.7 billion. That’s a 14% jump, per the company.
What’s happening: Nike is returning to some of the retailers it cut off a few years ago.
We know about the “revitalization” of Nike’s relationship with Foot Locker, according to Foot Locker CEO Mary Dillon. The relationship was characterized by Dillon as “back on track” during FTL’s Investor Day presentation.
Two more companies seem to be back on good terms with Nike.
Macy’s is getting Nike back, per Retail Dive, with company CEO Jeff Gennette saying Nike will be back on shelves “at select locations” and online for the department store by October.
DSW CEO Doug Howe also said Nike would be returning to the company’s stores in October.
The why: Remember all of the inventory problems Nike was having at the tail end of 2022 and the top of this year? The company doesn’t want those problems again. And the easy way to ensure that doesn’t happen is by selling off product wholesale to the same retailers it’s been shooing away for the last few years.
DTC was easy when we were all locked in our homes because of the pandemic. Nobody could go outside and all we had to shop with was our phones.
While e-commerce isn’t going away anytime soon (or ever lol), people are outside again and finding competitive pricing in other spaces involving other products. Optionality is back.
Direct-to-consumer isn’t going anywhere. Nike makes too much money off of it at this point. But the company will continue to bring big retailers back into the fold to ensure its margins stay healthy. And those companies ain’t going to say no.
Austin Reaves has a signature shoe. Yes, seriously
Lakers guard Austin Reaves is fully reaping the benefits of playing in that sweet, sweet Los Angeles market.
The news: The Lakers’ announced his first signature shoe, the AR1, with Chinese sneaker brand Rigorer.
Reaves originally signed with the company in 2022 as its first NBA athlete. Rigorer.
The deal will reportedly pay Reaves over 7 figures per year, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
A quick look: The shoe itself isn’t bad at all, either, compared to some of the other signature models out there in the NBA.
That’s alright, man. Reaves doesn’t get this deal if he plays in, say, Utah as opposed to Los Angeles. But that’s whatever. As an undrafted NBA player, to have your own signature shoe is a huge deal — no matter what company it’s with.
Get that bag, Mr. Reaves.
Kendrick Lamar out here wearing Air Sports
Man, I thought Kung Fu Kenny was only out here in the Wales Bonner these days. My guy was on Instagram rocking the Air Sport 12s.
What are the Air Sport 12s, you ask? I don’t really know. All I know is they look like fake Js.
This is hilarious, man. If Kendrick is out here wearing fakes, I guess y’all can wear fakes, too. If that floats your boat.
Good reading: A complete history of Kendrick Lamar’s sneaker collaborations.
What’s droppin, bruh?
Nike Air Zoom Generation “Court Purple” — Wednesday, June 21
Nike Mac Attack OG — Friday, June 23
Aimé Leon Dore x New Balance 650 — Friday, June 23
Action Bronson x New Balance 990v6 “Lapis Lazuli” — Friday, June 23
Pleasures x Puma Velophasis — Saturday, June 24
Thanks so much for rocking with me, family. Appreciate you. Hope you have a fantastic week ahead of you.
Let’s chat again on Friday. Until then, peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. Bless.
-Sykes 💯