The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 279 β Right idea, wrong execution π
Let's talk about Sabrina Ionescu's signature shoe
Goooood morning, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. Hope your weekend was swell.
REMINDER: The KYW Mailbag is coming this Friday! Make sure you submit your questions here. Weβve only got a few so far for March, so thereβs definitely plenty of room for you to add yours!
Letβs jump in.
Skipping the line
On the WNBA side of things, New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu just announced her very first signature shoe with Nike.
A quick look:
The backdrop: This has been in the works for a while. It feels like Nike has been building this up for Sabrina for a while.
Sole Retreiver first reported that Ionescu had a sneaker coming with Nike back in February. Itβs reportedly slated to drop in the fall.
But even before then, Ionescu had largely been set up for this. She was one of the faces for the GT Cut when it was first released in 2021.
Now, she becomes the 8th woman to ever launch a signature shoe with Nike, which is fantastic news.
Butβ¦When I first learned about this, I couldnβt help but think about the Sports Business Journal column that has been haunting me since it was released back in 2021.
It talked about the disparity in media coverage and opportunities between Black players and their white counterparts in the WNBA. SBJ did a review of media coverage to actually give us a tangible figure on that gap.
Newsflash: Itβs a bad look.
They counted 550 articles from major sports outlets covering the WNBA during the 2020 season.
There was an average of 52 media mentions for Black players and an average of 118 for white players.
According to the same piece, 80% of the players in the WNBA were Black at the time. Black players also won 80% of the leagueβs awards that season but got very little shine for it.
The crux of it all was this particularly damning line.
"Black WNBA players won postseason awards. White women won coverage."
Why this matters: This shoe is that coverage disparity in physical form. The positive and favorable media coverage Ionescu has gotten for much of her career, to this point, led to this opportunity.
This isnβt to say that Sabrina Ionescu isnβt worthy or that itβs bad that another woman got a signature shoe. But, to be frank, some of her Black counterparts are probably a bit more deserving of such a distinction.
Aβja Wilson, for example, is a WNBA superstar who has multiple MVP trophies, a Defensive Player of the Year award and a WNBA title. Sheβs also one of the brightest personalities in sports and just 26 years old.
Even on Ionescuβs own team, Jonquel Jones is an MVP and a much more decorated athlete than Ionescu at this point.
The other side: One could say Nike is tapping Ionescu here for her youth. Sheβs only a 3-year pro and has been an All-Star. Her name has been in the headlines for the last half-decade.
But the same can be said for the likes of Wilson, who has one of the greatest college basketball resumes ever and is building a pretty great one on the W side, too.
In the end: I donβt want to harp on this too much. The fact that Sabrina has a signature shoe isnβt a bad thing at all. And Iβm certainly not here for pitting any of these women against each other. Thatβs wack.
I think itβs just worth noting that an imbalance that was discovered two years ago still persists and itβs manifesting in the form of major opportunities to some players and not others. Thatβs not cool.
Temperature check
Nikeβs third-quarter earnings call coming up this week and itβs going to be a big one.
Hereβs why: In December during the brandβs last update things seemed to be going swell.
The glut of inventory Nike was sitting on in the fall dwindled down behind the massive markdowns we saw.
The companyβs revenue also jumped by 17% year over year.
What Iβm interested in seeing this quarter is whether those trends held steady or not. Itβs one thing to reverse an issue for a single quarter, but itβs another to be able to stay the course. Especially amid a bit of chaos.
The state of things: We arenβt seeing huge discounts now, but there are still lots of footwear and apparel markdowns present with the swoosh.
Demand across the footwear industry has seen a bit of a downturn to pre-pandemic levels. Even some of the most hyped sneakers arenβt completely sold out. The secondary market is reacting to it.
Weβve also had lots of drama on Nikeβs end. The company lost a core basketball style and a top-selling model with Kyrie Irving leaving the brand. Thatβs only a fraction of Nikeβs sportswear line, but still. Itβs impactful.
Tuesday is going to be interesting.
Is the Jordan 3 the GOAT
Let me just start this off by saying this is one manβs opinion, but the reason I was so happy to finally get my hands on the White Cement Air Jordan 3 wasnβt just because it looks great. I really feel like this is the greatest sneaker ever.
Hereβs why: I donβt know if Michael Jordan sticks around if Tinker Hatfield doesnβt shift the direction of the Jordan line in the way that he did.
No need to rehash the AJ2 history. Jordan didnβt like it. He was ready to leave Nike after being dissatisfied with it.
Tinker comes and works his magic with the design of the AJ3. Then we get the β88 Dunk contest and All-Star game debuts.
Michael Jordan is no longer just a thing when it comes to the NBA. Heβs the thing.
I make my case on the latest episode of Special Delivery.
This shoe changed so much. There are other shoes you could definitely argue for here and I wonβt dispute that. But these joints changed how society viewed sneakers on a mainstream level. I think thatβs hard to argue against.
A D.C. Disaster
To say things got out of hand last week with the Nike SB Air Jordan 4 drop might be understating how bad it was. Especially so out here in my city.
What happened: The Crushed D.C. skate shop completely lost control of the sneakerβs release on Thursday. The store decided to go the first come, first serve route.
This is what that looked like.
Complete chaos. No, this video isnβt hyping things. It was really that bad. It got to the point where employees were just tossing raffle tickets into the crowd.
This was bad. Itβs why Nike changed its terms of service with retailers. This canβt happen. Hopefully, the shop learns from this and is better moving forward.
Whatβs droppin, bruh?
Nike SB x Air Jordan 4 (SNKRS release) βΒ Tuesday, March 21
Nike Air Zoom Generation β Tuesday, March 21
Action Bronson x New Balance 990v6 (New Balance drop) β Friday, March 24
Nike x Fly Streetwear Dunk Low βGardeniaβ β Saturday, March 25
Nike Air Max 1 β86 βBig Bubbleβ β Sunday, March 26
Thatβs a wrap! Thanks so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you. Have an amazing week.
Letβs chat again on Friday. DONβT FORGET. GET THOSE QUESTIONS IN.
Peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes π―