The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 285 — Trey 5 For Life ♾️
Kevin Durant is the latest athlete with the deal of a literal lifetime.
Gooooood morning, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you.
I hope you had a fantastic weekend and that you have a great week ahead of you.
Let’s jump in.
The deal of a lifetime
Kevin Durant is now Nike’s newest lifetime athlete, according to an announcement from The Boardroom — Durant’s own company.
The backdrop: Durant joins both Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only athletes to ever get a lifetime contract from Nike. We don’t know the exact value, but it lasts forever. You can bet the farm that it’s extremely lucrative.
Lay of the land: Lifetime deals used to be extremely rare. But we have seen these come along a bit more often than usual these days.
LeBron James inked his lifetime deal with Nike back in 2015, which isn’t too long ago for context.
Durant inks one here with Nike. Just a few weeks ago, Steph Curry inked one with Under Armour just a few years after launching his own brand.
Remember, Dwyane Wade has a lifetime deal with Li-Ning that has extended well outside of his playing career with his Way of Wade brand.
There’s Walt Frazier at Puma, who deserved one of these way before 2018.
Outside of basketball, Lionel Messi also has a lifetime deal with Adidas and Usain Bolt with Puma, too.
That’s a handful of these types of deals coming in just the last decade or so. Before that, it felt like they were few and far between. Michael Jordan is the obvious one. There’s also Allen Iverson and Reebok. David Beckham with Adidas.
The big picture: We’re starting to see these deals way more often because sports is more lucrative than it’s ever been. There’s hundreds of billions of dollars just floating around here. Values are on the rise. Sports teams are being sold for billions. There’s just so much cash and so many eyes.
These lifetime deals give these footwear brands a lane to tap into that money. No, everyone doesn’t have a lavish signature sneaker line that sells like hotcakes like Michael Jordan. But they do capture audiences in ways MJ can’t anymore.
People are constantly tuning in to watch LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry play ball.
And for smaller brands like Puma, it gives the company a face to market off of forever. Puma has essentially lived off the Clyde for decades at this point, for example.
These athletes aren’t just athletes anymore. They’re merchandising. They’re billboards. They keep cash flowing in and eyes on products. Brands have obviously seen that for a long time — that’s why we’ve got signature athletes. The lifetime deal is the next and final step in that.
Nike gets to keep Kevin Durant in Nike forever. The same with Under Armour and Steph Curry. These brands get to be part of their *cool.*
They’re locked in. For better or worse. Congrats to KD on getting that bag.
Enough from Nike and StockX
Nike and StockX have been in court litigating for more than a year now at this point and it’s kind of hard to figure out exactly what’s being argued at this point.
This thing is off the rails.
The latest: A judge has reprimanded both sides for what’s being called “unprofessional behavior” and “bickering” by the court, per Law 360.
This situation has gotten worse and worse over the last year. Both sides have sent numerous letters to the court about what each of them is doing wrong here.
It started with Nike alleging that StockX knowingly sells fake shoes. The swoosh even found a “collector” who said StockX sold him 38 pairs of fakes between March and July 2022.
Meanwhile, the court has ordered Nike to provide information on how it determines what is counterfeit as well as documentation on counterfeit sneakers from other secondary marketspaces.
The big picture: This thing has just devolved into one big, sprawling mess. It’s easy to forget that this lawsuit simply started because Nike alleged that StockX was selling NFTs on its platform using the brand’s trademarks.
The rest of this stuff doesn’t really matter that much.
This is just Nike using StockX’s imperfect record on counterfeit sneakers against it to discredit the brand. That’s smart. But it also is muddling this thing up.
Both sides of this case need to find the plot again. Hurry up and settle this thing so we can go on about our business.
The Proto Collective dropped its first sneaker
I told y’all Melody Ehsani was off to do other things. The other things are looking pretty good, too.
What’s the word: The Proto Collective — a new sneaker brand with big names in its brain trust like Ehsani, Jeff Staple and more — just released its very first sneaker. It’s called the Iris-D.
Here’s a look, via Footwear News.
The good: The Proto Collective’s mission as a brand is to create a sustainable supply chain and this sneaker certainly does work in that regard.
It was created from a knit upper that uses 98% recycled materials for its yarns. The insole was designed by a brand that uses factory scraps and even the laces are made with recycled yarn.
The upper was also developed at KX Lab — an American factory based out of Los Angeles.
The bad: The sneaker is $320. Most people don’t have $320 to spend on a shoe for retail. That’s just the truth.
This, honestly, is not unreasonable considering the Made in USA production and how many recycled materials this sneaker is using. That stuff costs a lot and, at the end of the day, the brand is still here to turn a profit.
On the other hand, this also speaks to why consuming sustainable products is so hard for so many people. Alternatives are out there and they’re usually cheaper.
Still, this is an awesome first product to launch. And it’s something I’ll definitely be following along with. I’ll have to try these someday soon.
NGL…I’d cop.
If you could get an office chair that looked like a shoe, would you? Because I definitely would. Someone should build this. For me.
Yeah, my back would probably be toast. But who cares? I’d stunt. That’s all that matters these days anyway.
What’s droppin, bruh?
Nike Zoom Kobe 4 Protro “Mambacita” — Monday, May 1
Sporty & Rich x Adidas Samba — Thursday, May 4
Aime Leon Dore x New Balance 1906r — Thursday, May 4
Air Jordan 1 “Elephant Print” — Saturday, May 6
Jarritos x Nike Dunk Low — Saturday, May 6
Jaetips x Saucony Grid Azura 2000 — Saturday, May 6
Thank you so much for rocking with me today, family. Y’all will never know how much I truly appreciate you. I know I say it all the time, but it’s true.
It’s been a truly tough last couple weeks for me. And this newsletter — you all — have brought so much joy into my life. I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful for you.
Peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯