The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 315 — From Las Vegas to Team LeBron? 👀
We need this A'ja Wilson and LeBron James team up yesterday, Nike. Plus, what's up with the new CPFM drop?
Gooooood morning, good people! It’s Sykes welcoming you back to the Kicks You Wear! Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you.
Poll results: Our Reimagined Air Jordan line poll did not go the way that I expected it to go.
We had 75 total votes in the poll over the weekend. Thank you so much for voting, people! Appreciate you.
A whopping 57 percent of you said you didn’t care about the material changes in the Js! You just wanted the Jordan.
I couldn’t disagree more! I mean, I get it. They’re Js. Nobody is going to complain about more Jordans. But come on! Suede Jordan 1s? I cannot.
Let’s jump in.
LeBron x A’ja?
A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces won their second straight WNBA title last week over the New York Liberty. The series was as incredible as we thought it’d be. Wilson looked special. She was the Finals MVP.
And now: The murmurs from fans begging for a signature shoe for Wilson have turned into screams. Nike, the people are done waiting on this. That includes the brand’s biggest luminary.
The big picture: This shoe is coming. LeBron James alluded to it himself in a post via Instagram: “Sis is the truth! Signature shoe coming! I mean what we talking about?”
Don’t read that as LeBron just simply showing his support to a Nike teammate.
LeBron is Nike’s biggest face, biggest hype man and, maybe most importantly, its biggest pitchman.
He’s intentional about everything he posts regarding his brand and Nike. That’s a direct message to the people.
Best believe we are getting an A’ja Wilson signature shoe. And it’ll likely be here by the time the next WNBA season tips off. The question isn’t if — it’s when. And what this thing could mean. I have some thoughts.
An idea: A’ja Wilson should be the inaugural Team LeBron signature athlete we’ve been waiting on. Yes, I do still think that’s a thing that’s coming.
James has talked previously about having his own LeBron brand under Nike like Jordan Brand or the Kobe Brand. He actively recruited Luka Doncic for it.
Wilson would be an incredible first addition. I think there’s at least a slim chance that Bron’s message here is a signal that this might be happening.
She’s already cemented herself as one of the greatest to ever pick up a ball with her play so far in the WNBA. She’s only 27 years old, too.
Not only does she have the game, but she has the personality to match it. She’s easily one of Nike’s most marketable athletes and could carry a Bron brand from the start.
She’s a big LeBron fan and the feeling iy mutual. She wears James’ shoes regularly. It makes too much sense.
The downside: As much as I love this idea, there is the possibility that the Team LeBron effect is just like the Team Jordan effect. It’s hard to remove yourself from under the shadow of one of the greatest basketball players to ever live.
If Wilson were to just have a signature model under Nike like a LeBron or a Kevin Durant, that would be much less of an issue.
But, honestly, I’m not too worried about that.
The shoe would sell regardless and Wilson is the type of person who would have no problem blazing her own trail.
Plus, unlike Jordan, LeBron is very vocal on social and would undoubtedly pump up his athletes every chance he got.
This is me just spitballily. But this would be an incredibly fun way to usher in a signature shoe for Wilson. Regardless of how it comes, though, we’re ready for it, Nike.
The ball is in your court.
Adidas’ deal with OTE is the right kind of move
Adidas has needed a reset for a long time. Its latest move with the Overtime Elite league could serve as exactly that.
What’s happening: Adidas just signed a new multi-year agreement with the Overtime Elite basketball league to become its official apparel and footwear sponsor, Elizabeth Swinton of Sports Illustrated reports.
The background: Overtime Elite is a basketball league for 17-year-old to 19-year-old players. It was originally founded in 2021 as an alternative path to pro basketball.
The league primarily plays its games in Atlanta. There are eight teams in total.
As far as star power goes, Ausar and Amen Thompson were both drafted as top-five picks out of OTE this summer. They’re the first players drafted from the league. Plenty more will be coming very soon.
Why this is a big deal: Adidas has found itself a major opportunity with Overtime Elite. There are two big ways in my mind:
First: Adidas gets to use the league as a testing ground for different jerseys and apparel.
For example, remember when we hated the sleeve jerseys Adidas had NBA teams wearing? That would’ve been something great to test first in OTE. Just see how it performs. Get the reaction. See if it can sell.
And, outside of pumping signature models in OTE, why not have them wear things like the Crazy Infinity 2.5? Or some Jerry Lorenzo hoop models whenever they actually come? Adidas would see how viable some of its lifestyle/hoops models might be on the NBA level.
Second: This is a talent pipeline. The Thompson twins were just top 5 picks out of OTE and there will be more down the road. Adidas will immediately have access to those players.
The brand could ink NIL deals with some of the best young talent in basketball out there so long as that talent is in OTE.
The big picture: With Adidas’ celebrity deals crumbling around it, the brand has needed to rebuild its infrastructure and develop a better foundation outside of macro influencers to regain stability. So far, that’s exactly what it’s done over the last year.
This OTE deal is another big move in that direction. It’ll pay off big in the long run.
What’s up with the CPFM Air Flea 2
So a lot of you (regrettably) were going for the Cactus Plant Flea Market Air Flea 2 last week when it dropped, but there was a ton of confusion around this release.
What happened: Nobody seems to know how sizing works on these ridiculously chunky shoes? It’s so weird, man.
An early pair review surfaced online a few weeks ago and made the rounds throughout sneaker Twitter. We were told that the pair ran huge instead of true to size.
Now people have pairs in their hands after the release and…that seems to not be the case? They run true to size. Seth Fowler even dropped a review on them saying his pair ran TTS.
So what’s the answer here: To be completely honest, nobody seems to be sure. To me, there are a couple of possibilities here.
One: The person who released an early review had an unauthorized replica pair that simply wasn’t made correctly. This feels the most likely.
Two: Nike’s quality control on these is simply not up to snuff. Certainly possible, but there’s no way I could see that happening on such a high-profile, limited release like this one. Not to this degree.
This tweet from Sockjig captures the situation perfectly.
The moral of the story: This is reason number the fifty-leventh why you shouldn’t trust sneaker leaks and early pair videos. More often than not, it’s all just for the flex.
Be careful out here, y’all. Don’t get got.
The end of the road
Complex’s Full Size Run iy heading into its final season, according to host Brendan Dunne’s Twitter account.
This show has been a staple in the sneaker community for years now. It put three folks why know sneakers in a position to talk to some of the industry’s biggest luminaries.
This stinks: I know FSR isn’t perfect, but it’s also good educational sneaker content in a media space where we don’t have much of that.
Think about how many shows like this one exist where #TheBrands aren’t directly running things. There just aren’t any.
And, sure, I know the show could be a bit too high-brow pretty often. It wasn’t always exactly welcoming to the newcomer. But, still, it was something.
Hopefully, this last season is one we can enjoy. Salute to the FSR team.
What’s droppin’, bruh?
SSENSE x New Balance 1906R — Tuesday, October 24
Chris Paul x Air Jordan 1 Low “CP3” — Tuesday, October 24
New Balance MiUSA 990v4 Olive Green — Thursday, October 26
Social Status x Nike Mac Attack “Split Vision” — Friday, October 27
Air Jordan 12 “Cherry” — Saturday, October 28
That’s all, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you. Have a fantastic week, folks.
Let’s chat again on Friday. Until then, peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯