The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 95 — Happy trails to the triple B's
Welp. That was fun. The fight continues, though.
Good morning, folks! Welcome back to The Kicks You Wear! Thanks so much for rocking with your boy on this glorious Friday morning.
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Let’s jump in.
Big Baller Brand is done but it’s fight is not
(Photo by Karsten Würth on Unsplash)
Just three years ago, Lonzo Ball, Lavar Ball and Big Baller Brand took the internet by storm with their $495 ZO2 hoop shoes.
Fast forward to today and the brand is essentially dead. Lonzo left the brand in the dust after he figured out BBB confidant Alan Foster was stealing from him. LaMelo Ball — potentially the #1 pick in the NBA draft — just signed a deal with Puma and is talking about it as a fond memory.
The boys seem to want nothing to do with it. If that wasn’t official before, it seems to be now. Lavar Ball was asked about LaMelo’s Puma deal in a visit to Complex’s Full Size Run and he doesn’t seem to be too involved.
The end of an era. And it’s really because they weren’t fully prepared for the battle they were about to go through.
The pricing wasn’t the problem. Yes, the shoes were mad expensive. But people buy ridiculously expensive, weird things all the time like $90 McNugget pillows.
The biggest problem was they just didn’t have the infrastructure to mass produce a shoe. It takes a lot. A factory. A distributor. They didn’t have those on lock. There are some people who still don’t have their orders. And the materials were terrible.
On top of that their circle was clearly not the most trustworthy. They had someone stealing money from within, and that’s never a good thing.
You can’t afford to miss when going up against giants like Nike and Adidas. They did. It’s a shame how things turned out.
It failed, but Big Baller Brand still accomplished something. It was certainly imperfect, but it was a disruptor. And there’s always a need for disruption. That’s the case across industries, but especially here where a few companies run the entire thing.
It showed what is possible. They built an insane amount of momentum and made history.
Lonzo Ball is one of just a handful of NBA rookies to have a signature shoe in year 1 and the only one who did it with a company he owned.
LaMelo Ball was the only high schooler to have a signature shoe. That means something.
That’s exactly why this will happen again. We’re going to see this done in the near future and, because of this blueprint, it’ll be done better.
Imagine if Zion Williamson came in to the NBA with this same attitude. Or if future stars like Paige Bueckers or Emoni Bates decide to do something similar.
Maybe it’s a football star. Maybe it’s baseball. Who knows? All we know is that it’s possible. And with the right amount of preparation, infrastructure and dedication, it’s going to work. We just have to wait for it to happen.
I’d bet my bottom dollar that it’s soon.
More Kobe’s are coming
(Photo by Ramiro Pianarosa on Unsplash)
So I have some great news and some, well, maybe not so great news for you, folks.
Let’s start with the great news. There are definitely more Kobe’s coming down the line and they’re also coming soon! In fact, as you’re reading this, a pair is about to drop.
DeMar DeRozan’s “Zebra” Protro 5 player exclusive is dropping on Friday at 10 a.m. ET via Nike’s SNKRS app, of course. That’s in the immediate future.
Then, in 2021, Nike is retro’ing a Protro version of the Kobe 6 “Chaos.” We’ve already got a glimpse at em.
Now, here's the not so great part. They’re both probably going to be sold in extremely limited quantities.
The DeRozan PE almost certainly is. It’s a SNKRS draw, which is better than a first come, first serve sale but not that much better.
We don’t have any information on the Protro 6 drop just yet, so there’s more hope there. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.
It’s awesome that Nike is continuing to drop Kobe’s. It had already been so long since people were able to get their hands on a Kobe shoe. Making people wait longer would’ve been awful — especially after Mamba week.
But on the flip side, this is just more of the same. It’s disappointing. The DeRozan PE and the upcoming PJ Tucker PE are both extremely rare. They’ll both be hard to get.
The thing with these is people don’t care about how rare these are or whether they’re a collectors item or not. They just want their damn Kobe’s.
Hopefully, the people who want them can get them at some point. All we can do is keep trying.
Voting is the new hot sneaker collab
I love to hate on SNKRS and Under Armour has had a pretty terrible year, all things considered.
But both Nike and Under Armour are doing two objectively great things for common folks. They’re encouraging people to vote and helping them register.
Both companies launched two voting initiatives this week.
Nike partnered with Rock The Vote to create a voter registry link that they’re featuring on the site and the SNKRS app.
Under Armour launched a “Run to Vote” initiative that encourages users to vote and provides them with resources on registering, mail-in ballot instructions and trackable voter registration links on receipts.
It’s just a start and is the bare minimum, but it is a start. That matters. We constantly talking about these companies needing to give back to the people that hold them up and this is absolutely a way of doing that
Now, when it’s time to talk about some of these campaign donations? Let me know. Because I’m here for it.
Telfar x UGGs coming soon
Listen. 2020 has been a downright awful year. But Telfar Clemens is absolutely having the best one possible.
2021 is already looking real good for Telfar, too. They got some Uggs coming, folks!
No idea what this is going to look like. No idea how this is going to work. All I know is that this dude is a genius and whatever comes from this will be spectacular. Act accordingly, y’all.
The Kicks We Wear
Y’ALL KNOW THE VIBEZZZZ! Let’s get right to it!
The homie Danny kicked us off with some SUSTAINABLE HEAT. The Jordan 1 Crater looks incredible.
Then the homie Sarah came through in some Air Max 90 grape flavors.
The homie Devin came through in some the Heart and Mind NMDs and these joints are SICK.
The homie Ray popped out in some icy Atsumas. These joints are cold!
The homie Josh just casually stepped out to the doctor’s office in the crimson tints. My word.
The homie Marcos did his own thing with some Samba flavors in the AF1.
The homie Sugar Shake popped out in the 77 Blazer Sketch joints. So cold.
The homie Jalen popped out in the Black toes. This man has been going CRAZY lately.
The homie Jaire popped out in the Shadows and I still gotta get my pair, dog.
The homie Hardly Clerkin came through with the Kap AF1’s! Shoutout to em!
And then the homie Nico sent us home with the Supreme Tailwinds. MY WORD these are torch.
Y’all absolutely SMOKED this thread. Give yourselves a pat on the back, family.
Folks, thank you so much for spending a bit of your Friday with me! Truly appreciate you. Y’all are the best, man.
Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already! Life is too short to be blocking your blessings. You might have some kicks on the way! You never know.
Anyway, family. Y’all know what it is. Peace and love. Be easy. Be well. Be kind.
One.
—Sykes 💯
I LOVE the way Telfar did the last drop. Guaranteed the gear at a future date, it’s so simple it’s brilliant.