After six years, Kobe Bryant and Adidas have parted ways. Something about the new Kobetwo's not fitting him right. Oh well, they looked like space boots anyways. If Nike, which already pretty much has a monopoly over the basketball shoe industry, signs Kobe, they can run even more laps around their competitors. They would add Kobe to an already star studded cast of endorsers: Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, Dirk Nowtizki, Paul Pierce, Jason Williams, Jermaine O'Neal, and Gary Payton. They'd have the 3 most popular players in the game in MJ, Carter, and Kobe, plus the best player in the game outside of Shaq in Duncan. Kobe and Adidas part ways after six years
Actually, it's been long rumored that Kobe did not like the KobeTwos and has repeatedly hinted that he would not resign. It's more about Kobe not choosing Adidas than the other way around. "Essentially," Kobe wasn't happy with Adidas.
yea mcgrady...with their other "big names" like Kwame Brown, Tim Thomas, and Antawn Jamison. Those adidas guys are real slick
Don't forget about Cuttino. I saw him bustin' those fresh dance moves in the Snoop Dogg Nike commercial.
All tey have to do is get LeBron James. It doesn't matter if they do or don't, though, because McGrady will be the NBA's best, most marketable playr in the near future. Quality over quantity...and fiscal responsibility has to count for more with a company like adidas vs a company like Nike.
Actually I disagree. I'm pretty sure from rumors I've heard that Kobe just didn't like Adidas that much and wanted to go to Nike like his more-than-idol MJ... Why the hell would Adidas want to get rid of Kobe. He is BY FAR more marketable than McGrady. Kobe seems all educated and clean-cut, attractive to many outsiders and casual basketball fans. McGrady may be just as good if not better, but I don't see him ever being as marketable. Not only because he doesn't play in LA, but the media doesn't ride his nuts as hard. It will be interesting, however, to see who gets Lebron. I wouldn't be surprised if Nike did even though Lebron has been popping up at the ABCD camp and all. He could just lead them on, but support Nike anyways. Most marketable NBA players: 1.Kobe 2.AI 3.Vince Carter 4.Shaq 5.???
In light of recent allegations, the fact that AI is on this list makes me sad for the target market group of the American teenage male... Speaking of Kobe's shoes, did anyone actually buy/wear them? In the past 6 years I never saw a single person wearing those hideously disgusting and overlypriced shoes! Hopefully Nike will create a better product for him to endorse.
I see a lot of ball players with his shoes on, I dont know what they think of them, but a lot wear them. Personally I would never buy a pair of "name" player shoes, they are usually just for looks and not ball. that and I have a prob with forking out 150 bucks for a pair of shoes some 8 year old made lor less than 2 dollars.
Kobe is MUCH more marketable than T-Mac. What other major endorsements does T-Mac have? Orl isn't exactly a hotbed for endorsements, one reason why Shaq fled Orl for LA. Fact remains that T-Mac probably was cheaper to retain, so adidas settled for T-Mac over Kobe. Or, they are saving money for the LeBron bidding war. Or, Kobe just said f---- adidas, I'm going elsewhere. Any of these scenarios seem more likely than the 3 Stripes actually thinking that T-Mac is more marketable than Kobe. At this point in time, Kobe could be considered the most marketable player in the 4 major sports. Vince Carter would be a close 2nd.
If Kobe wants to seperate himself from Jordan then he shouldn't go to Nike. He had a prime opportunity to do for adidas what MJ did for Nike. The only problem is that Kobe comes off as rehearsed while MJ seemed himself. Kobe should just sign with FILA, relax and speak naturally without giving regards to PR, keep winning rings, and watch his marketability and salesmanship skyrocket.
The only loser in this is adidas. Whoever Kobe goes to will be that much better. Agreed. adidas lost bigtime. I thought that adidas was prepping itself to go after Goliath (Nike). Maybe Kobe goes to And1 to get some street cred.
