The sequence did not seem right; Nike did not target or try to offer Yao Ming a bad endorsement contract for years. As a matter of fact, Nike China was the first to spot and sign Yao Ming up when he was still a very young player. It was Nike which had sponsored Yao Ming to his very early trips to US and Europe for various training camps that had widened his horizon and his revealation that he could compete with the best in NBA. And Yao Ming did not sign and renew a contract with Nike for just one reason: Principle. Nike tried to fool and cheat him with some hidden clauses when they were negotiating a new contract after the expiry of the old one. Yao Ming had in fact agreed verbally to sign with Nike, until Team Yao managed to spot out the Nike tricks prior to the final signing. Yao Ming actually was not happy to have to turn down Nike to accept the Reebok contract, but he was p@ssed and sad as Nike tried to cheat him. Nike tried to salvage the situation by offering Yao Ming a contract that equal Lebron James + 2/3 of Kobe Bryant, yet Yao Ming declined their final offer, and opted for Reebok. When asked why he opted to sign for Reebok at much much lower $$$$$, Yao Ming said: "It's not a matter of money. You can give me less money, but you have to face me honestly." That was a very famous and well known story back in China that well illustrated that Yao Ming is a man of principle.
You want examples? Terrell Brandon- the year that he was playing in peak form for the Minnesota Timberwolves and played in the finals against the Kings (IIRC). He was wearing Nike Hyperflights--a shoe that was supposed to be a breakthrough shoe for Nike because it was very very light--and started having ankle problems. Later on, Brandon had to retire because of his foot problems. Is this an extreme case? Yes Was the shoe the primary culprit for his career-ending injury? Of course not, but that shoe didn't help his cause either. It was a horrible, horrible shoe. It had aesthetics but no real technical merits like ankle support. Jason Williams wore some purple ones when he was on the Kings and switched in and out because of some foot problems too. Tim Duncan- he hasn't publicly came out and said it, but ever since he left Nike for Adidas, he started having foot problems. Why? IMO, because of the differences in the shoes. When he was with Nike, he predominantly wore shoes with the Air Max unit. This actually is a better cushioning device for big men because it's soft enough that you don't feel like you're playing in Chuck Taylors but not soft to the point where there's no rebound when you're stepping down. Then when he switched over to Adidas, big difference. They use their own version of the shox technology Nike made. Now if anyone has ever tried and compare both cushioning technologies (Air Max unit v. a Shox unit) you can tell that the Shox unit is harder and doesn't give as much as the Air Max unit. But if you were to compare the Air Max unit and Adidas' "shox", it's even worse. Their "shox" unit on the shoe Duncan wears isn't made out of rubber compound like Nike's, but rather a soft plastic material. This is why I believe Duncan started having foot problems a few years back--because he switched to a different kind of shoe. So why aren't other players having the same problems? Well shoe companies don't stay in business because they make specialty shoes for ever athlete they have marketing under their company. A mass produced shoe will, of course, have a generalized shape/form so basically the player will have to adapt to the shoe if need be. People think that it's bs that a player might be affected by what shoe they wear, but you have to remember that these players are over 6 feet tall and weigh more than 230 pounds and put their legs/feet through 82+ games a year while we play pick up games and never complain about our shoes. But the more one plays basketball, the more one would understand. So I wouldn't say that JVG's claims are baseless but it's still Reebok/Adidas' responsibility to make a better Big Man shoe considering it has (now that both companies are under one roof) Yao, Duncan, Dwight Howard, and Garnett under payroll.
I see. Duncan is still clinging to the endorsement no matter that injury has resulted and his team has suffered. Amazing.
Well said. Reebok should have been proactive in making the best possible footwear for Yao, especially after his back-to-back surgeries. From what I have read, Reebok's approach seems to be more reactionary and passive thus far. I for one applaud JVG sticking out to challenge Reebok to do a better job for its larger-than-life sponsee a'la Yao. EDIT: Wow, incredible stuff on sports shoes, steddinotayto. Are you in the shoe business by any chance?
now did i say that he's publicly stated that the shoes are the cause of his injuries? nope. i'm just stating what I believe is to be the cause of it. Try to imagine a 7 ft center running up and down a court in shoes that doesn't have the right support for his arch or ankle for 82 games. Not a pretty sight considering the heft that's being placed on his feet. Reebok, Adidas, Nike..all shoe companies makes good shoes and bad shoes.
I will look forward to Reebok fixing Yao's shoes in the near future. This situation will get resolve and let us hope Yao and the Rockets benefit in the form of Championship.
Reebok should certainly be more proactive, but shouldn't Rockets hire a orthopedic doctor or some expert like that to make sure Yao has the exactly correct shoes? I can imagine that Yao can tell Reebok how he feels about the shoes, but does not know enough about foot anatomy to tell Reebok exactly how to make the shoes work. How much could an orthepedic doctor cost anyway, considering how much money is at stake here.
No, you said that "he hasn't publicaly said so", which infers he might or might not. I just don't understand how an immediate HOFer or someone of Yao's magnitude would ever play in a shoe they have the slightest doubt about. It just doesn't make sense to me at all. No offense intended.
sorry declan, i apologize because I misunderstood what you were saying. Well the thing is, it's all about money of course. Big Men don't sell shoes. There aren't a lot of kids out there that want to be Shaq or Yao or Duncan or Dirk. The problem is that companies like Reebok/Adidas and Nike sign these guys because they are stars--if one company doesn't sign them, the other one will. It's like they're just adding to the collection. Kids wants to be Wade, Kobe, James, etc. and those guys are the ones with the most input on their shoes. Of course everyone knows how hands on Jordan was in his shoe developments--it was practically catered to his every step. Same for James and Kobe--the designers draw up the shoe, a pair gets made, and it goes through a run by the player endorsing it. But for guys like Yao and Duncan, they get the run of the mill basketball shoe. Take for example: Kobe Bryant--his shoe, the Zoom Kobe 1: It has, according to a shoe website, "Padded and breathable ankle collar for support and comfort. Seamless internalized fit sleeve. Lightweight Phylon™ midsole with midfoot flex grooves for flexibility. Full-length exposed carbon fiber spring plate multidirectional propulsion. Regional responsive Zoom Air™ units in the heel and forefoot. Durable and lightweight solid rubber outsole with maximum traction herringbone pattern. Wt. 17.6 oz." Yao Ming--the shoe he wore, Reebok It has, according to the same shoe website, The Reebok ATR Pump basketball shoe features an ankle strap closure. A TPU heel clip adds support and stability. The Pump technology provides comfort and custom fit. Sculpted EVA midsole brings lightweight cushioning. High-abrasion herringbone outsole delivers traction. Wt. 16.2 oz." now to the average person, they don't know what all those terms mean but doesn't it seem like Kobe's has more "technology" than Yao's? Big men do get the short end of the stick when it comes to shoes. pic from china daily: straight up nasty
Jesus ****ing Christ... it's amazing people take situation as an excuse to bash JVG. The revised shoes haven't arrived (maybe Reebok is doing the best it can... I don't know how long shoe revisions take), Van Gundy wants them here and complained... Yao and his agent, like any celebrity endorser, couldn't publicly bash the shoes and the company he endorses, so they came out talked nice about Reebok. Simple situation. Yet people without common sense and reading comprehension skills theorize about a supposed rift between the two... It's all in their ****ing mind.
One thing Yao should definitely do, STOMP back!!! Anyone that dares to step on yao's toe should have his own feel the 300+ pound of Yao.
Maybe I don't get it either. Because I see that as a shot at JVG. Not from Yao but from the agent. Seems like he's trying to protect Yao's interests with Reebok but doing it overboard. He could have left it as 'I don't think the shoes are the problem.' The fact that he added those other statements meant he was irked at Jeff and decided to hit back.
Except that it is not a 'non sequitur'. How can you say a foot injury can never logically come from a misfitted shoe? How is that an illogical conclusion? It might be jumping the gun but that's just his opinion. Non sequitur means one statement doesn't logically follow the other. That's not what happened.
i don't think you're misinterpreting the original situation but you're definitely misinterpreting HP and the original misinterpretation itself. hope that helps. to try and clear it up, macfan somehow pulled the idea from his a$$ that yao doesn't like van gundy. obviously not true. the only thing you could get from that article is that possibly yao's AGENT isn't a huge JVG fan but who cares what his agent thinks. van gundy did the right thing for yao and i don't see why anyone could possibly have a problem with it.
Well, let's hope it is like Yao Ming said. After all, no one knows his body much better than himself.
Well in Chapter 4 of Yang Yi's book about Yao Ming, it had a full account of what happened then. Below is the translation of that episode on how Nike lost the deal to Reebok in 2003. (Note: I've borrowed the translation done by Sinobball, a regular poster 2 years ago on YMM).
Man, in the NBA, there are few players who would take honesty over money. Yao Ming is one of the few........what a person to look up to! (quite literally). My respect for Yao has just doubled.
