Yeah Adidas is definitely on the come up right now. I also really hate the myth of Adidas correlating to injuries because Nike athletes get injured just as much. I also can't wait for Harden to have a signature shoe. Hopefully Nike declining will be similar to OKC declining to give him the max so he plays with a chip on his shoulder and shows them they made a mistake!
Of course they are - pre Kyrie they had Lebron, Durant, and Kobe as their only athletes with their own shoe line. Kobe and Durant hardly played last year, Kobe is retiring in a year, and that leaves Lebron, Durant, and Kyrie to pick up the slack. My point is, Kyrie is not a top 5 NBA player - he might not even be a top 10 NBA player(in some order Lebron, Durant, Curry, Harden, Anthony Davis, Westbrook, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin are 8 names definitely ahead of him and I would take Lillard and John Wall ahead of Kyrie) - so what is Nike doing then giving one of only 3 or 4 total signature shoe slots to a guy who is worse than 10 other players. My belief is this was a marketing decision made to leverage the exposure being a teammate of Lebron brings and given Kyrie's youth, they figure they could grow the brand as Lebron's brand eventually fades. If Kyrie were 25, there probably isn't a deal like this. I imagine the way they will approach it is they come out with a Kyrie shoe at a lower price point marketed to a younger crowd - less flashy, but the type of shoe that middle school kids might want and be able to get their parents to buy for them. Then as Kyrie gets older and his fanbase ages, they start upping the price to reflect the increased spending power of those youngsters. You can take that to the bank. I still think it's a poor bet because I don't think Irving is all that compelling of a figure BUT I can see the logic behind it - they likely will make a decent amount over the life of the deal to make it worthwhile. I just think they could make more with a better player like AD or Harden.
Well, the Kyrie 1s have sold very well. So the Lebron angle or whatever it is must be working for them.
sheesh Y'all making it more complex than it is. Kyrie shoes look cool so kids wear them. Adidas makes ugly looking shoes that kids get teased while wearing. All Adidas has to do is fire whoever is designing their shoes. I was waiting for the Nike James Harden signature shoe but if he signs with Adidas I'll pass....unless Kanye designs it.
And priced at $100 bucks they are more than half the cost of the other Nike guy's shoes so there is that part of my post coming true. I actually didn't realize these were out until just now - bad knees keep me off the court these days which in turn have me way out of the shoe game.
Sorry, forgot to include in previous.. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">USAB <a href="http://t.co/BCrzAuxbVX">pic.twitter.com/BCrzAuxbVX</a></p>— Anthony Davis (@AntDavis23) <a href="https://twitter.com/AntDavis23/status/631140902556209152">August 11, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Damn Anthony Davis looks like a beast in that photo. Looks like he has packed on some muscle over the summer - watch out league!
I believe Nike still has until the end of the week or a couple more days to match? Besides USAB is sponsored by Nike like the Drew League. It also would be a slap in the face if Harden already wore Adidas before Nike even had a chance to respond whether or not they'd match.
I'm wrong they are either matching today or tomorrow. Here's an article saying Nike won't match, but the source is TMZ... http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/11/report-nike-will-not-match-200-million-offer-james-harden-to-sign-with-adidas/
and he just got injured <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Team USA trainer just wrapped <a href="https://twitter.com/AntDavis23">@AntDavis23</a> left ankle/Achilles area in ice bag. Davis has It elevated. Likely a spectator the rest of day.</p>— Jimmy Smith (@JimmySmith504) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimmySmith504/status/631193099746738178">August 11, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
AD is an all world talent but Damn this guy is made out of glass, he's always getting dinged up. He does look huge in the picture though, if he can stay healthy he's going to have a monster season.
And curry never relied solely on his athletism as AD currently does, not saying guy isn't enormously skilled because he is, but as of today he relies way to much on being longer and more athletic then any other big. Nothing wrong with that but it is a cause of concern regarding his health. AmareS used to do the same when he was with the Suns with a sweet looking jumper too and look what happend to him. He needs to develop his skill set and stop throwing his body around otherwise these little injuries are going to become big Injuries sooner rather than later. I hope he does and think he will because he could be the next KG dare I say Hakeem type post player with his fineness and shooting ability in the post.
