THIS is all about the shoe biz in the U.S. National Basketball Association.
If the shoes fit, why not wear them and get paid handsomely for wearing them.
Some of the players earn more off the court with lucrative endorsement deals than what their NBA teams pay for their services.
According to a report by Cork Gaines for the Business Insider, Nike shoes are still the most worn by the 440 NBA players in the current 2014-15 season even after the retirement of iconic Nike endorser Michael Jordan as a player after the 2002-03 wars. His Airness is now the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets – which before this season were known as the Bobcats, having purchased an 80-percent stake in the NBA franchise in 2010.
Of the shoe endorsement deals for 440 players, 283 (or 64.3 percent) wear Nike brand sneakers based on a survey by HoopsHype.com.
Nike’s share of the NBA feet market is actually 73.2 percent if it also includes the 39 players who wear the Jordan Brand, a division of Nike.
The most common sneakers worn in the NBA is the Nike Hyperdunk 2013 which is worn by 75 players. That shoe alone is worn by more NBAers than the second-most common brand, Adidas (70 players).
Other shoe brands worn by NBA athletes include: Under Armour, 13; Peak (China), 10; Reebok, six; Li Ning (China), five; Anta (China), four; And 1, three; Spalding, three; Brandblack, one; Qiaodan, one; 361 Degrees, one; and Ball’n, one.
Named after the Greek goddess of victory, Nike was established in 1971 in Portland by accounting professor Phil Knight.
Knight, who taught part-time at Portland State University, one day needed a corporate logo for some shoe designs he had to present to Japanese investors and commissioned graphics design student Carolyn Davidson to prepare some studies.
Davidson presented Knight with several logos to choose from but interestingly, the “Swoosh” design was last on Knight’s list.
“I don’t love it, but it will grow on me,” Knight reportedly told Davidson.
More than four decades later, the Swoosh has become one of the most recognizable corporate logos in the world.
Among the NBA players that endorse Nike are the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers, James Harden of the Houston Rockets, and Paul George of the Indiana Pacers.
Spawned by the mother company, Nike, the Jordan brand focuses on the style and vision set by Knight’s most popular model, Michael Jordan.
Starting with the Air Jordan basketball like, Jordan Brand has also evolved to include other sports and activities and their respective superstars/models.
Among the current NBA players that wear the Jordan Brand include Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder and LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Adidas company’s birth can be traced to the German village of Herzogenaurach. It was established in 1925 by Adolf “Adi” Dassler and his family.
Catering initially to the soccer-proud Germans, Adidas first produced soccer and running shoes before evolving decades later into the multi-sport brand it is today.
Among the endorsers of Adidas in the NBA are Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, John Wall of the Washington Wizards, Dwight Howard of the Houston Rockets, Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, Tim Duncan of the reigning NBA titlist San Antonio Spurs, and rookie Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves.