The Denver Gazette

Here’s why Nike has no plans for a Nikola Jokic signature shoe.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is a rare NBA superstar without his own line of sneakers.

BY VINNY BENEDETTO The Denver Gazette

NBA superstars and signature shoes have gone hand in hand, or foot in foot, even before Michael Jordan turned sneakers into high-end fashion.

Like usual, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is an exception.

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was the two-time MVP before Jokic became a two-time MVP. Antetokounmpo wore a lavender-and-green colorway of his Nike Zoom Freak 4s during Saturday’s game in Denver. Jokic played in a clean pair of white Nike Air Zoom G.T. Jumps, as he has for much, if not all, of this season.

When Joel Embiid, the betting favorite to win MVP, takes the court for Monday’s against the Nuggets, he’ll likely do so in his Under Armour Embiid 1.

Jokic previously has worn different editions of Nike’s Hyperdunk and Zoom Rize lines. Jokic has been a loyal Nike athlete throughout his career, but he doesn’t appear any closer to joining the ranks of NBA players with a signature shoe.

“I didn’t have any conversation,” Jokic answered when asked if he and Nike have discussed the possibility.

Jokic has, at least for now, ended a long line of former MVPs with a signature shoe. James Harden, who has his own Adidas line, won the MVP award before Antetokounmpo. The trend goes back nearly 15 years thanks to Russell Westbrook (Jordan), Stephen Curry (Under Armour), Kevin Durant (Nike), LeBron James (Nike), Derrick Rose (Adidas) and the late Kobe Bryant, whose Nikes remain a popular on-court choice for NBA players. The streak goes back to the 2007 MVP, Dirk Nowitzki, another European big man who mastered the fundamental aspects of the game but did not possess the high-flying, explosive athleticism shoe companies covet in their signature athletes.

There are many perks to having a signature shoe. There’s an added level of research to optimize the shoe to their namesake’s on-court needs. Players get more input when it comes to the design, and it’s an easy way for an NBA player to add tens of millions of dollars to their bank account. For now, the best Jokic can do is a player edition. That means his shoes of choice come with his personalized logo, featuring a jester’s hat above either his initials or jersey number, and colorways that go with Denver’s different uniform options. It also comes with a far less lucrative contract. There are no royalties unless the name or identity is attached to the shoe — like Antetokounmpo’s Nikes, which feature a play on his “Greek Freak” nickname.

“He’s got his insignia. He’s got his logo on there. They’re dope,” Aaron Gordon said of Jokic’s shoes after Saturday’s win over Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. “I don’t see anybody else that has those shoes. I know Nike doesn’t do too many player editions.”

A shoe line can provide a valuable source of income even into retirement. Jordan still makes more than any active player when it comes to shoe sales, while stars like Penny Hardaway, Allen Iverson and Bryant continue to sell shoes bearing their name. Vlatko Cancar did not think that part of the business would appeal to his teammate and close friend.

“I feel like after basketball, he wants to be the least-recognizable person in the world,” Cancar told The Denver Gazette on Saturday.

The signature shoe boom has made its way to Hollywood. The upcoming feature film “Air” will tell the story of Nike’s pursuit of Jordan with Ben Affleck (Phil Knight) and Matt Damon (Sonny Vaccaro) cast in key roles.

While a signature shoe has become an NBA status symbol in the last few decades, Jokic doesn’t see it as a big deal. It’s not surprising given his consistent disinterest in most things that measure individual success.

“It would be nice,” Jokic said after leading the Nuggets to a win over the Bucks on Saturday. “But if it doesn’t happen, I’m not going to die. So, it is what it is.”

While it might seem like there’s a bias against European big men when it comes to signature shoes, the issue appears to be broader.

Before Jokic and Nowitzki, there was Tim Duncan. Arguably the greatest power forward to play the game, Duncan had a couple of exclusive Nikes early in his career. He finished his career as an Adidas athlete.

“He just wasn’t sexy enough. Tim Duncan’s a great player, but his shoes didn’t sell,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after Friday’s practice.

“Maybe that’s the hesitation for Nike and Nikola … I think ‘Air Joker’ sounds pretty damn cool.”

Kevin Garnett sported Nike and Adidas shoes throughout his career but had to wait for a late-career deal with Chinese brand Anta to get a signature shoe.

It took Shaquille O’Neal’s huge personality and even bigger game for a traditional center to sustain a long line of signature sneakers even before the NBA’s position-less revolution. Reebok invested heavily in O’Neal as a rookie, long before he won the only MVP of his career with the Lakers in 2000.

Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji is, admittedly, not an obsessed sneakerhead like some of his peers, but he took a shot at explaining why big men haven’t enjoyed the same sneaker success as the guards.

“Maybe because their game is more flashy. I think that’s probably the only thing I can think of,” Nnaji said. “If you’ve got a guy who’s a two-time MVP back-to-back – about to hopefully win his third – it’s like, there’s nothing more flashy than that.”

There’s also issues of economics and logistics. Cancar said there isn’t the same obsession with basketball shoes in Europe as there is in America. While there are popular websites and boutiques where American sneakerheads will spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for limited release Jordans, LeBrons and Kobes, the same demand doesn’t exist abroad, nor does the supply. When Cancar began his professional career with Olimpija Ljubljana, in his native Slovenia, his best bet was to use his free pair of shoes supplied by the team at a local sporting goods store with precise timing.

“I would always wait when they got Kobes in. They would sell out pretty fast, because there’s not really like ordering shoes or stuff like that,” Cancar said. “If you order shoes, you’re going to have to wait like two or three months.”

Bob Cousy is believed to be the first NBA player to have a signature shoe.

His PF Flyers, complete with a patch bearing the Bob Cousy All-American name, were released in 1958, five years before Jordan was born.

Nearly 20 years later, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got his face and signature skyhook on a pair of high-top Adidas kicks in 1971. A couple of years later, Walt Frazier’s Puma Clydes were released.

Julius Erving’s Converses and George Gervin’s Nike Iceman Blazers were also released before the first pair of Jordan’s signatures.

The Jordan 1, now a streetwear staple, was released in 1985, unofficially tipping off basketball’s obsession with signature sneakers. Malone was born the same year as Abdul-Jabbar’s sneaker release and was too young to get Frazier’s shoes. He had to wait until his dad, Brendan, became an assistant at Syracuse to get in on the sneaker game.

“The signature shoe was (the) Chuck Taylor — canvas Converse. My mother would take us five kids down to the local store and buy those shoes,” Malone said after Friday’s practice. “Then, when my father got into college (coaching), we were lucky enough to get shoes from whatever college. I remember getting orange Pro Keds, orange Ponies and orange Nikes at Syracuse, and I thought that was the greatest thing ever. Back then, the Nike ones had Syracuse written on the back of those. That was like, nobody has these. I felt that was pretty cool, because I had some orange sneakers from Syracuse.”

These days, Malone is on the other side of the shoe shopping, and his daughters have a lot more options — even if Jokic isn’t one of them — than he did as a kid.

“It’s changed a lot,” the Nuggets coach said. “My kids get signature shoes.”

While you won’t see his shoes on the court very often, Chuck Taylor, a semiprofessional basketball player before the NBA or ABA existed, is the first person to lend their name to a pair of shoes, starting in 1917. Without pro basketball as an option, he made a career at Converse, marketing the shoes that still carry his name.

Jokic is indisputably the most decorated player in Nuggets history, but he wouldn’t be the first of his teammates with a signature shoe. That designation belongs to Aaron Gordon, who has a signature shoe from 361°. Growing up, Gordon said he preferred the classics of California style — Vans, Converse and going barefoot — for his off-court footwear, but he appreciates the rare opportunity to be able to call a shoe his own.

“It’s like all the work you put in throughout your whole life — you know what I mean? — and they reward you with a signature shoe,” Gordon said. “It just feels awesome. You look down, and you’ve got you on your feet.”

Gordon was sporting a baby blue pair of his shoes, which feature an ‘A’ on the left heel and a ‘G’ on the right in Saturday’s game.

“‘Big Honey’ should get his own shoe,” Gordon said, using one of the many potential names for an eventual Jokic sneaker. “He deserves it.”

NBA players with Nike signature shoes

• LeBron James, Lakers

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks

• Kevin Durant, Suns

• Paul George, Clippers

• Ja Morant, Grizzlies

Note: Kyrie Irving had a signature deal with Nike before the shoe company dropped him in 2022

Adidas signature shoes

• Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers

• James Harden, 76ers

• Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers

• Trae Young, Hawks

• Derrick Rose, Knicks

Jordan signature shoes

• Jayson Tatum, Celtics

• Luka Doncic, Mavericks

• Zion Williamson, Pelicans

• Chris Paul, Suns

• Russell Westbrook, Clippers

Other signature shoes

• Stephen Curry, Warriors (Under Armour)

• Joel Embiid, 76ers (Under Armour)

• Klay Thompson, Warriors (Anta)

• Gordon Hayward, Hornets (Anta)

• Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (New Balance)

• LaMelo Ball, Hornets (Puma)

• Jimmy Butler, Heat (Li-Ning)

• CJ McCollum, Pelicans (Li-Ning)

• Aaron Gordon, Nuggets (361°)

• Spencer Dinwiddie, Nets (K8IROS)

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2023-03-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.denvergazette.com/article/281973201907648

The Gazette, Colorado Springs