Kyrie Irving joined an elite class of basketball players when his number was called for a signature line. Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James welcomed its fourth member of the signature basketball lines under Nike. With his handles, shooting, and ability to finesse around defenders, Irving created a fan base from Cleveland. In the Kyrie 1, Irving averaged 21.7 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.2 rebounds at the age of 22. Retailing for $110 USD, the Kyrie 1 was the most affordable in the line compared to LeBron, KD, and Kobe. In his first game in the shoes, Irving dropped 37 points against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Nike iD offered 19 base colors and 21 accent colors for fans to create their own masterpieces. Looking to return from a fractured knee cap that kept Irving from winning his first NBA championship, Irving will return in his second signature model. Boasting a midcut silhouette, the Kyries return with a new look. These feature a rounded outsole for the smooth and lateral moves that Irving makes.
The heel features Nike’s Zoom Air and the cross strap keeps the foot locked down. The Hyperfuse construction remains just like the first model.and combined for 82 of Cleveland’s 112 points Monday night in the Cavaliers’ win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the . Both stars hit the Oracle Arena court in Oakland, Calif., sporting new kicks. James was wearing, according to multiple reports, the next iteration to his Zoom LeBron Soldier franchise with the Beaverton, Ore.-based athletic giant — the Nike Zoom LeBron Soldier 10. The shoe was predominantly black, boasting a black upper and midsole, with gold accents and an icy translucent outsole. The forward scored his 41 points on 16-of-30 shooting, including going 4-of-8 from downtown. James also grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out seven assists. Irving wasn’t wearing a new silhouette on Monday night against the Warriors, but he did rock a new player’s edition colorway of his second Nike signature shoe, the Kyrie 2.
The shoe featured a black and dark gray upper with a midsole using an orange to yellow gradient. The guard was 17-of-24 from the field, including nailing 5-of-7 from long range in the win. James and Irving will look to extend the best-of-seven series on Thursday on their home court, the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, for Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Under Armour-sponsored Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors lead the series 3-2. LeBron James Vs. Stephen Curry: Who Is Selling More Kicks? Top 5 Shoe Moments From LeBron James’ $1 Billion-Plus Nike Contract Season Kyrie Irving Leads Cavaliers To Game 2 Win In Nike Kyrie 2 Ky-Rispy Kremes Kyrie Irving’s Greatest On-Court Shoe MomentsEastern Conference guard John Wall of the Washington Wizards (2) reaches for the ball between Western Conference center Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans (23) and guard Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers (3) in the second half during the NBA All Star Game at Air Canada Centre.
Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY SportsI’m not a sneakerhead nor will I ever be. I never understood the fascination with spending hundreds of dollars on basketball sneakers, especially if you don’t play the sport. But, I have friends who love sneakers and sneakers are able to be sold for hundreds of dollars because there’s a market for it.NBA players make a ton of money from playing basketball, but they also make a large chunk of their change from endorsements and sponsorships. The players with big endorsements — LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and even Kyrie Irving — get the exposure that their peers don’t.Washington Wizards star John Wall is just as good as some of the players with top endorsements, but hasn’t gotten nearly as much recognition. There’s a reason why Kyrie Irving is regarded as a top point guard, despite being in the third tier.(Here’s an explanation, for those who will definitely ask for it: Stephen Curry is in his own tier. Then you get Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, John Wall and Damian Lillard.)
Wall has had some endorsements that other players dream about, but for a player of his caliber, it’s a shame that he’s not even considered to be the face of a company. Wall is a perennial All-Star, and perhaps more importantly, he keeps a squeaky clean image off the court. Really, he’s the perfect face for an organization.After he entered the league, Wall signed a deal with Reebok. When was the last time you’ve seen anyone wearing Reebok? It wasn’t a hit, to say the least. A few years later, Wall entered a partnership with Adidas and got some more exposure. He got multiple signature shoes and apparel, as Keely Diven pointed out.Now that he’s considered one of the top 15 or so players in the NBA, Wall looked to get a big-money deal after his contract with Adidas expired. James Harden agreed to a $200 million deal with Adidas recently and Wall expected a similar type of contract. Of course, he didn’t get it, which later led to Wall parting ways with his agent Dan Fegan.According to The Vertical of Yahoo! Sports, Wall turned down over $7 million from Adidas, even though his past signature sneakers and apparel weren’t flying off the shelves:Regardless, adidas made Wall and his agent at the time, Dan Fegan, what many around the industry considered to be an incredibly generous final offer
: $7.5 million per year and the continuation of his signature shoe and apparel collection. Wall simply passed on the deal.Wall is currently rockin’ Nike sneakers on the court after signing with LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul.As I mentioned before: I don’t know much about sneakers nor the industry, so all I can do is speculate.Based on the report, it looks like Wall will either land with Nike or its sister company Jordan Brand. Obviously, both look fantastic on the surface, but it’s not guaranteed that Wall will ever get another signature sneaker again. When you look around the league, only a handful of NBA players have their own sneakers.Wall will probably wait until the summer to sign with a sneaker company. Personally, I’d like to see him create his own Sketcher basketball sneaker, or rock the first Uggs on the court.The Washington Wizards’ star is going to have options. I’m sure other companies, like Li-Ning, would love to have him on-board. For some reason, though, I think it would be super cool to see Wall play in Jordan’s.