It’s the perfect chance to review the season in numbers, looking at sneakers. How have we done this? By looking at the official player lists from each franchise and checking in each case the sneakers that have been used during the whole season, until reaching 492 players.
THE NBA 2018/19 SNEAKER ANALYSIS
An NBA season’s over and we’re beginning to hear rumours about what’s coming for the next one. A moment of calm to analyse what’s happened in the courts, but also to analyse the behaviour of brands and sneakers that is as surprising as the sporting results.
The 69.5% of the players usually used Nike, a number that strikes us because it surpasses the second brand by a crushing 56%. Also, it increases if we add the 4.67% of the Jordan Team, owned by the Nike group (there are other players who wear Jordan but who aren’t official members of the Jordan Team). In total, three out of every four NBA players are associated in one way or another to Nike.
If we look for other brands, the 13% of NBA players have used adidas, a 3.8% Under Armour and a 2% Puma, which is quite a success for their return to the courts. The rest, ten brands that have isolated visibility creating signatures for players like Jimmer Fredette or Spencer Dinwiddie.
If we filter them by teams, there aren’t too many differences between those who have gone off to the playoffs, but there are some fun facts. Are there teams that are more connected to certain brands? The Pelicans have closed the season with 15 of their 16 players wearing Nike to become the most loyal team to the swoosh. Their star (until the moment), Anthony Davis, was also one of Nike’s stars. However, other Nike stars aren’t accompanied as much; Bucks’ MVP Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant’s Warriors and LeBron James’ Lakers reach 70%, the usual number in the league. To look for the franchise with the most adidas we have to go to Houston, Harden’s team has almost five players wearing the three stripes.
If we’re talking about Jordan, the answer’s pretty obvious, Charlotte Hornets is the franchise with the most players who’re associated with the brand. From the 23 members of the NBA’s Jordan Team, 8 are from the Hornets, which is logical as the president of the Hornets is Michael Jordan. Half of the team wear Jordan’s on their feet, on top of being the only team dressed by Jordan, as he’s the boss.
Other nine teams have been left in a different category; players without a contract that have used different brands. These are the cases of Taurean Prince, Iman Shumpert or Dante Exum, even though the funniest ones have been Lance Stephenson and Montrezl Harrell who have used different brands, many of them custom, which can be considered as the novelty of the season. The customisation, which for a long time has been a rarity has almost become the norm, with models that are decorated for each occasion. Made easier with the change in the NBA’s rules that now allow complete freedom in the sneakers’ colour choice.
Some brands like Puma or New Balance have decided to go back to the NBA after staying away from basketball for years, even though they’ve done this from different sides; Puma has opted to hire younger players whilst New Balance has taken a chance on a star like Kawhi Leonard. Without any basketball models currently being sold, New Balance chose the MVP of the 2019 finals as the spokesperson to develop a line that will do drops in extremely limited quantities that is expected to be launched in the next few months.
In the last few seasons a new focal point has surged, we’re no longer only interested in sneakers inside of the courts, but also outside. For the first time, a player signed a double contract with two brands from the same group, Nike and Converse. Kelly Oubre Jr has played with Nike but wore Converse outside the courts awaiting the performance sneakers, that will be ready for the next season.
He wasn’t the only one to wear Converse outside the courts, Russell Westbrook, one of the most watched players for his aesthetic, chose Converse when entering the pavilion. However, the most surprising appearance comes from Vans, a brand that has no apparent connection to basketball has become the usual off-court sneaker by Jaylen Adams, Moritz Wagner, DeAndre´ Bembry, Dragan Bender or Timofey Mozgov.
What can we expect for the next season? Will Nike continue their reign? adidas will surprise us with new designs, Puma will continue their evolution of their models, New Balance will broaden its team with Darius Bazley and Converse will come back with performance products. And, above all, we’ll watch carefully all of P.J. Tucker’s impossible looks.
