Every basketball player dreams of owning their own signature shoe. In the past, that avenue was only open to the best of the best with the biggest shoe companies. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. Many stars and role players have begun signing with smaller shoe companies such as Li-Ning and New Balance, spurning the likes of Nike and Adidas. That path will only feature more travellers since these major companies don’t have the same appeal as they once did.
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When it comes to the sneaker game, the Nike and Jordan Brand used to have the market on lock. Nike remains home for some of basketball’s biggest stars, such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic and even Hall-of-Fame forward Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately, their signature shoes haven’t been flying off the shelves, so to speak.
Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, who has watched the business landscape for NBA players change, specifically with sneaker companies, claims that Michael Jordan is responsible for Nike not being able to maximize their profits with signature products.
“Jordan’s a human, so you lose your name to Jordan,” Arenas said in an interview with VladTV. “Doesn’t matter if you are Melo or Tatum. That logo is Jordan.”
He’s not wrong. Jordan became a star at a very crucial point of intersection between sports and pop culture. It would be futile to mass produce that effect with stars that simply do not have his appeal and Arenas understands that.
In fact, he speaks from experience. Although he hasn’t pursued a career within the sneaker industry, once he retired, Arenas followed the same method as Jordan Brand in his media business but eventually realized the issues that would arise.
“The idea was trying to build a network and putting other shows under the network,” Arenas said. “Gil’s Arena is the name of the channel, then we have Gridiron. It seems weird to have another show under a real show’s page.”
“That was the thought of it. We’re going to brand the channel as ‘The Arena’. And then in the network, you got Gridiron football show and then you got Gil’s Arena and then whatever show comes after,” Arenas proclaimed.
At the moment, Arenas is still unsure if he made the right decision, but he will know for sure when once the 2025-26 NBA season is underway.
