Paul George is among the select group of athletes in league history to have a successful signature shoe. The former Indiana Pacers star recently recalled how Jrue Holiday wearing a pair of his shoes really surprised him.
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After debuting the PG1s back in 2016, George saw Holiday wearing a colorway of his shoes that even he hadn’t worn yet. The biggest reason for that was PG was nursing an injury at the time that had sidelined him for a while. But he soon saw many NBA and college guys following Holiday’s example and wearing PG1s.
Recalling the incident during a recent sit down on his “Podcast P with Paul George”, the Clippers wing said,
“Jrue [Holiday] was actually one of the first people that wore my sneaker in the league. I remember I was watching [a game] and I was like like ‘Wait hold on’…He had my shoes on…I debuted them first in London.”
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Paul clarified that due to an injury (most probably Paul’s infamous tibia fracture) he wasn’t able to debut different colorways of his shoes. However, he soon started noticing that players in the NBA and even college stars started wearing his shoes. “Seen Jayson Tatum in it and seen Duke colorways in it…And I was like, ‘Wow, they really rocking with this,‘” PG added.
Podcast P Co-host Dallas Rutherford would soon tell Paul the reason why his shoes picked up steam so quickly, “They were solid bro, they were good basketball shoes.”
Unfortunately for George, Nike would discontinue his signature line in 2023, something that still seems to bother PG.
Meanwhile, the podcast’s other host, Jackie Long gave a short impromptu sales pitch to Nike, pointing out how George, who had previously missed significant time, is back to playing 70 plus games per season. Hence a fresh stock of PGs should be on the shelves pretty soon.
But it’s unlikely that Nike will listen so easily as no one knows exactly why they shelved George’s top-selling sneakers.
Exploring the truth behind Nike shelving the PG line
On the very real chance that Jackie Long’s little monologue doesn’t work, George is still pretty comfortable. In fact, it’s been over a year now that he has stopped debuting any new Nike shoes/colorways from his line.
Instead he choses to play mostly in Kobe Protros and Kobe 4’s. He does have a few PGs in his rotation but doesn’t wear them nearly as much as he used to.
George’s signature collection ended with the 6th edition of his shoe, the PG6’s. While there have been no comments from Nike and Paul regarding the reason for the decision, some industry insiders seem to have cracked the case.
According to speculations, George’s shoe line might have been shelved to accommodate the signature sneakers of younger players like Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant and Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker’s shoe lines. But looking at George’s production this season, Nike might be eyeing a potential comeback for the PGs.
