In March 2023, Dennis Rodman made the shocking claim that rapper Travis Scott copied his style for his Jordan collaboration. The Worm alleged that the rapper had stolen the idea of the backward swoosh from him. When rapper Waka Flocka was asked for his comment on the allegations made by Rodman, he agreed.
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During a recent interview at a shoe convention, Waka Flocka was asked if he also sees the similarities between the two pairs of shoes.
He said, “What are you talking about? Of course. Yeah, but Travis Scott has branded it.”
While he agreed that there are similarities between the shoes, the 38-year-old believes that La Flame has taken it to another level by adding so much more to it. So, there’s a lot more to his shoes than just the backward swoosh.
In a previous edition of the same shoe convention, Rodman made the open claim against Travis. He held up a sample shoe of the Mocha Travis Scott 1s in front of the camera to point out the similarities.
Dennis Rodman says Travis Scott copied his shoe 😳 Thoughts? 👀 pic.twitter.com/xpdGDGzB5U
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) March 16, 2023
Rodman said, “Travis Scott has copied my shoe. I was the first guy to do mine backwards when I was playing with the Chicago Bulls. Come on, Travis, give me some credit. You copied my sh*t. This ain’t new, but either way, congratulations.”
Rodman wore Air Darwin during the 1994-95 season and those were reportedly the first Nike shoes with a backward swoosh. Apart from that, there is no clear similarity between the shoes of Travis and Rodman.
In December last year, Travis released a commercial for his Air Jordan 1 Low “Velvet Brown” featuring Dennis Rodman. The ad also served as a statement that there’s no bad blood between the two, despite the copying allegations.
Dennis Rodman’s Nike deal
The popularity of Nike was soaring high in the late 80s and the 90s. While Michael Jordan is largely credited for the success, the brand tried to onboard as many superstars as they could. One of the most popular NBA stars at the time was Rodman, so he had to get a deal from the shoe giant.
Rodman was offered a three year deal where he’d be paid half a million dollars annually. His signature shoe Nike Air Worm Ndestrukt became an instant hit among the fans. In fact, Rodman once claimed that he was selling more than MJ at one point.
During an appearance on Got Sole podcast, he said, “I sold more than Mike, and Mike was pissed. Michael used to always talk to me and say, ‘F**k you.’ I said, ‘F**k you.”
Unfortunately, Rodman’s dream run with the company could only last one year. Due to his controversial lifestyle, the company pulled the plug on their deal after one year.
