What sneaker brand is winning the 2024 NBA Playoffs?
As we enter the conference finals, let’s look at what really matters.
To clarify, this is not broken down by team but by athlete, which is why we can have two players on the same team.
These are the superstars and their brands:
Luka Doncic.
Brand: Jordan Brand.
Signature Shoe: Yes x3.
Jayson Tatum.
Brand: Jordan Brand.
Signature Shoe: Yes x2.
Worth noting: His Celtics are also heavily favoured to win the league with a historically good team season in an awful Eastern Conference. I give this context because Jordan Brand should be going all out and planning on a deep run.
Kyrie Irving.
Brand: Anta.
Signature Shoe: Yes x1(with Anti)
Worth noting: He is also the Chief Creative officer of Anta Shoes, a small start-up brand with a fraction of the pockets of the other brands.
Anthony Edwards.
Brand: adidas.
Signature Shoe: Yes x1.
I should mention Tyrese Haliburton, but I had to Google who he’s signed with, so that immediately rules him out.
Pre-playoffs, I already made it clear how I felt about Anthony Edwards's all-time rollout. If you missed it, you can read here.
What you need to know:
For the 2023-24 season, there is a record 26 athletes with their own signature shoe, and given there are 30 teams in the NBA, you can do the math on how rare these shoe deals are. This is basketball’s moment; it’s what they play 82 regular season games for. The next month is when these brands don’t have to fight for attention.
Expectations of each team and why this is important.
Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics had a record-breaking year. They clearly have the best record in the Eastern Conference, and it would be an absolute disaster if they didn’t make the NBA Finals. There are really no more excuses for them not winning the finals, especially now that Denver is out. So Jordan Brand should be expecting a serious run from him and his team.
Expectations: Championship or bust.
Luka and Kyrie’s Dallas Mavericks.
You never know with the Mavericks. On paper, their squad hasn’t been that good, but Luka and Kyrie are two of the most gifted scorers the league has ever seen, and they have figured out how to complement each other.
Expectations: 2nd or 3rd round.
Anthony Edwards’ Minnesota Timberwolves.
Not only did Ant turn into a young Michael Jordan whilst sweeping the Phoenix Suns, but he made people check their glasses and the year, as he did to Denver, what MJ eventually did to the Bad Boy Pistons.
Expectations: Before the playoffs, 2nd round due to playing Denver. Now it’s to make the Finals.
Now, let’s get into the content.
The playoffs started on the 20th of April, we will look at the week leading up to this and everything beyond.
Pre-Playoffs Rollout / Hype.
Luka Doncic:
The week before the playoffs, they released this:
Which ties back to Luka’s personal brand and his love of cars.
4/5
Jayson Tatum:
Nothing.
0/5
Kyrie:
The release of the Kai 1 Playoffs.
It's pretty basic, and they obviously couldn’t get access to Kyrie. Hence, the graphic-led design.
1/5
Ant:
The announcement of his lows.
Leant into his personality and let his charm do the talking. Great art direction using the world made up of Ants’ signature colour.
5/5
Round 1.
Luka Doncic:
Jordan Brand goes for virality with this.
What I do like about this, is it’s consistent with the car thing. It’s also very clever because during the playoffs and leading up to it, I can’t imagine how hard these players are to get locked into a studio to shoot a campaign.
A day later, Luka shows up in the car at the stadium.
What made this even better was that people in Dallas took photos of him driving the car, which went on social media once people realized what was happening. The photo they used is also a hat tilt to an iconic MJ image. This is no coincidence. Very well played.
5/5
Jayson Tatum:
We start to see the World of Tatum.
I think they are making it family-friendly because of his family and son Duece. This is a massive brand pillar for Tatum. This is great, and I love athletes who make their family part of their identity, but I’m not sure this makes the people who can actually afford the shoe want to wear it. This isn’t appealing to 20-year-olds and above.
It’s nicely executed with, I’m sure, equally a nice budget, but it misses for me.
2/5
Kyrie:
Nothing.
0/5
Ant:
adidas is showing off its stars with some nice product photography. Easy post that doesn’t require athletes.
Post sweep.
Showing their athlete on the court. It’s simple, but it’s what we expect. Keep us updated as they progress in the playoffs.
5/5
Round 2.
Luka Doncic:
Nothing.
0/5.
Tatum:
Back into the world of Tatum.
It’s cool and very well done, but again, it just lacks the right direction - in my opinion.
No updates on him or the Celtics, either.
2/5
Kyrie:
It starts to get a little crazy here. It feels very on-brand for Kyrie and maybe something they had to do, as they are internationally based.
I like the fact they are posting on game day but it’s got nothing to do with the playoffs, so I don’t rate it.
I feel they didn’t have access to him for any of this, but it very much feels like an afterthought. They seemed to have made work of what they had and took this a unique route, which I appreciate.
1.5/5
Ant:
After doing the unthinkable, Adidas did their best DJ Kalid impersonation and came back with another one…
No Ant is required for this, which is the excuse I used for the others. It’s consistent with Ant’s world, which they created. It’s very well executed and thought out.
Then, they congratulated him on making the all-NBA team.
5/5
Not sure the count is needed but let’s check to make it official.
Jordan Brand with Luka.
8/15
Jordan Brand with Tatum.
4/15
Anta with Kyrie.
2.5/15
adidas with Ant.
15/15
I hope the Wolves keep winning so we see the full rollout of adidas basketball's upcoming products! They are cooking!
As always, thanks for reading.