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Nike Shifts To More Patient, Cautious Approach To Sponsorships As NBA Evolves

Nike over the past couple decades has "practiced caution with its basketball stars" and now has a "tiered system unofficially in place" for its endorsers, according to Jay Caspian Kang of N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE. Players at the level of Cavaliers F LeBron James, Warriors F Kevin Durant and Cavaliers G Kyrie Irving are getting "signature shoe" status, while most of the rest of Nike-sponsored NBA players "get occasional spots in a commercial." Pelicans C Anthony Davis and Kings C DeMarcus Cousins are "signed to Nike but have been relegated to what amounts to a bench role." That comes after several former NBA endorsers like Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson "failed to achieve stardom" after the turn of the century. Despite that, Complex Senior Editor Russ Bengston said the shoe companies "need to figure out a way to become super-nimble." Bengston: "The league is full of 'unicorns' now, and by the time a guy becomes a story, the next guy is already coming up." Kang notes marketing efforts "haven’t fully caught up to the evolution." Nike this month "released a signature shoe" for Pacers F Paul George, but he "doesn’t signal a possible paradigm shift" like Bucks G Giannis Antetokounmpo, 76ers C Joel Embiid or Knicks F Kristaps Porzingis do. George may be "very good, but he does not fire up the internet." Because the hype cycle for up-and-coming stars "still moves too quickly for them to be marketing stars as well, it’s unclear when players like Antetokounmpo ... will be able to convert online hype into reliable moneymaking." A Nike rep said that the company is going to put Antetokounmpo "in a digital campaign but wouldn’t elaborate on other plans" (N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE, 1/22 issue).

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