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From Michael Jordan to Anthony Edwards: How Signature Shoes Turned NBA Players into Global Business Moguls

June 13, 2025

Welcome to Buckets and Riches — where NBA stars don’t just shoot threes, they stack Gs. From tunnel fits worth mortgages to endorsement empires and crypto hiccups, we break down how basketball’s elite earn it, flex it, and sometimes… brick it. 🏀💸

The latest edition of our newsletter covers:

  • Evolution of NBA Shoe Buisness

  • Modern Era of Shoe Buisness

  • Ugliest Shoes on NBA Court

💸Moving the Needle

How Shoe Business Changed the NBA Landscape

For decades, basketball and the shoe industry have been joined at the proverbial hip. The top stars in the game today, from Anthony Edwards and Kevin Durant to Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, all have their own signature shoe, and they owe these lucrative business partnerships to the many players who have come before them.

Michael Jordan famously helped make Nike the top shoe company in the world with his Air Jordan line of shoes. Even today, Jordans are the most popular and sought-after sneakers on the market. Their invention was the subject of Air, a movie starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that came out in 2023.

His Airness may have revolutionized the sneaker game with his five-year, $2.5 million contract that also saw him rake in 5% of the proceeds from each Air Jordan sold. But he wasn’t the first basketball player to have his name adorn a pair of kicks.

The Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars were the first super-popular sneakers worn by serious basketball players. But since Taylor himself never played in the NBA, we probably can’t count those as being the first athlete’s signature shoe.

That distinction belongs to Celtics legend Bob Cousy, who signed an endorsement agreement with P.F. Flyers in 1958 for the Bob Cousy All-American. There’s no record of exactly how much Cousy made from the deal, but seeing as his NBA salary was $25,000 at the time, it couldn’t have been too much.

Cousy’s was the only signature shoe until the ‘70s. That’s when the industry began to take off, with players such as Willis Reed, Bob McAdoo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Walt Frazier, Dr. J, and David Thompson all getting their own look. Kareem’s signature shoe dropped in 1971, his rookie season, and he was paid $25,000 per year by Adidas to endorse them.

Frazier is believed to be the first player to have a hand in designing his own shoe. As the story goes, Puma approached him to pitch their shoe, the Puma Suede. Finding them uncomfortable to play in, Frazier instead was allowed to tweak the design to his own specifications. Thus, the Puma Clyde was born.

Frazier was paid $5,000 and given all the shoes he wanted, plus .25 per shoe sold, an arrangement that proved to be quite lucrative when the shoes exploded in popularity.

After Jordan saved Nike and turned himself into the richest athlete-turned-businessman in the world, many others attempted to follow suit. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird took their iconic rivalry from the hardwood to the shoe industry when they launched competing pairs of Converse Weapons in 1986.

While shoe deals in the ‘80s consisted almost exclusively of superstars, the ‘90s proved that it was possible to have too much of a good thing. Players such as Danny Hurley, Xavier McDaniel, Bryant Reeves, Kendall Gill, and Vin Baker all had signature looks, although there were mega-talents who broke through the noise.

Shaquille O’Neal signed a $15 million deal with Reebok in 1992, his rookie season. The company produced the Shaq Attaq through 1998, after which Shaq left the company to partner with Walmart to produce more affordable sneakers. In a full-circle moment, he returned to Reebok in 2023 to become the company’s President of Basketball.

Shaq’s former Orlando Magic teammate, Penny Hardaway, had his own signature shoe, though his was with Nike. The Nike Air Flights became an iconic shoe, especially after Michael Jordan himself chose to wear them in the 1995 playoffs, the first and only time he’s worn a shoe other than his own in an NBA game.

Sonny Vaccaro, the man who signed Michael Jordan to Nike, signed a young Kobe Bryant to Adidas in 1997. Kobe’s initial deal was for six years and $48 million, but he eventually left to join Nike in 2003, paying an $8 million buyout on his way out the door.

💰 Billion Dollar Kicks

The Modern Era of Shoe Business

Since the turn of the century, the game’s top players have commanded more and more in the endorsement market, often dwarfing their own playing salaries. Much of that comes from equity shares in the company itself. LeBron James signed a seven-year, $87 million contract with Nike before he even reached the NBA. He’s since signed a lifetime deal that’s believed to be worth over $1 billion.

Kevin Durant entered the league with a seven-year, $60 million Nike deal, and he has since joined LeBron and Jordan as the only players to sign a lifetime contract with Nike when he did so in 2023. Official numbers haven’t been revealed on that deal, but are believed to be in the range of $250 million, with the possibility of going higher based on sales of his Nike KD signature shoe.

Steph Curry helped put Under Armour on the map when he chose the fledgling company over Nike. His original contract was valued at around $4 million per year, but after he became one of the best and most recognizable players in the league, his nine-year extension is believed to have brought him around $215 million. He has since signed a lifetime contract of his own that has $75 million in stock compensation and is believed to be worth in the neighborhood of $1 billion.

Athletes are more involved than ever before in shaping their shoe deals, from designing their shoes from the ground up to joining the company as a brand ambassador and lifetime representative. We’ve come a long way from Bob Cousy and Kareem.

💸 Moneyball Moments

The first Jordan shoe, "Air Jordan 1" was released in 1985 and was priced at $65. It made more than $126 million in its first 12 months.

🏀 They Wore What!

Weirdest Kicks worn by NBA Players on the Court

Ever since Michael Jordan flaunted the NBA’s 51% rule in 1984, it opened up countless possibilities for players and shoe brands to try out new footwear designs and colors. While sometimes it served as a great way for the players to express themselves, not all designs and colorways were a hit. 

The shoe game has evolved a lot, with players going for shoes filled with technology to help them get the extra bit of advantage. However, it wasn’t always that way. Back then, players wore whatever felt right, even if it meant wild and impractical designs. That led to some of the wildest shoe choices on the NBA hardwood. 

Here is our Top 5:

1. Gilbert Arenas in Dolce & Gabbana Patent Highs

Known to be an Adidas lifer, Agent Zero was going through a sneaker free-agency in 2010, and he chose to have some fun. When the Wizards played the Lakers in Los Angeles, Arenas suited up in a pair of Dolce & Gabbana Patent Highs. 

The silhouette makes the shoe look like a basketball sneaker from a distance, but that couldn’t be further from the case. However, Arenas gave a solid performance in these, scoring 23 points and dishing out 4 assists.

2. Nate Robinson in Nike Air Yeezy 2 ‘Solar’ 

Even though Nate Robinson wasn’t the tallest player on the court, he always made sure to have the flyest fit. Nate The Great had some of the most insane mix of sneakers, ranging from vibrant LeBron colorways to rare Air Jordans. 

In March 2013, Robinson gave us one of the earliest sightings of Air Yeezy 2, by wearing the ‘Solar’ colorway as a member of the Chicago Bulls. It worked pretty well with the Bulls colorway, but perhaps not so much in its functionality, as he switched into Air Jordan 12s after just one quarter.

3. PJ Tucker in Nike Air Yeezy 1 ‘Zen Grey’ 

PJ Tucker is perhaps the biggest sneakerhead among the NBA players, known to have a collection boasting over 5000 pairs. In fact, he’s notorious for getting PEs of signature shoes even before the signature athlete. Who can forget his tunnel walk for Game 6 of the 2021 Finals, where he wore diamond-encrusted Air Force 1s worth $250,000.

Despite such a big collection, not all of PJ’s shoes are a hit. In 2015, for an early-season contest against the Lakers, Tucker was spotted wearing a pair of Nike Air Yeezy 1s in the ‘Zen Grey’ colorway. He probably found better performance than Nate Robinson, as he did not swap out his shoes mid-game. 

4. Nick Young in Adidas Yeezy Boost 750s

Nick Young is one of the most infamous basketball players of this millennium. While some make their mark breaking records, Young made his by becoming one of the biggest basketball memes (I know you’ve seen it). Another one of his iconic moments came during the 2015-16 season. The Lakers were in Houston, on the wrong end of a 126-97 blowout. 

While it was a game not many would remember, one of the things that still stands out from that day is Young’s shoe choice. He showed Kanye West love by sporting a pair of Adidas Yeezy Boost 750 during the game. In fact, Young recorded his first-ever assist to Kobe Bryant that night and promptly credited the shoes. "It was the Yeezys tonight that got the assist for him," Young remarked.

5. LeBron James in Nike Air Yeezy 2 ‘Red October’

Unlike most of the shoes on this list, unfortunately, these weren’t worn during an NBA game. They did touch an NBA court when LeBron James practiced in them ahead of Game 2 of the 2014 NBA Finals. 

A Nike lifer, The King showed love to Kanye West’s newest release, the Air Yeezy 2s, by wearing them during practice. He seemed to move rather well in them, taking jumpers and driving down the lane. His experience makes us question whether Nike gave him preferential treatment on the quality of these Air Yeezy 2s over Nate Robinson.

🏀 Shot Clock Back: NBA Stat of the Year

In 1947, virtually every player wore Converse Chuck Taylors, a canvas high-top with a flat rubber sole. There were no signature sneakers, no cushioning tech, and definitely no brand battles — just one shoe for all. The Chuck Taylor was so dominant that it remained the default until the late 1960s.