7. Who has been the most disappointing player in terms of kicks on court this season?
Pollakoff: It has to be Matt Bonner spurning New Balance and signing with adidas! While the adidas line is far better looking and superior performance-wise, there was something innocent about Bonner’s affinity for a shoe that isn’t exactly revered as a high-performance model for NBA players. If you want a more serious answer, it’s probably LeBron not wearing the 11s all that much, mainly because we’ve been deprived of so many cool PEs to this point in the season.
Schwadron: Through no fault of their own, I’d say Paul George and James Harden. Both those dudes are such great young stars in the League, and they deserve better from Nike! Okay, so signature sneakers that aren’t Kobe, KD or LeBron don’t sell, but it still feels like a waste of talent and sneaker visibility not to be doing more creative things with two of the NBA’s Top 5 or 6 players. Why not lace PG and the Beard in some crazy PEs or exclusive retros and really get people talking about them? It just feels like a missed opportunity in that space just below LeBron and Kobe. Imagine if Harden showed up one day wearing the Nike Air Jet Flight or George surprised us by rocking some old-school Shox—people would go crazy, even if Nike never planned on releasing them for public consumption.
Holdahl: Got to be Matt Bonner ditching his New Balance, doesn’t it? Again, much love to the folks at adidas and I like his Crazy 8 colorway a great deal, but Bonner’s dad sneakers fit his everyman persona so well that any change was going to be a disappointment unless he started wearing Tevas with socks on court. I mean, get your paper Matt, but now you’re just another face in the crowd.
Kiel: What’s been more disappointing than any one player is the non-stop injuries that keep piling up. Some of the players we often check out in regards to footwear, including Russell Westbrook, Nate Robinson, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose and Chris Paul, have only played a small number of games this year, which directly effects what we see on court. Sure, Derrick Williams and J.R. Smith have toned their variety down from last season, but the NBA and the Kicks On Court Champion race would be in a better place sans the injuries.
Cason: For me, it’s been Paul George. His play is elevating him towards being in consideration for a signature shoe as he’s one of the best two-way All-Stars in the league. He’s a huge Penny guy and there’s just so much opportunity there that’s being missed, but Indiana is on a mission this season, so I can excuse him for just sticking with his PE’s.
DePaula: That’s a tough one, ’cause I think the whole league has taken a step back from what we saw last season. With Nate being in Chicago and Derrick Williams being a true sneaker free agent last year, there were just a lot more surprises on a nightly basis. Nate unfortunately got hurt for the year, but hopefully he’ll be able to bounce back strong. A guy that’s been a bit of a disappointment to me so far would be Iman Shumpert. I really liked seeing him constantly switching things up and wearing all kinds of cool adidas, because that made things really unique when obviously most other guys we follow are wearing Nikes and Jordans. He’s been having a tough year but hopefully gets back to having fun out there.
