August 4, 2009

New Signature Shoes

I was on the information superhighway earlier today, transversing the shoe blog exits when I found the following shoes. It took some digging, but I was able to find out which shoes belong to which people. Let's take a look.
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Dahntay Jones
As the head of a growing consulting company, I'm a little surprised that Dahntay Jones's people are supporting a shoe like this. I mean, he's kind of already got a rep as a "dirty player," and wearing shoes with a bunch of tiny knives on them isn't going to help. However, in this economy, you've got to do what you can to bring in money.

Grant Hill
Aside from his basketball skills, piano skills, and strikingly large ears, Grant Hill is most well-known for his ankle injuries. Putting him in a fancy splint isn't just good business sense, it's also a nice step towards rebranding Hill's various maladies. If you can convince people that hurting your feet is cool, then maybe they won't think his massive contracts were a colossal waste of money.

Kobe Bryant
His last signature shoe, the Zoom Kobe 4, was about as minimalistic as a basketball sneaker could be. Until now. Yeah, these are ostensibly high-tops (compared to his previous lows), but the removal of all nonessential material is pretty amazing from a design standpoint. Furthermore, since it's Kobe, you know he has the newest features, such as a sole that has no cushioning, which somehow still provides cushioning.
I'm constantly amazed by the innovations in shoe design. As soon as Blowtorch Consulting gets big enough, we'll probably land a deal with a brand and then make amazing shoes. Until then, enjoy these player editions!

4 comments:

KNEE JERK NBA said...

I got into a discussion with some guy playing pickup ball about the lack of support on the Zoom Kobe's. I referred to them as running shoes. He claimed they're just as supportive as high-tops, despite not having any padding. He probably worked for Nike.

Trey said...

I've actually heard they're pretty supportive for a low-top. Kind of like the Penny 2s, they're really more of a mid, is what I'm hearing.

Beez Kneezy said...

Mamba's sneaker technology amazes me. Half the Lakers and many players throughout the league wear Kobe IVs and I haven't heard of many suffering ankle injuries.

Sports Chump said...

Your Grant Hill comment gave me flashbacks.

I was living in the land of the rat at the time the Magic dumped all that money on Grant Hill.

It was always disturbing to see him ride the bench with that boot and his matching $5000 Armani suits.

I need a moment.