It’s not completely clear what the exact market breakdown for climbing shoes is. One reason for the lack of clarity is that there are different metrics by which climbing shoes can be measured. Some may consider crampons and microspikes a variety of climbing shoes, some may count approach shoes among the variety of climbing shoes, and yet others may limit climbing shoes to the classic paradigm seen in modern vertical climbing. That being the case, the annual total market for climbing shoes is estimated to start at around $500 million. The most popular climbing shoe in terms of sales is the La Sportiva Tarantulace and there are currently no professional climbers who endorse the Trantulace as their signature shoe.
Basketball shoes are a completely different story with a worldwide market of nearly $3 billion annually. Lead by the Jordan Brand which goes far beyond just basketball shoes to bring in over $7 billion annually.
Sponsorship, endorsement, and signature shoes are a huge deal in the NBA, in some cases players can make far more money with the right shoe deal than they could ever make throughout their NBA contract. NBA superstars like LeBron James and Michale Jordan have each earned over a billion dollars through their endorsement deals.
Unlike climbing shoes, basketball shoes aren’t just for basketball players. Collectors, fashionistas, and everyday folks, along with street ballers, gym rats, and hammertoes all embrace the basketball shoe as part of everyday life! Some consumers are just following their favorite player’s favorite shoe and others are going after more personal standards like comfort and color. No matter the reason, basketball shoes are part of mainstream style!
This all brings us back to the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves a theme introduced by Coach Max. Today, I’m asking: which team has the best overall signature shoes? The results of this inquiry are of course highly subjective and based on the standards of one, but I (Carrot) happen to have impeccable taste and will be guided by principled deliberation worthy of honor and cause for great influence.
The process will include three players from each team who have/had a signature shoe. Style and comfort will serve as my main considerations, but unmeasurable qualities such as wow and ick may carry some weight. For the record, the judgement of boys aged 13-17 will carry a negative weight since they have terrible taste and a wholly uninformed sense of style.
| Players | Shoe | Rating |
| Isiah Thomas | ASICS Gel-Spotlyte | 4.5-Stars |
| Grant Hill | Fila Hill-1 | 4 Stars |
| Cade Cunningham | Nike S.T. Charge | 5-Stars |
| Kevin Garnett | Nike Air Garnett 1 | 4-Stars |
| Anthony Edwards | Adidas AE-1 | 3.9-Stars |
| LaMelo Ball | PUMA x MELO BALL MB.01 | -1000-Stars |
Rationale:
ASICS Gel-Spotlyte is a beautiful shoe, it has a good mix of color and tradition. Not overly in your face, but if you show up to the court in a pair of Spotlytes people will notice. A minor deduction because the Asics name on the tongue is too much. Overall, great looking shoe!
Fila Hill-1 was an original. With a brand-new lace-up design these shoes were the best-selling rookie signature shoe since Michael Jordan’s original Air Jordan 1. I think this is a great looking shoe, but the Fila emblem on the heel is wildly obnoxious, get rid of that and we are talking about one of the cleanest shoes of the 90’s.
Nike S.T. Charge is Cade Cunningham’s first signature shoe. An impressive feat considering that Nike only has 6 active NBA players with a signature shoe. I love this shoe; it might be the best-looking pair of basketball shoes of all time. The subtle Nike Swoosh isn’t too in your face; the team color scheme is sensitive yet shrewd. It will officially drop during the upcoming NBA season, and I am predicting big sales for this up-and-coming masterpiece!
Nike Air Garnett 1 had its day in the sun. When this shoe was first released, I’m sure that fans went crazy. It is a good-looking shoe for its time, but looking back, the shoe seems to be missing both a timelessness and a retro appeal. It’s not a horrible shoe, simply a shoe that is seemingly stuck in a different time. Kevin Garnett eventually moved from Nike to Adidas and his TS Bounce Commander is one of the coolest looking shoes I’ve seen, but by the time that shoe was release, Garnett had already moved on from the T’Wolves.
Adidas AE-1 is a wild looking shoe, and in all honesty, I like it a lot! My only gripe is the two-tone nature of the shoe could have been less stark. I wish the upper shoe wasn’t black. In addition, I get the feeling that like the Air Garnett, these shoes will not stand the test of time. I had to knock off an additional1/10 of a point because of the popularity within the 13-17 age range.
PUMA x MELO BALL MB.01. Do I really need to say anything? For the record, anyone who thinks I am being too hard on boys aged 13-17, this was one of the most popular shoes in that age range.
In the end, when we look at the average rating of the Pistons vs. the Timberwolves signature shoe, the Pistons come out on top with an average rating of 4.5-Stars to the T’Wolves average rating of -330.7-Stars.
Now, if the players involved laced up for a game of 3v3, that might be a different story, but I’m still sticking with the Pistons because I can’t imagine Garnett and Edwards wanting to play on the same court with a guy who allowed his name to be attached to such a horrendous shoe. So, in a game of 3v2, Pistons would prevail 11-6.
If you happen to be a calceophile, I would love to hear how your opinions match up with mine. I am pretty confident in my ratings, but I’m open to suggestions!
thedihedral.com 