Westbrook, Jordan, and Sneaker Wars: Nobody’s Bigger than the Jumpman

Westbrook shouldn’t be marketed as “just a basketball player” if your goal is to build a long-term signature sneaker line off his brand.

Even the Jordan Brands latest commercial for Westbrook

which is a subtle jab at Durant leaving OKC, is based on Westbrook mimicking Jordan’s iconic free throw dunk to promote a shoe, the Jordan AJ XXXI, that isn’t even Westbrook’s own signature sneaker.

Now before Westbrook got his first signature shoe with the Jordan Brand, he did another fashion collaboration with the high-end retailer Barneys for the release of Russell Westbrook XO Barneys New York.

In an interview with thewindow.barneys.com when speaking about being a designer, Westbrook said “This was my first time doing this, so learning about what goes into the design process and watching something be created from start to finish got me excited to do it even more”.

Barneys has the reputation for being a very exclusive high end brand for wealthier individuals. For them to not only let Westbrook model for them, but design his own collection, which featured zero basketball clothing by the way, is a huge accomplishment for him.

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Contrast this with living in M.J.’s shadow on the Jordan Brand, and you see how boxed in their athletes are. With Westbrook’s Barneys collection he was able to showcase his individual style, which is an extension of his personality.

However, their are limitations, because of the type of brand Barneys is, they won’t reach the mass amount of people that Nike and Adidas will. Having one of the sneaker giants behind Westbrook pushing his style would be big.

This presents a new set of problems if your the sneaker giants. Do you want to create another Michael Jordan, someone who takes a large amounts of the profits at Nike. Nike already as LeBron headed down that same path and possibly Durant. Shelling out all the money to athletes after their playing career is over can add up.

Next: Part 5: The Sneaker Giants Worries