{"id":474235,"date":"2023-08-22T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=474235"},"modified":"2023-08-22T04:47:41","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T09:47:41","slug":"kobeweek-how-a-3-time-champ-became-a-sneaker-free-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/kobeweek-how-a-3-time-champ-became-a-sneaker-free-agent\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kobe Bryant Changed The Concept Of Sneaker Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Before the 2002 NBA season, the term “sneaker free agent” wasn’t even really a thing. By that time, you had a few players around the league switch their shoe brands mid-career, but the endorsement space wasn’t covered to the depth we see today. You also just never got a sense that a player’s brand switch would create such an instant impact for his new company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big names had<\/em> made a switch. Scottie Pippen had switched from Avia to Nike. Patrick Ewing had switched from adidas to his own Ewing brand and then to Nike. Dennis Rodman moved on from Reebok, wore Nike and then switched to Converse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n