Who Is the Current King of NBA Sneaker Sales?

Breaking down the sneaker sales of the NBA's top athletes.

Image via Nike

1.

by Brendan Dunne

LeBron James sold more sneakers than any other active NBA player last year, bringing in $340 million worth of sales via his Nike LeBron line. In a distant second place is Kevin Durant, who had $195 million in sales last year. The athletes only take home a small portion of the money from these sales–LeBron, for example, is estimated to make around $20 million from Nike per year.

The best selling signature basketball shoes, as broken down by Forbes, is an expectedly Nike-heavy list. adidas' three entries among the top eight come via Derrick Rose at #5 with $32 million, John Wall at #7 with $8 million, and Dwight Howard in #8 with $1.5 million.

These figures are all dwarfed by the yearly sales of Michael Jordan, whose Jordan Brand brought in $2.6 billion last year and saw a 17 percent increase over the prior year.

The breakdown of the best selling basketball sneakers by athlete in the past year:

LeBron James: $340 million (Nike)

Kevin Durant: $195 million (Nike)

Kobe Bryant: $105 million (Nike)

Chris Paul: $32 million (Nike/Jordan)

Derrick Rose: $32 million (Adidas)

Carmelo Anthony: $30 million (Nike/Jordan)

John Wall: $8 million (Adidas)

Dwight Howard: $1.5 million (Adidas)

Kyrie Irving: $7 million (Nike). Shoe released in Dec.

Damian Lillard: $1.8 million (Adidas). Shoe released in Jan.