SOLE COLLECTOR: Sneakers

words_Nick DePaula

There was surely much commotion about Jason Kidd’s press conference just the day after he captured an Olympic Gold Medal this summer in Beijing, as he had announced he would be leaving Nike to sign with PEAK, a China-based footwear company not readily recognized as a beacon of original design. I know personally, having grown up with JKidd as my on-court idol and having loved everything outside of the Flight Lite to grace his feet, it was definitely a tough moment to take in. How could one of the game’s greatest point guards of all time turn his back on such classics as the Zoom Flight 95, Zoom Flight V, Flightposite I and so many other great Avar-imagined classics?

Well, despite an accomplished NBA career in which he earned well over $136 Million aside from his several endorsement deals, it seems as though Jason has positively left the Swoosh and many memories behind in favor of PEAK and a more monetarily rich deal. Maybe the current recession is hitting everyone? At the start of the 2006-2007 NBA season, Houston Rockets forward and Yao Ming-teammate beneficiary Shane Battier signed with PEAK for two years and $4 Million dollars, putting him ahead of sneaker deals that comparable players earn, like Mike Dunleavy Jr., who adidas pays $1.5 Million annually (Seriously — he really DOES make that much) and also ahead of the deals of several of Nike’s mid-level players that are currently rocking the Hyperdunk in team colorways. I’m definitely biased, but I’d like to think Jason Kidd was offered more than Battier, who by all accounts is definitely a nice guy and a two-time winner of the NBA’s Community Assist Award.

The one redeeming factor for PEAK, who put Battier in a knock-off of the Converse Wade 2.0 last season, is that their athletes are always treated to a hero’s welcome when visiting China, and they also have unmatched visibility throughout the nation thanks to the NBA deal that PEAK recently struck. Just last fall, the NBA and PEAK agreed to a multi-year marketing partnership in China, and the deal allows PEAK to feature their brand’s logo and products on the NBA’s China website and also in advertisements during NBA games. Last year, every single NBA game televised in China broke to commercial with a PEAK Shane Battier ad - quite a marketing asset that may have swayed Kidd.

And while everyone was expecting Kidd’s sneaker debut this preseason for the first time ever to involve another company, so far we’ve seen him wearing the Nike Zoom Brave II, as he did the past two seasons. Rumors flew that perhaps he had already backed out of his freshly inked PEAK deal with some cold feet, but sure enough, I was able to confirm through a PEAK representative that Jason will indeed be starting the season in PEAK footwear. “As [per] our schedule, Jason will wear our shoes at the end of October this year. Now our shoes are in the testing process,” explains Kurt Wu, spokesperson for PEAK Sport. This might not be the smoothest of endorsement starts, as most companies would’ve seemingly placed Jason in a past season’s model while his future footwear is being fine-tuned, just for the sake of brand recognition if nothing else, but we’ll be closely watching as the season’s opening nears and Kidd gets closer to making the switch officially official.

Below- It looks as though the Zoom Brave II will be the last Nike Basketball shoe that Jason Kidd ever wears, as he’ll make the switch to PEAK to kick off the NBA season. C’mon Jason, bust out a pair of the Go LWP, Flight Afterburner or Zoom Flight 95 one last time!

As Kidd and Battier have signed on to wear PEAK shoes, let’s take a look at a few (key word: just a few) of their less original designs:

Justin Taylor’s And1 Cornering to the right. PEAK imposter at left.

Kyle Pulli’s adidas Gil Zero to the right. PEAK imposter at left.

John Humphrey’s And1 Vapor to the right. PEAK imposter to the left. There’s even a makeshift ‘Player’ type logo along the heel — yikes.

In perhaps the worst fraud we’ve ever seen on an NBA court, Duane Lawrence’s Converse Wade 2.0 to the right, and Shane Battier’s signature PEAK shoe to the left. Aside from employing nearly the exact same upper design, notice Battier’s number ‘31′ includes the exact font from Wade’s number ‘3′ along the shoe’s outrigger.