10 NIKEiDs That You Can Surprisingly Get Away With Making

Check out which NIKEiD words we were able to sneak past the word censors.

1.

“Deflate Gate” has been dominating sports headlines for the past week. And among the stories of suspensions, appeals, and lawsuits was one regarding jersey personalization. Those hoping to get a Patriots jersey with “Deflator” on the back are unfortunately out of luck – they’re being rejected by NFL Shop.

It reminded us of a sneaker legend regarding a banned word from NIKEiD. Back in 2003, Kobe Bryant faced serious allegations of sexual assault. While he was never convicted, and ultimately settled a civil case out of court, the damage to his reputation was already done. When the Kobe-led Huarache 2K4 hit NIKEiD the following year, clever fans (or maybe they weren’t “fans”) attempted to pay tribute to the incident with the word “therapist.”

While the word “therapist” seems harmless enough, if broken in two, you can see why Nike may have been against having a shoe out with a reference to an ugly allegation for their newly signed star.

This new incident got us thinking though. “What could we get away with?” Many words on NIKEiD are automatically rejected. Unsurprisingly, cursing is out. References to other brands typically get rejected as well. You can’t even get the word “Obama,” regardless of how it’s used. But while a lot of seemingly harmless words are banned, we were surprised by some of the iDs we were able to get through without getting hit with the “red X.”

If you do end up ordering one of the ideas below, we can’t guarantee you’ll actually receive them. Nike’s personalization policy is broad, giving them final authority over what makes it, and what doesn’t. Some of these items may (and in some cases, probably should) end up getting rejected later in the process. But they do make it through the preliminary set of filters.

GOT WEED?

2.

With recreational weed now legal in the state of Oregon, one could see how there’s no issues whatsoever with this tribute to the popular green plant.


TEAM YZY

4.

If you’re an old school Ye fan…all the way back to the days of the Yeezy 2…and want to show you allegiance to his most popular colorway, “TEAM YEEZY” won’t make it past the word censors. “TEAM YZY,” on the other hand, will.


CURSED BYLILB

6.

Kevin Durant’s 2014-2015 season was one to forget, but his multi-season feud with the Based God is one worth remembering. And since Durant has yet to play Lil B in a game of basketball, we can only assume the curse is still on. 


TIP DRILL

8.

So you’re a Nelly fan? Are you looking for a way to pay tribute to his classic Tip Drill video? This colorway even goes with a Randy Moss jersey, if you wanted to recreate the oufit.


STOP SNITCHIN

10.

Last season was a rough one for Melo. Between the injuries, and the Knicks miserable performance, there wasn’t a lot cheer. Why not remember the lighter days of Melo’s career, with this reference to his 2004 appearance in an anti-snitching video?


HGH TIME

12.

Share your love for the national pastime with this performance enhanced tribute to the modern game.


HAIRCLUB FORMEN

14.

LeBron takes a lot of unfair criticism for a player who few dispute is the best of the current era. His game is among the most complete the NBA has ever seen. His hairline on the other hand has been inconsistent to say the least.


WASHED

16.

Prior to his season-ending rotator cuff tear, Kobe was shooting a career low 37% from the field. Hence this NIKEiD.


ZX FLUX

18.

The Roshe Run inspired a slew of lifestyle shoes that followed its basic concept. One of the most popular is the competing ZX Flux.


DONTGET CATFISHED

20.

Adding to an already rough year (which would get much worse with a freakish injury) Paul George was allegedly catfished in 2014. While George claims it wasn’t him that sent the nude pictures (which he doesn’t deny were his), this NIKEiD is a PSA to avoid these situations all together.