NBA players are heavily into fashion, not just off the court but on it, too. And footwear is the biggest part of that.
Sneakers in the NBA serve two purposes: To provide the best support and grip possible for maximum performance, and to look really cool. Some sneakers do that better than others.
Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant has a very popular line of sneakers through his signature Nike line. Perhaps not quite as popular as you would expect out of a consensus top-three player, but still.
According to the website Baller Shoes DB, Durant’s sneakers are the sixth most popular signature line among NBA players, with 24 pros regularly calling the KD Nikes their game-night sneaker. That trails only Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan.
As you can see, Steph Curry’s signature line of Under Armour sneakers is the ninth most popular, with seven NBA players regularly wearing those shoes.
The most popular iteration of Durant’s shoe is, not surprisingly, the most recent model, the KD 11. That shoe is worn by 17 NBA players, which makes it the seventh most popular specific model.
Of course, being signed by Nike helps with these things. Even as other shoe companies make strong marks on the court, Nike is still king.
According to the same study by Baller Shoes DB, 62.6% of NBA players sport Nikes for their games. It’s worth noting that the swoosh endorses not only Durant, but also Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.
The non-Nike Warriors players are a bit behind. Under Armour is on only 4.6% of NBA players feet, while Puma - the company that endorses DeMarcus Cousins - is found on only 2.1% of NBA players.
Klay Thompson’s endorser, Anta, sports the kicks for just 0.9% of NBA players. Which, on the bright side, is still a lot more than Big Baller Brand!