Jaylen Brown Uses Kobe Bryant’s Own Creation to Honor Lakers Legend and Daughter Gigi, 1 Year After Nike Battle

Jaylen Brown has done it again. He removed the Nike “swoosh” sign from his shoes, and instead of hiding it, he paid tribute to Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant, and his daughter Gigi. Even though he is not signed to Nike, or any shoe company for that matter, he has a special place in his heart for Nike shoes, without their trademark “check” sign.

This time around he’s sporting a pair of customized “Reverse Grinch” Nike Kobe 6s, red-colored shoes with lime-green laces, display a sketched-out image of the late legend and his daughter’s silhouette, and then on the other side we have a “black and white” sketched-out image of them both again, but this time of the backs of their jerseys sporting their numbers ‘2’ and ’24’.

We saw the shoes on Vanessa Bryant’s Instagram story in December 2023. She said the “Reverse Grinch” shoes will be released in 3x the units than ever before. These aren’t the only Kobe-Nike shoes we’ll be seeing for some time. She added that such shoes and more will frequent the sneaker world soon enough to meet heavy demands.

Vanessa Bryant is now the manager of the late legend’s estate and managed to negotiate a deal with Nike to ensure Kobe’s line relaunches with many new releases since their earlier contract expired in 2021. The shoe was released on December 15, 2023, again, where only a selected few customers were eligible to participate in the earlier limited-release shock drops. The shoe otherwise costs around $190 for adults. And we’re glad they’re seeing the light of the day on Jaylen Brown’s feet.

But as much as fans love Brown’s tribute to Kobe and his daughter, everyone wonders why he always hides the trademark “swoosh” sign from all of his Nike shoes! After all, this isn’t the first time he’s hidden the swoosh on the Reverse Grinches.

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Why does Jaylen Brown hide the Nike “swoosh” sign?

While almost all NBA players have their own set of deals signed with different sneaker brands, Jaylen Brown hasn’t had a deal under his belt since 2021.

It all began when the Nike co-founder, Phil Knight, ended his relationship with Kyrie Irving since the latter posted an antisemitic film on his social media, and failed to take it down for the days following. Later, Irving did post a formal apology for the same on his Instagram account, when the Brooklyn Nets suspended him. But despite his best efforts, Nike also gave up on Irving just a day after the Nets did.

It was at that time that Jaylen Brown came to his aid. He heavily criticized Nike on X, after Knight made statements against Kyrie. Brown tweeted, “Since when did Nike care about ethics?”

This comes straight out of the allegations that Nike has been facing for many years, not over the alleged use of forced labor from Asia and sweatshops to make their shoes and other products. Jaylen Brown probably spoke that statement based on these allegations. He’s been a sneaker-free agent since the 2021-22 season, but he has heavily adorned the Nike-Kobe sneakers through the previous season as well.

Speaking with Sneaker Shopping host, Joe La Puma, Brown once said that all the basketball shoes currently on the market are “trash”. He also states that they lack the much-needed creativity and are dull, with lazy designs. He went on to say that he loves having that freedom where he can wear whatever sneaker brand he wants to wear during his games, but is looking forward to a rather “progressive” sneaker deal in the future.

What do you think of Jaylen Brown’s stand? Let us know in the comments below.

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