Jaylen Brown may have dropped his first response to the Nike controversy. It could be the start of something big that could disrupt the sneaker industry. JB and Nike’s controversy isn’t breaking news anymore. The two sides have been going after each other for quite a few months now. Notably, the Finals MVP has also sacrificed millions of dollars in the process. However, before going into the nitty-gritty, let’s shed some light on JB’s new sneaker surprise and a potential Stephon Marbury-esque move.

Since his Adidas contract ended, Brown hasn’t signed a shoe deal in the last three years. He’s worn Nikes without the swoosh on multiple occasions. Notably, he donned the Anta Kai 1 in the 2024 All-Star game. Amid this odd behavior, Jaylen has also swung his arms at Nike, the leader of the sneaker industry twice, considering the Kyrie controversy and his Team USA omission. As a boiling point to this 3-year built-up, the Celt dropped a massive update.

Jaylen Brown took to his Instagram stories and shared a picture of a fancy black sneaker and two basketballs in the background. While there isn’t any logo imprinted on the kicks, the visual has everyone’s mind to one question. Is JB starting his signature brand? This is where the reigning Champion could take the NBA legend, Stephon Murbury’s path.

Former Celtics guard Marbury started his own sneaker brand, ‘Starbury’ in collaboration with Steve & Barry’s. The legend believed in the idea of providing affordable luxury sneakers to society and it was highly regarded as a social justice. However, the brand didn’t last longer after Steve & Barry’s declared bankruptcy in 2009. At the time, the retail price for a ‘Starbury One’ was $14.98. The brand again tried to revive in 2015 and again it couldn’t make the desired impact.

Interestingly, even Shaq’s sneaker line at Walmart follows a similar ideology. Big Diesel once revealed that he sold more than 120 million pairs of these affordable shoes for kids! The shoes sold for as low as $12.70. Nevertheless, Jaylen Brown might be looking to follow suit and build his signature sneaker brand in an industry dominated by the bigwigs, especially his arch-rival, Nike.

What’s up with Jaylen Brown & Nike?

Jaylen Brown officially began his rivalry with Nike when he stood by Kyrie Irving. When Kai dropped a tweet in 2022 that didn’t align with the regulations of the NBA and Nike, the star faced a lot of backlash. Notably, the shoe brand withdrew its contract after consecutive warnings to Irving and condemned the star for hate speech. Following that, JB called out Phil Knight on the lines of ethics.

Fast forward to 2024, when Team USA snubbed Jaylen Brown and weirdly picked Derrick White as a replacement for Kawhi Leonard, the Finals MVP accused the brand of moving the needle. While Grant Hill, managing director of Team USA, denied the same, JB stuck to his perspective. Apart from the open verbal attack, Brown has paid monetary expenses as well. Maybe even in millions of dollars!

In an episode of Point Forward with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner alongside Donovan Mitchell, Brown revealed the reason behind not signing a shoe contract. The former Warrior addressed the millions of dollars that JB has lost, rejecting the sneaker contracts. Jaylen spoke about the lack of “creative control” and he wasn’t a fan of the “narratives” that came out.

He added, “How it ends right, once you get to the end of those deals where maybe your influence has dropped and they’re looking at the new one, how do they treat you on the way out?” Notably, the renowned NBA star Ja Morant once signed a shoe deal worth $12 million, and stars of similar caliber are usually offered super-lucrative 8-figure contracts to represent the brand. While only Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant hold lifetime shoe deals, considering JB’s increasing stock, it’s safe to assume that he would’ve pocketed quite a few million with a deal as well. What do you think?

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