A 7-year NBA career so far, saw Trae Young committed to two franchises: Atlanta Hawks and Adidas. Since then the 2018 Drafts Point Guard got his hands on 3 NBA All-Star titles alongside 3 signature shoes with the German company. In a dramatic turn, the brand chose not to continue the deal and the 26-year-old star made a Jordan Brand move eliciting peculiar reactions from a well-wisher. 

This has to do with Complex Sneakers, the pop sneakers news company, sharing Jordan’s announcement on signing deals with the young Hawks. Here, an excited Gilbert Arenas shares his take, which turns out to be head-scratching. Since ‘Agent Zero‘ has a history of criticizing Atlanta for changing All-Star rules to the detriment of Jersey No.11, his response holds some value. 

The media that brought the news put it with the IG caption: “@traeyoung‘s sneaker free agency is officially over… the sharpshooter is the newest member of the Jordan Brand 🔥.” This is about the free agent period he had since the Adidas contract terminated on October 1st.

The post which featured Young wearing a black hoodie branded with ‘Jordan‘ along with a white Air Jordan XXXIX PF ‘Sol’, quoted him saying: “You put on that first pair, you feel invincible and like you can take on the world. As a kid, I always puffed out my chest a bit more when I had my Jordans on.” It further reflected his courtesy to ‘Air Jordan‘: “It’s about setting the bar for the people that come after you.” No wonder it triggered the former Wizards. 

Arenas AKA no.chill.gil on IG commented: “🤯🤯 🗣️nooooooo hat about the Ice Tray’s 🥶.” This one made some fans dizzy, seemingly with a typo. He could have meant ‘no hate about the ice trae‘ intending how cool the pictures were. With ‘Gibby‘ letting slip his thrilled moment, are you kind of curious about what’s in store for Young?

Nike, an underdog at a time when Adidas and Converse led the league, had tremendous growth with $113.62 Billion enterprise value as of November 22, 2024. It banked on MJ’s dominance on the hard floor while pitching it as a revolutionary brand that got banned by the NBA.

Even after the retirement of ‘His Airness‘ ‘Swoosh‘ got a growing market cap chart which is promising. So Jordan Brand with a profound tie-up with Nike, would be perfect for Young which might have been recognized by Arenas. 

In case you wonder what happened between the three stripes and our Trae Young, here are some insights. 

Adidas Versus Ice Trae

The success of Young’s 3 signature shoes released since 2021 in back-to-back years signaled a fourth one on the anvil this year, with six colorways. As updated by Sole Retriever, another six could have happened by 2025. However, the termination of further deals for unknown reasons put an axe on its prospects. Thus, it marked the end of a 2018-4-year contract which got renewed in 2020 as a multi-year deal. 

In case you ask if it was a predictable end, there have been some clues since this NBA season training session. Since the Oklahoma alum stepped into the season, he was found flaunting ANTA and Jordan Brand sneakers. Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks champion among the seldom All-Stars advocating for ANTA, reportedly tried his luck with Young. The NBA star, who sees him as a mentor, could have been on the edge of representing the smaller company. 

However, as it turned out, the ‘Black Jesus’ convinced him with his promising brand. This consequently prompted him to speak of Jordan as setting bars for his generation. As he went on, Young put it this way: “I’m grateful MJ did that for people like myself, and my goal is to try and continue that legacy for the young kids, including my brother, that are coming up after me.”

Now that the deal is signed, sneakerheads have something to look up for.