Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum revealed he’s had his own signature Jordan shoe on the go shortly.
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Speaking on the Knuckleheads podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles, Tatum alluded to an upcoming release but did not give a timeframe on when the shoes would drop in price.
“I can’t say exactly when, but it’s on its way,” Tatum said.
It’s no surprise that Tatum received an autographed shoe, he’s young and marketable and plays in a big NBA market like Boston. When he signed his original contract with Jordan Brand in 2019, Tatum was highly rated to lead the top model, but the news of the signature could be part of a broader extension to that deal.
Over the past few seasons, Tatum has worn a variety of Air Jordan 34, Air Jordan 35 and Air Jordan 36 Player Exclusives shoes, most of which have a special meaning for the Celtics forward.
Jayson Tatum’s newest Air Jordan 36 PE celebrates one of Deuce’s son’s favorite books – “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” – which they read together via FaceTime when Tatum joined NBA Bubble. pic.twitter.com/2ZcGfXhHpI
– Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) December 8, 2021
However, given the overall decline in sales of performance basketball shoes, how will a pair of shoes signed by Tatum sell?
Based on data from market research firm NPD, Performance basketball sales currently account for less than 4% of the athletic shoe market, down sharply from their 13% market share in 2014. The frenzy for performance basketball models has been down since last year. We last saw Michael Jordan in an NBA game.
Coupled with the fact that sales of performance basketball shoes also fell about 13% year-over-year, making this the fourth consecutive year of decline in synthetic basketball shoe sales.
Tatum gets a potential signature that will follow Air Zion 1, the first signature sample for Pelicans star Zion Williamson. The New Orleans forward is said to have signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the brand in 2019.
Follow Matt Powell from NPD.
“I don’t know how the brand can earn this investment in terms of selling merchandise,” says Powell. “Brands typically spend about 11% of their sales on marketing. So, to be able to make $15 million per year, his shoes would have to be $136 million in wholesale.”
It’s for this reason that Jordan Brand has downsized production of the signature shoe – they discontinued Carmelo Anthony’s line after its 13th iteration in 2017 and are producing Chris Paul’s in much smaller quantities. Russell Westbrook, who originally had a lifestyle line with the brand, is now on the fourth model in his signature ‘Why Not’ series.
Times have also changed for consumers, now children care more about what a player wears arrive a game, instead of what he wears in a game. For them, outside the court is a new trial.
