Larry Brown Sports

Derrick Rose is one of the few athletes who doesn’t mind showing his true emotions in public. The Bulls point guard gave an extremely emotional speech last year after winning NBA MVP, and he showed the same type of emotion at the launch of his new adidas shoe.

As Brett Pollakoff of Pro Basketball Talk shared with us on Thursday, Rose cried at the launch for his new D Rose 3 shoes. Adidas had played a video chronicling Rose’s rehab and return from a torn ACL suffered in April, and it got the former MVP thinking about all he had been through in life to arrive at this point.

“It’s truly a blessing,” Rose reflected, while holding back tears. “With all of the stuff that’s going on in this city, a kid from Englewood has got something positive going on. That makes me feel so good. This shoe is great; all this is great. But I can’t explain this. I can’t. I went through so much. To have, like, true fans, that means a lot to me. And I know it means a lot to my family, because we’re not supposed to be here. At all. But God made the way.”

If there’s another athlete who is as aware of his past and path to stardom, you’ll have to let me know. Maybe Rose’s connection to his long road to success is what motivates him to work as hard as he does. It certainly explains why he never takes a moment for granted.

$300 basketball shoes.  That little notion is driving the entire sports world insane this week.

Some people are shocked about the price, as if no one has ever seen the price of a nice pair of Salvatore Ferragamos or any other finely crafted shoe with less than 10% the research and technology of the LeBron Xs. Some are questioning LeBron’s character, as if he twisted Nike’s arm and forced them to overprice his signature show in some sort of evil genius plan to make every single person on the planet buy his shoes by making them incredibly unaffordable. And there are those who are trying to defend the whole ordeal. Good luck to the latter; people still hate LeBron for no real conceivable reason.

For the purposes of my own sanity, let’s look past the LeBron vitriol and let’s just concentrate on these cutting edge shoes and their wallet-slicing price tag. The real issue here is a question of “want” vs. “need,” and more specifically, who “wants” and who “needs” these shoes.

We live in a relatively free world where no one is forced to buy anything. For everything you can buy there is always an alternative that is more affordable (or more expensive, if you desire). So why is everyone worked up over the price of these shoes? Nike isn’t forcing you to spend $300 — which by the way is only a rumored price and not Nike’s set price — and there is no prerequisite saying you need to own a pair to cheer for LeBron and the Heat. You don’t even need a pair of $300 LeBron Xs to get some run in a pick up game. You can buy brand new basketball shoes for under $50 and have just as much fun at the local courts as the guy in a pair of new Kobes. And if you shop diligently, you might even be able to pick up a pair of new Kobes for under $100.

Like I said: the choices are there, no one needs to own a pair of LeBron Xs. And if you’re still angry at Nike and LeBron, vote with your dollar and don’t buy the shoe.

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When you’re an NBA champion and can no longer be labeled a choker, you can pull off footwear like this. LeBron James took to Instagram on Tuesday to unveil some new Arnold Palmer-inspired kicks he calls the “LeBronold Palmer 9 lows.” As you can see, they even come equipped with a picture of Arnie’s favorite drink in the sole of the shoe.

While basketball shoes like the LBJ MVP sneakers and those ridiculous dinosaur-looking ones Kobe launched around Christmas could only be accepted by the basketball community, the LeBronold Palmer’s may interest cribbage enthusiasts in retirement communities across Florida. Good for LeBron for trying to bridge the gap between the South Beach scene and the octogenarian population.

A dude named Justin “Jus Fly” Darlington won the Nike LA dunk contest last Friday by doing a cartwheel before slamming down. But forget the cartwheel dunk which is impressive to say the least, my focus is on the shoes he was wearing.

These shoes take statistics while you’re running/jumping and send them directly to your iPhone? Excuse me while my mind featuring a ’90s upbringing that consisted solely of pumped up kicks and second-hand Air Jordans needs a couple minutes to compute. This is unreal. I need my “speed,” “quickness,” and “hustle” measured and I need it measured now. I bet I have 10x as much hustle as LeBron ever had.

Just another brilliant marketing campaign by Nike. Every kid in the country is going to need to measure the previously (and currently) immeasurable attribute of “hustle” against each other. But the shoes themselves seem legit.

Nike apparently had a little help from this organization called NASA to develop these wonder shoes known as Hyperdunk+, which are being released at the end of June. A material known as Lunar Foam was used to help construct these shoes. Lunar Foam is something I can only assume is a combination of webbing created by Peter Parker and dried Superman piss. If any other lesser material was used then consider this shoe a fraud.

For every good design in the fashion industry, there are 100 that are awful and never make it onto the shelves. Then, there are those that are horrible but somehow slip through the cracks. Adidas let on past the goalie on Monday when it released a photo of its new shackle sneakers that were designed by Beverly Hills designer Jeremy Scott.

Adidas briefly defended the design, but after the Twitter world erupted with outrage and labeled the sneakers “Adidas slave shackle kicks” they decided it was best to pull the shoes. Good choice. We’ve seen some hideous basketball sneaker designs in the past, but how someone could be ignorant enough to say these aren’t offensive is baffling. And even if they weren’t, who the hell would wear these things?

H/T I Am a GM

LeBron James received his third NBA MVP award in the past four years on Saturday and his achievement was recognized (read: capitalized on) by Nike. The sneaker and apparel company named LeBron “Employee of the Year,” and is releasing a special-edition shoe to commemorate the achievement.

Here’s a description of the shoe via Nike’s website:

Nike further salutes the three-time MVP with a special edition LEBRON 9 MVP shoe. Designed for elite performance and crafted with style, the LEBRON 9 MVP features striking Miami team colors. Gradient fades from red to black to comprise the upper with pops of yellow while details including an MVP logo on the heel and trophies printed on the sockliner mark the award. This special LEBRON 9 MVP shoe was made specifically for James, but a very limited amount will be brought to market next month.

The soles and heel of the shoe both have MVP references:

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If you’re into superstars who play on the worst teams in the NBA, Reebok is coming out with a new sneaker that you’re going to love. According to SLAM Online, Reebok will be releasing these limited-edition gold John Wall sneakers at midnight on Thursday. The package is called “Beyond the Gold” and is selling for $200. We say package because the sneakers come in a briefcase that also holds a FLUD x Reebok “Beyond the Gold” watch and a pair of John Wall-branded sunglasses.

To me, these look like something Mike Myers would have worn when he played Goldmember in the this Austin Powers movie. I’m from Holland, isn’t that veird?