Ex-NBA Star Accuses $42.6 Bil Adidas of Stealing Kanye’s Sneakers for Anthony Edwards

Michael Jordan revolutionized the sneaker sport within the NBA group. And Nike since then has had main success within the basketball world. Nevertheless, their greatest rival, Adidas, failed to copy an analogous success. Whether or not or not it’s dropping LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, the German sportswear model has struggled to attain Nike-like fame within the league. And now extra just lately, ex-NBA star Sebastian Telfair has accused the model with a $42.6 Billion market cap of copying Kanye West’s sneakers for Anthony Edwards.

This got here from Telfair after a dialogue of Edward’s Adidas industrial throughout a latest episode of VLAD TV. “I feel Adidas stole Kanye’s sneaker and gave it to Ant. It’s the same design as Kanye. The same silhouette…” he mentioned. Even DJ Vlad agreed on the similarity between the 2. The sneakers within the dialogue are Kanye West’s Yeezy. And the Anthony Edwards sneakers, whether or not or not it’s AE 1 New Wave Basketball Sneakers, or AE 1 Velocity footwear.

Each the sneakers have the identical silhouette (form/mannequin) as that of YEEZY Foam Runners. Though the colorway is clearly completely different. Edwards grabbed a take care of Adidas fairly early in his profession, after being the primary choose within the 2020 NBA Draft.

As per the reviews, the phrases of the deal between the German sportswear model and the Minnesota Timberwolves star didn’t come to mild again then. Anthony Edwards’ Adidas AE 1 debuted in December 2023, after West’s run with the model led to October 2022. This got here after the rapper’s antisemitic and different offensive feedback on social media and interviews.

Adidas suffered a serious loss after dropping Kanye West

As per a 2024 article by Billboard, the model posted its first loss in three many years. And the first trigger behind this was a monetary hit from an finish to West’s deal. As per the article, Adidas had round $1.3 billion price of Yeezy sneakers piled up in warehouses.

Whereas the corporate bought some footwear from the batches, it additionally donated a serious portion to anti-hate teams. As per the assertion by Adidas, the corporate deliberate to donate practically $152 million price of sneakers. Promoting a giant portion of the remaining sneakers within the batch helped to drag out a big working revenue, as claimed by the corporate.

The German sportswear big blamed the excessive tax price for having to shut the 12 months with a web lack of €58 million in 2023 as in comparison with a €254 million revenue a 12 months earlier. Nevertheless, the corporate CEO then, Bjørn Gulden, claimed, “Although by far not good enough, 2023 ended better than what I had expected at the beginning of the year”. As for Anthony Edwards, the 2x All-Star’s Adidas sneakers have been successful among the many followers thus far.

What do you consider AE’s sneakers? Tell us within the feedback under.

Keep tuned for extra such updates. And to comply with what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say in regards to the notorious Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and extra, watch this video.