LeBron James Debuts Nike Colin Kaepernick Gear
LeBron James knows how to use the arena tunnel-cum-runway to make a statement. During the playoffs last season, James and the Cavaliers squad he was then a part of dressed in Thom Browne suits before every game as a visual declaration of their unity. And last night, before a preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, James walked into the Staples Center with another kind of statement clothing: a long-sleeve T-shirt with a Nike Swoosh on the arm and the name Kaepernick on the back.
James was, presumably, premiering the very first piece from a promised Nike x Colin Kaepernick collection. (Nike declined to comment.) There have been conflicting reports about whether or not Kaepernick’s new Nike deal would come with a signature line of apparel, but James’s appearance last night should put those questions to rest. "I wore a Kaepernick shirt tonight, one, because it's Nike and I'm a Nike guy," James told TMZ. "And then, two, I support Kap. I've always supported Kap and what he stands for and what he believes in."
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who set off a wave of protests in the NFL when he kneeled to protest police brutality signed a “top-of-the-line” multi-year deal, according to the Wall Street Journal. Those sort of high-end Nike deals aren’t uncommon—athletes like James and Kyrie Irving have them, and they typically come with signature apparel and shoes. It’s the figure involved here that’s atypical.
The Swoosh is used to dealing with athletes in the prime of their playing careers, and leveraging those players’ on-the-field/court/diamond fireworks to move sneakers and apparel at dominant rates. But by pushing forward with a signature Kaepernick line, Nike is making a large (albeit heavily calculated) statement. Kaepernick represents a different sort of face for Nike to put its weight behind: someone who is doing their most important work off the playing field. But as a spokesperson described Kaepernick recently, he’s “one of the most inspirational athletes of his generation.”
Kaepernick might be a polarizing figure in some shoe-and-sock-burning communities, but there are huge swaths of people (including LeBron James) who want the apparel to show their support for the activist. (Or, as James put it, want the “Kaep drip.”)
And Kaepernick is the perfect face for our new everything-is-political culture. Other companies, like Keurig, Nordstrom, or Kellogg, have let the shitstorm come to them, by just maintaining advertising on alt-right sites or shows like Sean Hannity’s. Brands like Nike and Patagonia, meanwhile, are throwing themselves into the political fray and emerging with higher revenue totals.
Nike hemmed and hawed over whether or not it was going to stick with Kaepernick, but it bet that putting the former quarterback front and center could attract the kind of customers it wanted while turning off the ones that don’t factor heavily into its future (or perhaps present) sales (“urban youth” and “white, older NFL fans,” respectively, according to the New York Times). Cranking out a line of signature apparel around its most notorious athlete is a way for Nike to up the ante on that already-large bet.
