Nike ADAPT-ing for the future — 4 reasons why Jayson Tatum is the perfect ambassador for Nike’s latest innovation
On the 15th January, Nike took us all Back to the Future with the unveiling of their Nike Adapt BB shoe. A more advanced, sophisticated, sleek and overall swaggier version of the Hyperadapt released back in 2016, the shoes can be tightened or loosened with the touch or swipe of your phone (or with buttons on the side of the shoe itself if you’re still living in the dark ages of 2016).
This advancement of physical tech is a game changer for both Nike and the basketball shoe market in general and lots of people with more knowledge than me have gone in to more detail about this, but one of the things I found most interesting was their ambassador choice — Jayson Tatum. Nike have some of the biggest superstars in basketball on their roster (like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and the King himself, Lebron James) but chose a second year rookie who wasn’t even voted the best player of his class (coming 3rd respectively). If these shoes are the next stage of evolution for Nike basketball, why would they bank on a player like Tatum instead of going with an already established star?
It may not seem to make the most sense at first, but after you look a little deeper in to it, the choice becomes a lot clearer…
1) Established stars with signature shoes
This is probably the most obvious reason, but Nike aren’t going to choose a player who already has a signature shoe. There are currently 4 active athletes with shoes and a 5th on the way, all of which are hugely popular with hardcore and casual fans alike (all 5 were recently voted in the top 10 players in the league for the All-Star game). So with these guys being so popular, why would Nike cannibalise their own ranges by telling fans this new shoe is superior to their current ones? This isn’t to say that the tech can’t be integrated in to these shoes in the next iteration (the designers of the other signature shoe range they have — for retired legend Kobe Bryant — have already said they’ll be using it for the next shoe) but when people are already buying these shoes to be more like their favourite superstars, is there really a need to spend the extra money for R&D? Doesn’t seem to make commercial sense, for now at least…
2) Versatile technology for a versatile player
Nike have said they chose basketball as the first sport to roll out the Adapt tech with due to the versatility that players need in a game. Basketball players put a lot of demand on their shoes, with the need to change their fit regularly depending on different moments in the game. For example, a defensive player would want a super tight fit whilst playing lock down defence on a player, but a slightly looser fit when trying to beat a defending and get the ball to basket. Therefore, it’s important to have an ambassador who can do both of those things. Enter Jayson Tatum.
Tatum is one of a rare breed. You’re as likely to see him on a highlight reel for hitting a deep 3 pointer, slamming it down at the rim on someone or for locking down the opposing team’s best player on defence. A player would be lucky enough to have one of these skills let alone several. Are there players better at him at these skills? — Yes. Are there even better well- rounded players out there? — Of course. But no player has all of the other benefits being listed which is why Tatum is the perfect choice.
3) A real basketball player’s player
As with any new tech, the Nike Adapt BB aren’t going to become the number 1 bestseller overnight, and with a $350 price point, this isn’t going to be a shoe for your casual basketball player. The early adopters here are going to be the people who understand the game, recognise the benefits of the technology and how best they can take advantage of it. These are the same people who appreciate how good of a player Jayson Tatum already is and how good he could become. He isn’t currently a household name, but he doesn’t have to be. Casual fans/players aren’t going to the people clamouring to get their hands on a pair of Adapts, those with a deeper understanding of the game and its finer details will be, which is why using Tatum to target them is genius move.
4) A star that’s rising
Nike have made it clear that this is just the beginning of their adaptive technology and that they’re looking to implement across other ranges/sports in the near future. This has the potential to become not only one of the biggest things for the brand, but for the whole category. There seems to be a pretty clear parallel between this and Jayson Tatum in the NBA. As I’ve already mentioned in earlier points, Tatum has been identified as a player with some of the most potential to be a superstar in the league. He isn’t there yet; he’s young and still learning the game and everything associated with it, but the early signs suggest that he has some of the greatest upside than any other young player, so pairing him with a shoe in a similar point of its journey seems like a perfect move.
