Rumors

Bleacher Report: “NI HAO WHAT’S HANNIN?!” Ant was hype for his AE Tour in China 🤣 (via Maureen.delvillar/IG)

x.com

Anthony Edwards is making sure kids in Houston have shoe game going into the 2025-26 school year ... by donating a bunch of his signature adidas sneakers!! The NBA superstar sponsored Bleau Print Hospitality's "Walking In The Right Path Shoe Giveaway" event ... which took place at the Atlas Ultra Lounge in H-Town. The CEO and founder, Molo, shared the donation on Instagram ... saying Edwards had over 150 pairs of his Adidas AE 1 sneakers delivered to their charity.

TMZ.com

Legion Hoops: MASSIVE crowd for James Harden at the Shenzhen Adidas store in China. Global game. 🌎 (via @adidasHoops )

x.com

James Harden saw some of the NBA's global impact firsthand recently. On Monday, during the LA Clippers guard's UNO Tour with Adidas, an outdoor basketball court in Guangzhou, China, featuring a larger-than-life mural of Harden was revealed. According to the Clippers, designer Yin chose the 2025 UNO Tour imagery for the court design, with the tour slogan "Under No One" displayed on one sideline. The slogan also is a nod to Harden's jersey number (1). The court was unveiled in the rain, and Harden looked puzzled as officials removed the tarp that covered it. He then pumped his fists in joy.

ESPN

"Thank you guys. I know it's rain, you guys here supporting me, I love you so much," Harden told the hundreds in attendance for the reveal. Days earlier, thousands of people packed into a Guangzhou City mall to see Harden, who autographed his signature Adidas sneakers along with jerseys. "You guys never cease to amaze me, every time feels like the first time ... I just hope you know the love is reciprocated," Harden wrote in a social media post.

ESPN

Marc J. Spears: So one time I show up, bro, I'm in this beautiful Adidas sweatsuit. I'm a hard guy to fit—this 3XLT fit right. I had the shoes to match, all black, had the black T-shirt underneath. He couldn't tell me nothing that day. And Bean said he would talk to me at the practice. So I meet him at the practice, and he's looking at me with disgust. Nico was with him. Kobe: "Why you disrespecting me like that?" "Why you wearing that?" And then it hit me. He said: "I ain't doing an interview." I'm like, "Dog, I flew out here to talk to you. What do you mean you ain’t doing an interview?" "I ain’t interviewing you wearing that." I'm like, "What, you want me to take it all off?" Kobe: "You know what? I'mma tell you what you gonna do. You're gonna go home. I'mma give you the interview, but when you go home, I'm going to need you to film yourself throwing that away and send me the video. If you're willing to do that, we can conduct the interview. I did the interview. At the time, I lived in an apartment that had a trash chute. A friend I was hanging out with filmed it. I dropped it in the trash chute, filmed it, and sent it to him. I think he respected that.

YouTube

An up-and-coming auction house has apparently procured some historic athletic footwear, including a pair of Adidas sneakers worn by a rookie Kobe Bryant during his first-ever NBA postseason.

WWD.com

The Kobe sneakers in question are the 1997 Adidas EQT Elevation, the first shoe from the brand worn by Bryant in the NBA, which was renamed the Crazy 97 for its reissues. The late Los Angeles Lakers icon memorably wore them in the 1997 slam dunk contest and continued to lace the pair up in the playoffs, which is where the pair that’s up for grabs originated from. According to Infinite Auctions, the shoe has been photo matched as the same pair worn by Bryant during Game 4 of the 1997 Western Conference first round, where the Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers.

WWD.com

Tracy McGrady: I never felt like I had (financials) under control. Ever. I was trying to control it the best way I possibly could because I was—I didn’t have the knowledge. Right. Right. I’m young. I didn’t have the knowledge. I’m just maneuvering through this [] just by trial—trial and error. Just trying to figure it out as I go. But having Kobe at the time, right, I could pick up the phone, call Kobe, right, cuz he’s somebody that I leaned on, you know, religiously at that time. Very intelligent person, right? He’s very grounded. He comes from two-parent home. Like his structure and my structure are totally two different structures. I needed to have that conversation and—and—and learn from him who had the structure and had the intelligence to help me maneuver through this [] that I know nothing about, right? So it was good that, you know, we had the same agency. We both was Adidas guys at the time. But I could just pick up the phone and call my man and be like, 'Yo, I’m—I’m struggling with this. What—what should I do?' And he was, you know, so gracious enough to give me the game. And uh that was through our whole career."

YouTube

Who is your basketball GOAT? Lance Stephenson: Michael Jordan is number one. T-Mac is the reason I wore number one — had all his sneakers. My school was Adidas-sponsored, so I repped T-Mac. Also, Oscar Robertson. I feel like my game is like his — pass, shoot, attack — all-around player.

YouTube

Nick DePaula: Adidas lifetime athlete @Dame_Lillard is launching his 10th signature shoe tomorrow. The Dame X is priced at $95, per his direct request. “I wanted to create something that’s accessible, that performs at the highest level, and that feels real on the court and in life,” he said.

Twitter

New Balance emerged as an unlikely winner in the courtship of Flagg. Nike, Adidas and at least one Chinese sportswear brand pitched Flagg and his family, according to a person familiar with the matter. Nike and Adidas didn’t respond to requests for comment. Financial terms of his deal haven’t been disclosed. The company’s executives began considering Flagg in late 2023, after the top high school star in the country announced on the cover of Slam magazine that he would play for Duke. Flagg, who’s from a small town in Maine close to a New Balance factory, was immediately appealing to the Boston-based brand.

Bloomberg

Nick DePaula: BREAKING: Adidas has signed VJ Edgecombe to a multi-year shoe deal. 📄✍️ The explosive guard from the Bahamas is projected near the top of today’s 2025 NBA Draft. “This is a family, and I’m going to keep doing whatever I can do within that to help grow the brand,” VJ told me.

Twitter

Nick DePaula: BREAKING: Adidas has signed rising guard Jeremiah Fears to a multi-year shoe deal. 📄✍️ “Three Stripes have been doing something special for awhile now,” Fears told me. “The relationship they have with their guys, and potentially having a signature shoe in the future was big.”

Twitter