News came out on Tuesday evening that the NBA will strip away the color restrictions for players when it comes to sneakers. This is a huge win for the players, and a continued effort by the league to show them as a thought leader. After Major League Baseball had their only weekend of expression, the NBA takes it a step further and will let people wear whatever they want on their feet. This is a step in the right direction for the marketing of players as well as giving players more of a voice.

NBA puts the NFL and MLB in a blender with this move. ‘Oh, you have a weekend?’ ‘We added a full year.’ NBA continues to understand the market in 2018. Everyone wants to have fucking fun and not be too serious. NBA gets this hence the move to lighten up the rules around sneakers and continues to lead the charge in the players expressing themselves. NFL put themselves in the biggest pretzel of all-time with the anthem issue, and the MLB is the biggest prude of them all. NBA sees this as an opportunity and they’re capitalizing on it.

The colorways that some of these guys have are gorgeous, but you would never see them on the court. Now, it’s possible we could get one of the ridiculous Kyrie kicks on the court at the new Garden for a primetime game. Guys might go all-in and cater the shoe to the team they’re playing that night. Sneakerheads like P.J. Tucker will go to extremes likely. It’s going to be fun to see how these players utilize the rule being opened up.

I’m unsure which Bucks player will be the one to push things to the next level. John Henson feels like a guy who cares about style and shoes. Eric Bledsoe is another one that I could see really making a splash with the rule opening up. I’m sure the Bucks have a resident sneaker guy on the team. That’s like having your one buddy who is a strip club guy or a trashy bar guy (Sometimes, the same dude). A basketball team always has the one or two guys who are way too into sneakers.

Charlie.