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Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid and Skechers could rock the basketball sneaker world

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Joel Embiid returned to the court last week and led his Philadelphia 76ers to a victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The momentous occasion marked Embiid’s first game since knee surgery that left him with a meniscus injury in late January. While his performance was nothing wanting spectacular, the highlight was on the seven-time All-Star Center’s shoes.

After months of speculation, Embiid returned in uniform Skechers SKX float in white, black and orange colours. After the contract with Under Armor expires Athlete reported on a possible Embiid/Skechers partnership in October 2023. On Tuesday, the footwear industry reporter Nick DePaula reported that the league’s reigning MVP has reportedly signed a multi-year cope with the Los Angeles-based company to be the face of its basketball division together with New York Knicks forward Julius Randle and LA Clippers shooting guard Terance Mann. Skechers could not be reached for comment on a possible cope with Embiid or his plans.

There isn’t any officially stated reason why Embiid left Under Armor after five years. It was reported that the longtime Sixer was dissatisfied along with his promotion and position inside the brand. During his profession with the Baltimore-based company, he won the NBA MVP award in the 2022-2023 season. The brand’s most notable commercial during this series was ad aired before the start of the 2022 season. By comparison, brands like Nike release ads relatively quickly after one in every of their athletes makes history. Nike produced Debate on this topic commercial after Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant won the 2017 NBA Finals MVP award. Embiid never looked as if it would get the highlight that a player of his stature normally earns.

Center Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers will play against the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

Many people view Skechers as a way of life brand aimed toward young children, middle-aged and older people, slightly than a brand that could compete in the lively sports market. However, Skechers reported record sales of $8 billion in 2023, which suggests a year-on-year sales increase of seven.7%. Those earnings leave it far behind industry giants like Nike ($52 billion) and Adidas ($23 billion). Skechers is in the same range as Puma ($9 billion) and Under Armor ($5.9 billion).

By acquiring Embiid, Skechers also continues the trend of a brand attractive to the recent generation. Business executive Martha Stewart and rapper Snoop Dogg recently endorsed and landed the brand Super Bowl ad. The company has also signed former Premier League star and England captain Harry Kane as the face of its football division. It’s clear that even when Skechers doesn’t have the coolness of Nike or Adidas, the money is there. This money flow allows it to compete with established brands, and the company seems willing to innovate greater than others.

From Embiid’s standpoint, this announced transaction is a likelihood for him to turn into the face of the company. He has at all times been number 2 at Under Armor, behind Stephen Curry. Embiid only had one signature shoe, the Embiid One. Curry had multiple pairs of his signature line, began his own brand, Curry Brand, and expanded his product lineup to incorporate golf apparel and more.

Embiid and Skechers could do something similar in the event that they resolve to go on this direction.

Sneakers worn by Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers during the game against Miami Heat on April 4 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

Looking at Skechers current basketball offersIt is protected to assume that Embiid’s signature shoes will almost definitely appear and can be available in an analogous price range. Couple that with a primary opportunity to “dismantle” or a less expensive model of Embiid’s signature shoe, and it is a win for all parties.

One of the key aspects and a possible reason for Embiid’s decision is the access that the Skechers brand has. Skechers is on its strategy to own stores and is accessible at most major retailers reminiscent of Academy Sports, Rack Room Shoes and Shoe Station. While other well-known brands can often be present in the same stores, there are often only a couple of models and often no awning name attached. However, Skechers has a powerful presence in these stores, especially in kid’s shoes.

Embiid could lace up future Skechers basketball models that might hit such stores. Imagine if Embiid dropped 50 points in a key playoff game while wearing a pair of Skechers shoes that could be had for around $100 or less and were available at a shoe store or Rack Room sneaker shop. This would give a baby who admires Embiid a likelihood to wear the very same shoe he wears, and allow a parent to buy a solid shoe at an inexpensive price.

Center Joel Embiid (left) and guard Kyle Lowry (right) of the Philadelphia 76ers react during the third quarter of their game against the Miami Heat at the Kaseya Center on April 4 in Miami.

Megan Briggs/Getty Images

While the reported Embiid-Skechers deal is critical, it also shows that times have modified for athletes trying to sign with one in every of the top three shoe brands. Nike, Adidas and Jordan Brand used to have solid lineups that usually featured brand names and top NBA players. When you have a look at the top NBA players today, you will see that they are represented by a large number of brands, from Puma to Converse to New Balance to Chinese brands like Li-Ning, Anta, and 361 degrees. Names related to these brands include NBA champions reminiscent of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Kyrie Irving.

A big a part of a lot of these deals is that the Big Three once signed these marquees. Irving and Jokić each signed with Nike in some unspecified time in the future during their careers before deciding to work with Chinese brands. Jokić left Nike in December 2023 after winning the NBA Finals and joined 361 Degrees as a signature athlete along with his own shoe and became a worldwide brand ambassador. Irving’s cope with Anta entrusted him with the position of creative director. Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade was once the face of Converse and Jordan Brand before joining Li-Ning. He transformed the Way of Wade brand into one in every of hottest Chinese brands On the court.

With Embiid reportedly joining an analogous brand at Skechers, it shows that what was once a market with only a couple of options for a major sponsorship deal is now wide open. When athletes are considering where to sign, they are not just searching for signature shoes or exclusive player editions. Players are searching for greater advantages, reminiscent of fractional ownership, and how these deals will help them in the long term. People talk less and less about the shoe company and more about the player and his brand.

Time will tell what is going to come of the reports about Embiid and Skechers’ relationship. But if what Curry has with Under Armor or what Irving is constructing with Anta is any indication, Skechers and Embiid will certainly deliver a really unique signature shoe and experience worthy of a player of Embiid’s stature.


This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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LaMelo Ball Charlotte turns heads as she arrives at the game in Scooby-Doo’s “The Mystery Machine.”

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LaMelo Ball, LaMelo Ball Charlotte Hornets, LaMelo Ball Mystery Machine, Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, Scooby Doo, theGrio.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Say what you’ll about Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball, but there isn’t any denying the 2022 NBA All-Star has a mode all his own.

The Hornets point guard turned heads on Thursday night when he I drove as much as the Spectrum Center for the team’s game against the Detroit Pistons in a colourful Hummer a reproduction of Scooby-Doo’s “Mystery Machine” – only rather more expensive than the one Shaggy and Velma rode in the kid’s cartoon.

Ball, a lover of enormous dogs, promoted the release of his Scooby-Doo x Puma MB.04, which might be released on November 27.

Ball wore vivid, multi-colored Puma shoes during warm-ups after which become vivid orange shoes for the match.

After the Hornets won 123-121 in extra time, Ball said he liked how his rental equipment was dressed up.

Ball, nonetheless, stopped in need of saying he might try to purchase one, joking, “I already have a Hummer, so I wouldn’t even bother.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Angelina Jolie’s disturbing performance in new interview sparks criticism Years after health problems caused her face to sag

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Angelina Jolie promotes her next film, “Maria”, in which she plays the role of the famous opera singer Maria Callas.

However, for some fans, the press was more about Jolie’s health and appearance than her work in film.

On November 21, Jolie sat down with Michael Strahan for an interview on “Good Morning America” ​​to discuss her fear of using her real voice to sing opera for the role and the enjoyment of motherhood. However, in the course of the chat, some fans claimed they noticed Jolie’s face looked different than usual.

In the newest interview, Angelina Jolie expresses concerns about her health. (Photo: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

One person was cited by Express US for this story he said“It looks rough.”

Another commentator on Page Six he wrote“Ok, I just read that her face looks different because she stated that she developed hypertension and Bell’s palsy, a condition that she said caused her face to droop to one side. I assumed she looked like she had a stroke, in order that explains it.

Debates about Jolie’s sickly appearance erupted when fans noticed visibly large veins on her arms during separate red carpet appearances. Even those that knew her health were still shocked and anxious by her photos.

Jolie first revealed that she had the disease in 2017. In an interview with Vanity Fair she said he said she discovered she had hypertension and Bell’s palsy in 2016, the identical yr she filed for divorce from Brad Pitt.

So when she was diagnosed with the disease, she said she wasn’t sure what could have caused it. “I can’t tell if it’s menopause or if it’s just the year,” said Jolie, then 42. “Sometimes women in families put themselves last until it manifests itself in their own health.”

However, she also said that she is trying to pay more attention to her health. “I actually feel more like a woman because I make wise choices, I put my family first and I am responsible for my life and health. I think that’s what makes a woman complete.”

Last yr, the “Maleficent” star opened up again about her condition, revealing that it was caused by the stress of ending her relationship with Pitt.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, she said he said“My body reacts very strongly to stress. My blood sugar levels go up and down. Six months before the divorce, I suddenly developed Bell’s palsy.

According to National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke“Bell’s palsy is a neurological disorder that causes paralysis or weakness on one side of the face. It occurs when one in every of the nerves that control the facial muscles becomes damaged or stops working properly, which may cause the facial muscles to droop or sag.

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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“The Honorable Shyne” is a hit. This is why I wanted to tell this story. — Andlandscape

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One of the primary reasons Andscape culture author Justin Tinsley and I were tapped to co-executive produce was our backgrounds as music journalists. The documentary chronicling Moses “Shyne” Barrow’s rise to fame, imprisonment, and re-emergence as a political leader suits firmly into our wheelhouse, as his best rap years got here within the early 2000s – right at the center of our hip-hop fandom. I donated my time helping with the documentary, which was a top ten show in its debut week on Huluas a likelihood to help tell the story of hip-hop. I got here away from the project with an understanding of a man in conflict, at odds with himself and his past, and wanting to forge a path forward.

Shyne’s story illustrates the American dream: a poor black immigrant comes to America and from nowhere becomes one in all the largest rap stars. It is also a story about how the American criminal justice system and music industry chew up and spit out so many young Black people. To carelessly follow Shyne’s story is to consider him as just one other young black man who fell into a bad situation and never recovered. After all, his rap profession was effectively derailed when in 2001 he was sentenced to ten years in prison for the 1999 shooting at Club New York in Manhattan. But what inspired me about Shyne’s story was his refusal to let this devastation define him.

In 2021, I hung out in New Orleans with former No Limit rapper McKinley “Mac” Phipps, who had just been released from prison after spending 21 years in prison for a murder he denied committing. As I listened to Shyne’s story, I considered Mac. Both were avatars of a system that tested rap as much because it tested individual men. Mac’s story was about how hip-hop lyrics may be used to accuse someone within the face of overwhelming evidence of their innocence. Similarly, Shyne’s trial created a sensation about hip-hop’s relationship to violence in a city hungry for head on a plate.

Both Shyne and Mac emerged from prison as completely different people than once they entered. In Mac’s case, it was the period of time he spent at home, during which he transformed from a teenage rapper into a man after 20 years spent in confinement. For Shyne, his transformation got here from faith when he converted to Orthodox Judaism in prison. When I have a look at people like Shyne and Mac, I wonder how they’ll survive being locked in a cage, and their answers are inspiring.

While Shyne’s rap stories are what drew me to this project, it’s his journey as a man that makes me proud to help tell his story. And we actually get to see that journey after he raps the ultimate bars of his rap profession.

Shyne got here to the film wanting to discuss his lowest moments – the time after his release from prison in 2009, when he lashed out, frustrated at seeing a latest crop of rap stars emerge within the void left by his absence. He was rudderless. As rudderless as anyone may be who has lost a decade to a prison system that wanted to destroy him. And much more, since it was closed when the superstar’s fame was on the tip of his fingers.

The raspy-voiced rapper could have let these mishaps define him, but that is where Shyne’s story resonates with everyone, whether or not they’re a rap fan or not. Shyne’s second act, the one through which he finds purpose in community and family, where he uses his innate charisma and true genius to turn out to be a political leader and motivational speaker.

I cannot discuss Shyne’s reappearance without mentioning Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs, the disgraced hip-hop mogul who signed Shyne to his label Bad Boy Records and helped launch his profession, is the elephant within the room throughout the documentary and in Shyne’s life. So lots of the artists who emerged under Diddy – from G Depp and Mase to The Notorious BIG – suffered terrible consequences. Shyne’s name was all the time on the list because he spent ten years in prison. And yet, Shyne’s approach to healing and moving forward is as inspiring as his ability to overcome what he sees because the sabotage of his life and profession.

These are lessons I didn’t expect to learn from the stories in regards to the hip-hop star from my childhood. These are inspiring moments that can be of interest to those that haven’t yet turn out to be inquisitive about the Brooklyn, or somewhat Belizean, rapper featured within the documentary. These are the points that make me proud to be a a part of telling Shyne’s story.

DavidDennis Jr. is a senior author at Andscape and the creator of the award-winning book “The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride.” David is a graduate of Davidson College.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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