Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown shows off his own brand and signature shoes ahead of the 2024 NBA season – Andscape

After greater than two years of deciding to play without an official footwear agreement, Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown has unveiled his own brand, 741, under which he’ll launch the long-awaited first signature shoe of his profession – Rover.

The announcement of Brown’s self-funded and managed brand got here Tuesday after the Celtics’ media day, during which the reigning NBA Finals MVP posed for official team photos in his latest shoes, which he’ll wear throughout the upcoming 2024 NBA season.

“741 is more than just a sneaker brand,” Brown said in an official press release. “It’s a statement – ​​about independence, creativity and ownership.”

The 741 Rover is scheduled to debut on October 22, the same day Boston opens its season against the New York Knicks. According to 741’s official website, adult shoe sizes are priced at $200 per pair, while kid’s sizes are priced at $70.

Brown’s first shoe will make him the NBA’s twenty eighth energetic headliner. The debut shoes signed by Sacramento Kings All-Star point guard De’Aaron Fox (Curry Brand) and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic (361 degrees) from the Denver Nuggets are expected this season. Brown also becomes a minimum of the ninth player in NBA history to release a signature sneaker under a private or family brand, joining Patrick Ewing (Ewing Athletics, 1989) and Shaquille O’Neal (Dunk.net/Dunkman, 2000-01). and Stephon Marbury (Starbury, 2006).

“Understanding ownership and value is important for the next generation of athletes,” Brown said in the debut press release promoting the 741. “It’s time to create greater value for everyone involved, from athletes to consumers to employees and the communities that support them.” He said , that he “rejected $50 million in offers” from major shoe corporations to realize full ownership and control of creative design inside his own company.

Brown initially endorsed Adidas under the standard player contract he signed as a rookie in 2016 and played until his five-yr contract expired in 2021. In the spring of 2022, Brown made headlines as the first NBA player to sign with Donda Sports , the talent agency founded by music artist and longtime Adidas collaborator Kanye West. The move potentially set the stage for Brown to grow to be the face and debut headliner of Yeezy Basketball’s division until the rapper’s partnership with Adidas abruptly led to October 2022, just before the start of Brown’s breakout seventh NBA season, and Brown has left Donda Sports.

For the past two years, Brown has been wearing Nike sneakers, though he was not officially affiliated with the shoe company. However, in late 2023, he began removing the swoosh from pairs he wore from the late Kobe Bryant’s signature line and pairs from Nike’s GT series. Brown’s creative control over his Nike shoes was likely prompted by a controversial conclusion directed at his former Celtics teammate Kyrie Irving’s long-term cooperation with Nike, which ended before the 2023 NBA season. “Since when does Nike care about ethics?” Brown wrote on X, formerly referred to as Twitter, in response to company founder Phil Knight’s comments about ending his relationship with Irving. Brown’s post has since received greater than 120,000 reposts and likes.

“I’m more inclined to go down this destructive path for tennis players,” Brown said in November 2023 on the show , hosted by longtime NBA veterans Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner. “Many contracts signed by athletes are stationary. Here it’s, cut and dried, with no creative control, no marketing control, but mainly no input.

In early June, as the Celtics reached the 2024 NBA Finals, Brown’s desire to forge his own path in footwear took center stage as he participated in pregame warmups in an unassuming shoe, prompting speculation that it was his upcoming first signature model. However, nobody has been in a position to discover or confirm the brand behind the aesthetically futuristic design.

A number of months later, basketball and sneaker culture found an official answer. After eight seasons in the NBA, one sneaker endorsement and three years of free shoe agency, Brown finally has his own signature shoe, designed for him and by himself, with the freedom and vision of his own brand.

Brown also continues the legacy of NBA players bringing sneakers to market on their own terms. It was founded 35 years ago in 1989, after former Knicks star Ewing left Adidas and a one-yr, $1 million contract to form Ewing Athletics to supply more fuel-efficient, high-performance basketball shoes. Ewing’s sneaker entrepreneurship paved the way for O’Neal’s Dunkman brand at Payless, Marbury’s Starbury line as one of the most fascinating stories in sneaker history, and now Brown has disrupted the modern NBA star footwear landscape.

“I put everything into designing 741,” Brown said, “and it was as challenging and rewarding as anything I did on the court.”