Results for the top-selling signature basketball sneaker lines of 2017 prove that LeBron James is king of the league in more ways than one.
Fully deserving of another MVP honor for the 2017-18 NBA season — although the award will probably go to James Harden this year — James certainly reigns as Nike‘s most valuable player. According to a report by Forbes utilizing data from the marketing research firm The NPD Group Inc., the baller led the way for signature basketball sneaker sales during 2017, along with other Nike and Jordan Brand lines taking four of the top five spots.
While James’s secondary Nike Soldier series is also factored into sales totals, his latest flagship signature model, the Nike LeBron 15, can be credited with much of the franchise’s success in 2017, bringing significant buzz back to the Nike LeBron line after a few years where his shoes dropped in popularity in the marketplace. The superstar’s dominance on the court and the shoe’s appealing design weren’t the only factors to the rise of the LeBron line in 2017, as the “LeBron Watch” campaign of limited-edition colorways inspired by other models from Nike’s past significantly helped bring hype back to his footwear.
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Coming in second place for 2017’s top-selling basketball signature lines was James’ former teammate Kyrie Irving, whose Nike signature series took the No. 2 spot for the second year in a row. Kevin Durant claims the No. 3 seed for 2017, switching ranks from 2016’s results with teammate Stephen Curry, whose Under Armour line is now at No. 4. Although not on the court since 2003, Michael Jordan finishes at No. 5, thanks to the sales of the Air Jordan 32, which technically counts as his signature shoe.
