James Harden Loved That Lonzo Ball Sported His Adidas Signature Kicks During NBA Summer League

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Lonzo Ball’s made a splash in his last two NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas with a pair of triple doubles, but he’s also turned heads with the shoes he’s worn in this games.

Ball first sported a pair of Kobe Bryant-branded Nikes on Wednesday, then followed that up with a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers while wearing a pair of adidas Harden LS ‘Night Life’ shoes. The Balls are firm in their stance here: it’s not that Ball’s ZO2s aren’t great shoes to ball in, but that as a BBB athlete Lonzo has the choice to wear whatever he wants.

That doesn’t mean other NBA stars won’t take notice, though. LeBron posted on Instagram about his Nikes on Wednesday night, and on Friday Harden himself noticed that the Los Angeles Lakers rookie was wearing his shoes on Thursday night.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWgzd4kH8GZ/

“Create for the culture,” Harden posted on his Instagram along with a video of Ball sporting the shoes in his Summer League game.

The marketing angle for everyone involved is pretty strong here. Lonzo Ball is the biggest story of the summer for the NBA, and him wearing another company’s shoes is great for the Nikes and adidases of the world in that they get a nice advertising boost. But whether Ball is not wearing his ZO2s because of performance issues or he simply wants to switch it up, stating that BBB lets its athletes wear anything they want could lure other people to a more flexible endorsement deal with the company.

It’s the best possible marketing angle the Balls could have on this stretch of Summer League games. Unless, of course, there’s actually something wrong with Ball’s signature shoe.

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