Most any rookie would love to follow in the footsteps of Zion Williamson and replicate just about anything he’s done on the basketball court, but for Lakers’ rookie Chaundee Brown out of Michigan, he had the rare Zion-esque moment on the court at Summer League no player wants to have happen.
During the Lakers matchup with the Knicks on Thursday night, Brown blew through his shoe — somewhat ironically Zion’s signature sneaker with Jordan — as he planted on defense trying to apply backcourt pressure to Obi Toppin. Maybe most impressive is Brown continued to play despite his foot sticking out of his shoe, ultimately fouling Toppin as he was a bit overzealous before strolling to the bench to get a replacement.
Lakers rookie Chaundee Brown broke through the front of his shoe and kept playing 😳 pic.twitter.com/dV6L99YC6k
— ESPN (@espn) August 12, 2021
Williamson rather famously had a shoe explode at Duke causing him a minor injury and forcing him to miss his the majority of his first game against UNC, leading to Nike going straight to the manufacturer to try and figure out how to build him a shoe that would work for his power. That it’s Zion’s signature with Jordan that produced the same result for Brown is a fascinating coincidence. Happily, Brown did not suffer any knee tweak or ankle issue with the shoe explosion and was able to keep playing once he got a fresh pair on his feet.
