D-Wade Switches from Converse to Nike (SOMEWHAT EXPECTED)
It's a little strange that he would go to a brand that has a ton of big names already such as Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and many other big stars. That's a lot of competition but he obviously doesn't care. He must really hate Converse. He also wants to "go global" with his brand so Nike is obviously the company that can give him that kind of exposure. Nike actually owns Converse as well, so it's not as big of a change as someone moving from Reebok or Adidas. The money still stays within the company.
The fact that he was so willing to switch brands makes me wonder about the actual quality of Converse's basketball shoes. D-Wade actually stopped wearing the 4th version of his shoe last season in favor of the D-Wade 1.0 from 2006 because it was more comfortable. That's pretty F'd up and was a very big message to Converse that he was unhappy with his shoes. You don't really want your first signature shoe to be your best. Take a look at the progression below. It's like Converse just gave up after the first two shoes.
This will probably be the end of Converse's run with competitive basketball shoes unless they can land another big name or a few young guys with potential. If you don't have anyone promoting your brand, it's tough to survive in the super competitive basketball sneaker game. It should be interesting to see if Converse can even exist as a brand after this. They will probably always be around with the Chuck Taylor's but that's probably about it at this point.
