Sneaker Rivals: New York Knicks vs Philadelphia 76ers

Joel Embiid knows the stakes of the Philadelphia 76ers second round matchup against the New York Knicks. After finally defeating the Boston Celtics in the playoffs for the first time in four attempts, the second round offers Embiid another opportunity at redemption against a familiar foe.

In 2024, the Knicks not only defeated the Sixers on their home floor in front of a partisan crowd thanks to a significant number of New Yorkers who made the two-hour trip to Philly, but the Knicks also trounced Philly on the sneaker side as well. With the possibility of Knicks fans once again making the trip to Philadelphia, Embiid is asking their fans to be there for him and the team instead of reselling their tickets, going so far as to take care of them financially just so they won’t sell the tickets. Not sure how that would work, but maybe Embiid and Skechers can offer free sneakers to incentivize fans to not sell. It’s gonna take a lot of sneakers and a lot of convincing to make that work, but whatever it takes, right?

The rematch features a number of familiar faces with recognizable sneaker games, but thankfully, there are a few new additions that will make for a more competitive series. All-Star Jalen Brunson and his Kobe PEs will undoubtedly attract the most attention from the sneaker blogs and aggregators, but he won’t be the only Knick turning heads when they see a pair of colorful kicks from brands not named Nike. And thanks to some new additions since 2024, Embiid and his Skechers will not be carrying the load. We are all thankful for this in ways that cannot be calculated.

New York Knicks

Starting Five: Jalen Brunson (Nike), Karl-Anthony Towns (Nike), OG Anunoby (Skechers), Josh Hart (Nike), Jordan Clarkson (Nike/Converse)

Sixth Man: Jose Alvarado (AND1)

Jalen Brunson becoming this generation’s DeMar DeRozan while DeMar DeRozan is still in the league was not on our bingo cards when Brunson left the Dallas Mavericks to sign with the Knicks. Carrying the hypothetical Kobe Brand in lieu of pursuing a signature sneaker is a huge honor and responsibility that Brunson has embraced with open arms and player exclusives on his feet. If it feels like every other week we are covering Brunson getting a new Kobe Protro exclusive, that’s because it is true.

New York City’s relationship with Karl-Anthony Towns appears to be in good standing at the moment, thanks to a pair of triple-doubles against the Hawks in the first round, but all that could fall apart with a couple of memeable moments in the second round. His sneakers are far from memeable as they are almost always the Nike GT Jump 2 because Nike apparently doesn’t make a lot of basketball shoes for Towns’ size 20 feet.

As for OG Anunoby, he probably doesn’t appreciate the memes and jokes for wearing Skechers, but if he continues to do things like outscore the entire Hawks squad deep into the second quarter of their Game 6 beatdown, New York might swap out their Timbs for Skechers. Ok, that’s a lie, but OG is making fans with his stellar play, including Anne Hathaway.

Speaking of memes, Josh Hart produces meme faces as often as Jalen Brunson breaks out new Kobe player exclusives. Hart might not get the same level of Kobe heat that his Villanova teammate does, but his sneaker game is nothing to scoff at. Hart’s rotation includes recent releases like the Nike Kobe 3 Low Pink Quartz and the Warning Label colorway from All-Star Weekend. Former NBA Sixth Man of the Year winner Jordan Clarkson has alternated between the Nike Kobe 6 Low Protro and the Converse Shai 001 this season. He even got people buzzing last Christmas when he swapped out the laces of the Winter Red Shai 001.

Jose Alvarado just arrived in New York, but he’s already making a name for himself with his hustle plays that made him a favorite in New Orleans and a pest to Chris Paul. But beyond his play that you knew was going to be a hit in Gotham, he’s also raising some eyebrows for wearing AND1 during the first round of the playoffs. He’s previously worn Nike, Li-Ning, and even Jaylen Brown’s 741 Rover for a spell. It could just be AND1 fits his vibe at the moment, or we could be looking at the brand’s next signee.

Philadelphia 76ers

Starting Five: Joel Embiid (Skechers), Tyrese Maxey (New Balance), Paul George (Nike), V.J. Edgecombe (adidas), Kelly Oubre Jr. (Converse)

Sixth Man: Quentin Grimes (Nike)

After leaving Under Armour for Skechers during the 2023-24 NBA season, Joel Embiid joined the rare class of players with signature shoes for multiple brands. While no one is going to mistake Embiid’s UAs and Skechers for the late Kobe Bryant’s adidas KB8 and Nike Zoom Kobe 1, it’s a testament to Embiid’s star power and potential for greatness (still) that brands will take a chance on him.

Meanwhile, Embiid’s talented teammates are on totally different paths in their signature shoe journey. On one side, you’ve got Tyrese Maxey just getting started with the New Balance Maxey v1 right as his star is rising both in Philadelphia and in the greater NBA space. But it can all be so fleeting, as Paul George found out a few years back when Nike decided to end his signature shoe run.

Despite the Nike PG line being a price-conscious one with plenty of fans who swore by it, 2022’s Nike PG 6 was the last for George as Nike cleared out room for Devin Booker and Ja Morant. Since then, George has split time between his own shoes, Kobes, and GT Cuts. However, fans in Asia will be happy to see that PG 1 is making a retro comeback, with potential for a US release in the future.

Somewhere in the middle lies V.J. Edgecombe, the other top rookie from this past season’s class who wasn’t named Cooper Flagg or Kon Knuppel. Unlike Flagg and Kon, Edgecombe is still in the playoffs with a real chance of making the Conference Finals and beyond. His sneaker game has been a game of hot potato between all of the signature shoes in the adidas Basketball lineup, but if he is able to stand out and help lead the Sixers to the promised land, the potential for more is there.

Kelly Oubre Jr. made waves (no, this is not a reference to his old Wave Papi or Tsunami Papi handles) when he signed with Converse in 2018 as the brand was making its comeback to performance basketball shoes. Oubre was rotating between Nike and Converse on the court, but thanks to the Converse Shai 001, he has settled on the brand’s signature shoe in various colorways. As for Quentin Grimes, someone needed to spot the Sixers starters some minutes in Game 7, and we needed a sixth man for this feature.

Historical Matchup: Knicks versus Sixers (2024)

The more things change, the more they stay the same (brand). The playoff series that made Embiid question the Sixers’ fan base was back in 2024 when Knicks fans invaded the Wells Fargo Center to cheer on the road team for Game 4. On that night, Embiid wore the Skechers SKX Float while Brunson rocked an orange Nike Kobe 6 PE.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. After recently getting into Formula 1, he now has hot takes about who the greatest driver of all time is. Email: juan@soleretriever.com