10 Sneaker Revelations Revealed On Athlete Podcasts

The proliferation of athlete podcasts has guaranteed that we will never miss our favorites ever again. Think of any star athlete from the ‘80s and ‘90s that you probably haven’t thought about since their prime and look up if they have done a podcast in the past decade.

Chances are they have either fired up Zoom for the first time or visited a studio to talk about the old days. As someone who grew up in the ‘90s - aka what the internet loves to call the “golden era” of the NBA - I once wondered what was going on with Rod Strickland, owner of one of the greatest dribble packages in league history. A few seconds later, I was listening to Rod talk about how having handles in today’s NBA is overrated.

From Draymond Green to Jeff Teague to Mookie Betts to Paul George, there is no shortage of athlete podcasts or athletes who guest on podcasts to talk about everything… including topics that they probably should not wade into. But a topic that is always welcome is sneakers.

After decades of being bombarded with polished marketing efforts and carefully crafted campaigns scientifically engineered to maximize sales, athletes are now telling their side of the story that often includes twists and turns that we did not expect. Was learning that Kendall Gill, the definitive NBA “semi-star,” once tried to punk a rookie Stephen Jackson by taking his kicks on my bingo card when doing research for this piece? No, but neither was Kenyon Martin being clowned in the comments for thinking he can take noted black belt and former pro boxer Kendall Gill in a fight.

Podcasts have also become the avenue for us to confirm or disprove long-held beliefs/conspiracy theories we’ve had about certain decisions sneaker brands have made through the years. After confirming the Reebok G-Units were coming back, Tony Yayo goes into some detail as to why it did not continue. To no one’s surprise, Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand are frequent topics on these because of the shadow they cast upon the entire industry. And with a near infinite number of athlete and podcast combinations, the well running dry on sneaker stories isn’t likely to happen anytime soon.

10. Steph Curry Being Underpaid by the Warriors Led Him to Under Armour

Between Charles Barkley no-selling his jokes to the best of Netflix’s comedy lineup (and Tony Hinchcliffe) roasting him into oblivion, Austin Rivers’ best friend Draymond Green should seriously reconsider his post-media career… unless he can convince Steph Curry to become a permanent co-host so people will stay tuned.

When Steph was a guest on the podcast in 2022, prior to the Warriors’ fourth championship in the Curry era, Draymond suggested that the 4-year, $44 million contract extension that Steph signed in 2012 - a fair market deal at the time that turned out to be widely undervalued in the preceding years - played a role in his signing with Under Armour.

Curry acknowledged the point and elaborated upon it like a good teammate, saying that if things had turned out differently and he signed a max extension instead, maybe he doesn’t “bet on himself’ and leave Nike to go to Under Armour. But now that Steph is a sneaker free agent and his championship window being as narrow as it's ever been, is he facing down another “bet on himself” moment? Maybe we have to tune in to Draymond’s show to find out.

9. The Nike SB “What The P-Rod” was Paul Rodriguez’s Idea

On an episode of The Nine Club, a skate podcast hosted by Chris Roberts, Jeron Wilson, and Kelly Hart, Paul Rodriguez thinks his Nike SB Dunk What The P-Rod is ugly. How ugly, you might ask? Well, according to the man himself, they are like a dog that’s so ugly they end up being the most adorable thing on the planet. Never thought we would associate a pair of SB Dunks to Peggy, the actor who played Dogpool in Deadpool versus Wolverine, but here we are.

8. Norris Cole Reveals LeBron James’ Power at Nike

Fans of the Miami Heat Big 3 era will no doubt remember backup point guard Norris Cole. A key contributor in the Heat’s two championships during that run, Cole received a steady diet of Nike Hyperdunks, LeBron signatures and Zoom Soldier player exclusives. And it’s all because Cole had the bright idea to wear adidas D-Rose sneakers to LeBron James’ house when he came by for a workout. A conversation with LeBron’s people (Maverick Carter? Rich Paul?) later, Cole is getting a call from Nike and the rest is history. Turns out LeBron is yet another Nike legend you don’t cross by wearing a different brand in his humble abode.

7. Club 520’s Hot Takes Lead to a Sneaker Deal

Look, we can all agree that Jeff Teague is out of line for saying the Air Jordan 12 is the worst model from Michael Jordan’s playing days. But he is entitled to that take, and it is because of hot takes like that and the anything goes nature of his Club 520 podcast that led to adidas signing the show to a unique sneaker deal. A former adidas athlete himself, Teague’s connections and the show’s authenticity made the partnership a natural fit.

6. Jon Wexler Alludes to Why adidas Kobe Retros are Called “Crazy”

When adidas decided to bring back Kobe Bryant’s first signature shoe in 2005, a rebrand was in order. With Bryant firmly entrenched at Nike at the time and set to release the Zoom Kobe signature shoe line, adidas reissued the KB8 without any Kobe branding or mention, rechristening them as the Crazy 8. The 8 made sense as it was a callback to the original shoe’s name, but why was it called “Crazy?”

According to Jon Wexler, a former adidas and Yeezy executive, he tells All The Smoke’s Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes that he has an idea why the retros are called “Crazy,” stating that it stems from the acrimonious breakup back in 2002. However, he holds back from telling the full story, saying instead that it might be a long-standing troll.

5. Kevin Garnett Declined to be the Face of Nike Shox

If you don’t believe that Kevin Garnett has successfully transitioned into becoming an excellent storyteller in his post-playing days, you need to watch his story about the time he talked trash to Michael Jordan through J.R. Rider and barely survived to tell the tale. Speaking with sneaker luminary Nick DePaula for an episode of KG Certified, Garnett recalls seeing Nike Shox for the first time in 2000 at a Niketown event during NBA All-Star Weekend in Oakland. His response? Well, KG tells the story in a way that only KG can and needless to say, he was more than happy to let Vince Carter become the face of the “boing boing” shoes.

4. Carmelo Anthony’s Jordan Brand Stories

If Jordan Brand had a pyramid of every athlete that has ever been a part of the elite fraternity in the vein of the Bill Simmons Hall of Fame Pyramid, Carmelo Anthony would be at the top level alongside Derek Jeter, Ray Allen, Maya Moore, and only a handful of other legends. Unfortunately for Simmons, there will be no Larry Bird representation, but at least MJ will have four words for his hero.

Sneakerheads who were hoping Anthony’s podcast would feature stories about Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand have been rewarded with gems that might have been saved for a memoir in years past. From Jadakiss making sure he was head to toe in Jumpman gear before meeting Michael or Melo using his own son to get a hook up on some player exclusives, the sneaker content has been plentiful.

3. DeMar DeRozan Reveals Kobe’s Sneaker Pettiness

If Michael Jordan and LeBron James have tales of being upset at people for wearing the wrong brand in their presence, it’s only natural, if not expected, that there would be similar tales surrounding the late Kobe Bryant. It’s just a little surprising to hear that one of those stories would involve the original “Kobe Guy,” DeMar DeRozan. And we have Vince Carter to blame… or should we be thanking him for being responsible for this epic Kobe clapback at DeMar?

2. Jazz Chisholm Has An Actual Michael Jordan Eff Them Kids Story

Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star, World Series Champion, and future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts (thanks, Boston Red Sox management) hosts a podcast for Bleacher Report where he brings on baseball’s best to talk shop and sometimes that includes making fun of people’s cleats. Ok, that was just the Clayton Kershaw episode, but they’re fellow champs, so it’s all in good fun.

When Mookie had Jazz Chilsom Jr. on the podcast a few years ago, he shared a story that sort of proves the infamous Michael Jordan meme about the kids. Fortunately, Chisholm would take the snub as a challenge instead of dwelling on it. Now that he is a signed Jordan Brand athlete who gets on Zoom calls to talk about the custom cleats he will wear on the diamond, Michael Jordan technically has a Jazz Chilsolm Jr. signature somewhere buried among stacks and stacks of contracts.

1. Michael Jordan (Allegedly) Did Not Appreciate David Letterman Making Fun of the Air Jordan

During a long-awaited appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast a few weeks ago, David Letterman revealed that he has a funny feeling that Michael Jordan does not like him. Simmons mentions the time Jordan was a guest on Letterman’s show in 1986 to promote the Air Jordan 1. For most people, the most memorable part of that spot was Jordan’s bright red and blue tracksuit that would go on to receive an Air Jordan 1 tribute colorway in 2016.

What often gets glossed over because people didn’t watch the full interview is that Letterman is continuously poking fun at the Air Jordan 1s and even calling them ugly at one point. Jordan would shockingly agree with Dave, although that was probably just MJ being polite for the benefit of the studio audience and the millions who would eventually watch the show that night. It’s possible that being put in an awkward spot like that to “trash” his own signature shoe was what made Jordan uncomfortable.

When Letterman tried to get Jordan back on the show, he was met with resistance. Dave would eventually speak with Jordan on the phone to hash out any issues. It should be noted that Jordan did make one more appearance on Letterman in 1989, so Dave might just be living in kayfabe when it comes to a supposed Jordan beef.

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