This has been a landmark year for Converse’s partnership with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
At 26 years old and in his seventh NBA season, Gilgeous-Alexander topped the league in scoring and earned the Most Valuable Player award. Meanwhile, his team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, finished with the best record in the NBA.
On Thursday, Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder faced off against the Indiana Pacers in the opening game of the NBA Finals, aiming to secure the franchise’s first championship since 1979, back when the team was known as the Seattle SuperSonics.
In light of this success, Converse plans to release the Shai 001 this fall—the first sneaker to bear Gilgeous-Alexander’s signature—marking a fitting culmination to a triumphant season and an opportune moment for the brand to capitalize on its star player’s rising profile.
Interestingly, this fortunate alignment was less a calculated marketing maneuver and more a stroke of luck. Considering the extensive time and capital footwear companies invest in scouting and signing NBA prospects—often before they play their first professional minute—the outcome could have been very different.
Adrian Stelly, Converse’s director of sports marketing, first encountered Gilgeous-Alexander over a decade ago when the athlete was still in high school in Hamilton, Ontario. He signed Gilgeous-Alexander to Converse in 2019 during the player’s rookie season with the Los Angeles Clippers, when he averaged 10.8 points per game—well before emerging as an All-Star caliber talent.
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