nike had no vision w/ kanye and "stephon" curry. they didn't even need to break the bank for curry. he is the pied piper of sneakers for the kids these days. yeezy, i can understand why they didn't wanna get into bed with him. he wanted full creative control and his own line and nike wasn't willing to do that. but it was still a big hit in letting him walk.
he deserves a lot of credit for why the ultra boost is successful whether folks admit it or not. and i am one of the ones that hates to admit it.
the ultra boost itself is a great looking shoe, kanye west wearing them, gave it the push and publicity it needed to move fwd.
nike lost the streets, when you lose the streets, you're done.
nike's flat out refusal to make signature shoes that functioned well on court and had great casual appeal is mostly to blame.
before some NTer gets a major arguing wedgie for my post, let me state that the past statements are only IMHO.