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His following IS small in comparison to Nike Basketball if we're talking Nike products. But his influence on CULTURE is significantly larger than that of Nike Basketball. Nike Basketball athletes try to dress like Kanye West. Point blank. So now primary athletes of the swoosh will be idolizing a "competitor." While Kanye's sales don't directly make up for the lapse I see coming, the trickle down effect most certainly will.
I just don't see it. Even with Nike, his following was small in comparison to Nike Basketball. The majority of sneaker buyers till this day dont know or care what a Yeezy is.
I feel his "diva" attitude is gonna make other collaborators NOT want to work with him. He's burning bridges with Zappos...let's say Zappos drops their adidas account because of his statements (Yes, I know it's far fetched). Designers are watching him self destruct and might hinder an Adidas collaborator to NOT want to do a joint design with him.
And don't think for one second that Kanye speaking out against the swoosh won't influence a fickle guy like Lebron, who is considering a return to the Cavs..... which is equally as ridiculous as switching brands as an established Nike athlete. Not saying it's likely... hell if it's even contractually possible... but man, that'd be something. What a way to return home than with a whole new marketing strategy and product. It could potentially be one of the most genius moves in branding history... and if anyone has the influence to make something like that happen in the sports world, it's Kanye and/or Jay-Z, being such huge culture icons. It's really as simple as something like Kanye and Lebron having dinner one night and Kanye catching LBJ's ear.
Again, not likely, or might not even be possible, but this is the kind of influence Kanye has on Nike's highest grossing athletes. Whether they're Nike or JB, they're subsidiaries of Nike's bottom line, and most of them idolize Kanye. Losing him is NOT good.