The Real Winner of the NBA Finals? A Sneaker Brand You’d Never Expect.
OG Anunoby’s game-winning play in Game 4 was made in Skechers — a brand that launched its first technical basketball shoe three years ago.
No matter who wins the 2026 NBA Finals — the Knicks or the Spurs — there is one team that has already come out of the series victorious: Skechers. With 1.2 seconds left in Game 4, OG Anunoby of the Knicks made one of the greatest plays in basketball history with a pair of Skechers on his feet. The brand that released its first line of technical basketball shoes less than three years ago just got its biggest marketing moment — for free.
Anunoby joined Skechers’ roster less than a year ago. The shoes he wore — a custom Skechers SKX Nexus “NYC Blue” — aren’t even available for purchase. But none of that matters. “When you get a major athlete at a major sporting event wearing a signature product, it throws a halo around the brand,” Neil Saunders of GlobalData told Bloomberg.
Skechers holds less than 6% of the global sports footwear market but has been quietly gaining ground while Nike’s stock has fallen 45% over the past year. The brand also just signed a multi-year deal with the WNBA last month. One magical tip-in. A brand transformed.
No matter who wins the 2026 NBA Finals — the Knicks or the Spurs — there is one team that has already come out of the series victorious: Skechers. With 1.2 seconds left in Game 4, OG Anunoby of the Knicks made one of the greatest plays in basketball history with a pair of Skechers on his feet. The brand that released its first line of technical basketball shoes less than three years ago just got its biggest marketing moment — for free.
Anunoby joined Skechers’ roster less than a year ago. The shoes he wore — a custom Skechers SKX Nexus “NYC Blue” — aren’t even available for purchase. But none of that matters. “When you get a major athlete at a major sporting event wearing a signature product, it throws a halo around the brand,” Neil Saunders of GlobalData told Bloomberg.
Skechers holds less than 6% of the global sports footwear market but has been quietly gaining ground while Nike’s stock has fallen 45% over the past year. The brand also just signed a multi-year deal with the WNBA last month. One magical tip-in. A brand transformed.
