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One at a time, Anthony Edwards looms over a bag along with a friend and pulls out the debut signature sneakers from some of his NBA peers.
“Nah, these ain’t messing with them,” the 22-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves swingman says as he begins with LaMelo Ball’s. Ja Morant’s, same comment. “Hell no,” he adds for his “boy” Luke Doncic’s. For the oldest and most significant of the lot, LeBron James’, “I like them AE 1s better than these, nephew.”
Finally withdrawing the Adidas AE 1, Edwarts touts “the color, the lock, the feel.” He asks his pal if he knows how he knows “these are the ones” before receiving an answer in the negative. “Cause they mine, crazy man!”
This is the debut campaign for Edwards’ first signature sneaker. It’s shot in the style of the famous trunk scene from “Pulp Fiction” and, even though all proper nouns not affiliated with Adidas are bleeped-out, takes serious shots at competitors Puma, Nike, and Jordan Brand. A significant buzz is generated on social media when it goes live in late October, and the message is clear: Anthony Edwards has arrived, and, along with Adidas, he’s ready to disturb a signature basketball sneaker landscape that’s been placid for the better part of the last decade.
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The AE 1, which Adidas is announcing today will release Dec. 16 for $120 per pair, was first revealed to the public in late-September as part of a homecoming event in Oakland City, the Atlanta neighborhood in which Edwards grew up. Immediately, the shoe stood out for its dynamism, its futuristic appearance, its simple but striking color blocking, its heavy use of TPU… its just plain weirdness.
Not only is the AE 1 appropriate for Edwards and his game, dazzling and increasingly lethal, but it’s also part of a larger effort by Adidas Basketball to take greater risk. A new era is underway to push the boundaries of performance-driven design while capturing the personalities and playing styles of its star athletes. In other words, the Three Stripes is going to freak it.
The marketplace Adidas is rebelling against is one that Eric Wise, global GM for Adidas Basketball, told Footwear News last week on a Zoom call has “felt stale.” Nathan VanHook, the company’s VP of Basketball Design, called it a “sea of sameness” in another call that same day.
It’s hardly surprising that the basketball segment has been in a slump for so long. In 2014, basketball shoes accounted for 13 percent of the market. By 2020, that figure dropped down to just 3 percent, according to the research firm NPD.
“When we looked at the performance basketball space, we felt that the consumer today is much less brand loyal and looking for newness,” Wise said. “So we saw an opportunity there, and we took a look ourselves and said, ‘Over the last decade, if we’re honest, we’ve been inconsistent at best.’ We wanted to get back to being the best version of Adidas.”
If that leads to the AE 1 taking root in the lifestyle space, which seems possible in a way far less remote than you could say about another contemporary basketball sneaker in some time, that’s great. But both Wise and VanHook were both adamant that lifestyle appeal is absolutely not Adidas’ intention. The driving force is still absolutely performance. This approach is antithetical to the Nike Book 1, Devin Booker’s own first signature model, and the lip service Nike and Booker have paid to making a shoe that would look great off the court.
“However the product crosses over and however it’s interpreted, that’s for the athlete and the public [to decide],” VanHook said. “I think once you start looking at product that way, you’re going to be compromising. And if you’re creating really great performance product, you shouldn’t be compromising. If we want to be bold in our design sensibility, in our design function, that that boldness shouldn’t be put in a box if people want to wear it with jeans. We want jaw-dropping product on-court, first and foremost.”
The AE 1’s profile gives you almost nothing else to look at beside the TPU wing extending up from the sole unit to consume the majority of the upper. It works as a harness for the foot by wrapping all the way underneath the foot, catering to lateral movements within the spin moves and crossovers that allow Edwards to rapidly bypass defenders. Lab testing with Edwards, who’s a stout 225 pounds within his 6-foot-4-inch frame, resulted in generations of force that VanHook says were off the charts. The generative honeycomb pattern at the wing’s core then provides breathability.
What little real estate remains on the upper is taken by a Primegreen knit upper with a sock-like fit and a carbon fiber heel panel for added security and minimal weight gain. Underfoot, a full-length Jet Boost midsole hosts smaller “energy capsules” for a responsive and supportive ride.
The AE 1’s technology is emphasized by simple color schemes featuring solid colors without any patterns or gradients. The launch day “With Love” variant sees peach take over the shoe’s wing and sole arrangement, while the knit rest of the sneaker is rendered in black with small pink branding on the heel and tongue. A similar arrangement for two other variants swaps peach for blue or off-white with their respective brand marks in a third color. The fourth deviates from the black and high-vis look with pink on pink and white branding.
Aside from the nod to his home state, Edwards also chose peach because it was the favorite color of his grandmother. Pink, too, was the favorite of his mother. Both maternal figures passed away within an eight-month window in 2015.
Coming off a career season this summer, Edwards changed his number from 1 to 5, the latter being the day of the months on which his grandmother and mother passed. The 2022-2023 season saw Edwards average career highs of 26.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. Sixth man Bruce Brown said the most difficult test his Denver Nuggets faced on the way to winning the NBA Finals was its first round matchup against the Timberwolves, during which saw his averages jump to 31.6 points, 5.2 assists, and 5.0 rebounds.
This summer saw Edwards grab more attention with his performances being the highlight of the USA basketball team’s otherwise disappointing performance in the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Seventeen games into the current season, Edwards has the Timberwolves surprising many with the team currently sitting at first place in the Western Conference, a game ahead of the reigning champs. He’s also upped his splits across the board with averages of 26.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.0 assists as of this article’s publishing.
One of the most buzzworthy performances of the season so far came from Edwards in a mid-November game against the Golden State Warriors. With the Timberwolves already up by 12, Warriors forward and perpetual antagonist Draymond Green told Edwards, “Ain’t nobody worried about you,” and asked, “What you going to do about it?” after Green fouled him. Edwards proceeded to score eight points in 1 minute, 12 seconds on the way to securing the win for the Timberwolves.
“The timing couldn’t be any more perfect,” Wise said. “You don’t have a crystal ball, but you have a feeling. We had that feeling, and we’re really, really excited about where we’re at.”
Edwards is no stranger to neither trash talk himself nor cold-blooded performances, the latter of which has led to “Is Anthony Edwards Michael Jordan’s son” being one of the autofill suggestions when you type the three words on Google. The former, often accompanied by a devilishly charming grin, made Edwards the perfect casting choice for Hustle, the Adam Sandler led movie, as the on-court villain.
If Adidas wanted to take finely veiled shots at its opponents on the basketball court, Edwards’ personality and his current ascension from star to superstar made him the ideal person to deliver it. There was no script for the campaign video, it was just Ant being Ant.
Adidas is also being Adidas, specifically the one that created noteworthy oddballs in the ‘90s and ‘00s such as the Feet You Wear series and the Crazy 1, originally known as the Kobe 1. Both Wise and VanHook point to the Harden Vol. 7 as the beginning of Adidas Basketball’s new era. The Trae 3 has also grabbed attention for its topographic-style midsole taking after the Adilette 22 sandals, while Donovan Mitchell’s latest release has garnered more praise than any of his previous models.
Should he maintain and even continue to improve his performance level, Edwards will see his own nascent line become the most crucial of them all. With LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant all in their mid- or late-30s, Edwards is the frontrunner to become the next face of American basketball. And with the AE 1 paving the way, his feet shouldn’t be any less interesting either.
About the Author:
Ian Servantes is a Senior Trending News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. He’s previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that “ball is life” and doesn’t fuss over his kicks getting dirty.
