A review of logos for basketball players and their Nike signature sneaker lines

After our first LOGO blog that hopefully caught your interest, we are now getting ready to enlighten you even more with some cool facts behind the iconic Swoosh and all the athletes that proudly represent it!

The Swoosh

In case you didn’t know this part of the story, Nike was a goddess who personified victory In Greek mythology and that is where the name of the company came from. The famous logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson who was still in college when she did it in 1971. This was the original idea:

The King

Since our focus is on ballers, there is no other way to start writing about Nike signature athletes than with LeBron James. OK, so Nike has a thing where most of their athletes incorporate initials into their logos, and the King does that in a great way by also incorporating a crown into it.

 

Since “the kid from Akron” has such a storied career it only makes sense that he actually has additional/backup logos so here they are:

  • the 23 that represents his original jersey number
  • the Dunkman that made it back to the Nike LeBron XX as a way of reminding everyone that the King is not going anywhere
  • finally, here is the king of the jungle!

Uncle Drew

Even though Kyrie Irving has been doing his own thing without LeBron for some time now, there are so many fans that will always connect these two legends because of their epic 1-3 comeback in the 2016 Finals to win the championship. This is why KI is on the list right after the King. Speaking of Kyrie’s initials, they are in fact the basis for this clean and elegant logo.

Kyrie does not necessarily have additional logos but his shoes have been known to feature a variety of symbols that are connected to his spirituality. These include the “All Seeing Eye” and the “Hand of Hamsa”.

Easy money

Kevin Durant actually has one the best set of nicknames in the NBA, including: Durantula, KD, Slim Reaper and Easy Money Sniper. Of course, he has an even better set of moves and awesome basketball shoes that fans are crazy about. As far as the logo goes, we think it is super nice because, even though it has a basic initials combination, the incomplete letter K and lower case D are a great example of minimalism.

The EA$Y logo also keeps it simple, but it actually represents one of the nicknames we mentioned – Easy Money Sniper.

Freak mode

There is really no need to talk too much about everything that Giannis Antetokounmpo already achieved and what he stands for but whoever needs a reminder can look right to his logo as it is an excellent mix of a visually beautiful combination of initials and of storytelling. See below:

His nickname also appears FREAKuently on various gear, and we think it’s a great look as well ;D

Finally, the 34 that appears above the heel on some of his shoes and whose design is inspired by the Greek flag is a great touch!

Perfect Gentleman

Yes, Paul George pulled off a really cool move when he turned his initials into a bow tie shaped logo that is supposed to serve as “a reminder of his unique blend of simplicity and sophistication.” To prove that this is not just a slogan, a perfect (and quite interesting) example of his personality is that he always keeps fishing equipment in his Ferrari. Just like on the court, Paul is always ready for action 😀

This wraps up part 2 in the LOGO series and we are far from done so definitely stay tuned for the upcoming editions!