Yesterday evening, reports surfaced that the NBA would ban Kanye West's first-of-its-kind Adidas Yeezy basketball shoe due to its reflective heel. Some accounts went as far as to purport that the league had already barred the kicks, but further investigation reveals that not to be true—at least not yet.
Initial information on the potential ban from ESPN centered around the shoe's aforementioned reflective heel portion, a detail which has been prominently featured in many of West's posts. The NBA's official footwear policy states that "shoes containing flashing lights or similar types of adornments (e,g., metallic or reflective) are not considered appropriate basketball footwear," meaning the significant amount of reflective material on the Yeezys would presumably disqualify them from on-court eligibility.
However, things aren't as cut and dry as they may seem. According to a league spokesperson, the Yeezy model in question hasn't yet been submitted to the NBA for review. It's also possible that Adidas and West have more colorways in their cache that do not feature reflective elements, or that the pair could still create versions that comply with the regulations.
While it wouldn't be fully accurate to call these reports erroneous, the Yeezy "ban" isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be, considering the shoes have only been worn by West so far. Furthermore, as a longtime provider of on-court product in the NBA, Adidas is likely aware of these restrictions and the changes needed to be eligible.
Adidas declined to comment on the on-court future of the Yeezy Basketball sneaker.
