Sneaker brands have long put the best athletes behind their products to endorse them and convince the public to spend their money. Stan Smith, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant — the list goes on. Not every athlete who’s influential in the sneaker world has their own signature shoe. Maybe they have juice because they wear cool sneakers off the court, or it could be for myriad other reasons. There’s likely a famous athlete who’s made you want to wear a pair of shoes at one time or another.
Is it LeBron James? Odell Beckham Jr? Or Neymar Jr? It’s not just basketball players who have sneaker influence, although they carry the bulk of it in the States. There are also tennis stars, footballers, football players, and even retired athletes, too. Any they carry weight to different audiences for wearing different shoes. So we broke it all down and wondered, “Who’s the most influential now?”