For decades the best shoes you could buy as a Basketball player were Nike Mens Basketball Shoes. There was absolutely no doubt. Reinforced by endorsements and usage by some of the NBA’s top athletes, shoes like the Jordan air sneakers became legend. Such a legend that it was something nearly every kid wanted to wear. You could walk up and down a city block and all you would see are kids wearing the latest or Air Jordan or another Nike Air. At certain points the luminous shoes and laces were so popular that you could spot them a mile away.
After Jordan’s retirement, the shoes star waned a bit. But the halo effect from both the successful Air brand and the Jordan tie up affected every other Nike flagship product. Even nike mens running shoes were a success. Nike became synonymous with sneakers in general and almost no other brand could compete. The key to this domination was the Air brand that Nike had. Both the naming and actual technology was novel and absolutely the coolest thing at the time.
Other brands tried different versions of cushioning, whether it was air or cells, but it did not matter. As the first to market, Nike had a runaway lead that would only dwindle in later generations when endorsements by non-sports stars would start to improve the awareness of other brands. Although when it comes to basketball shoes, Nike is still the one.