Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum revealed that he has his own Jordan sneaker on the way very soon.

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Speaking on the Knuckleheads podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles, Tatum alluded to an upcoming launch, but didn’t give a time frame of when the shoes would drop.

“I can’t tell you exactly when, but it’s on its way,” Tatum said.

The fact that Tatum gets an exclusive shoe should come as no surprise, he is young and commercial and plays in a major NBA market like Boston. Initially signing with Jordan Brand in 2019, Tatum was chosen to lead the flagship model, but the news of a signing could be part of a broader extension of that agreement.

Over the past two seasons, Tatum has worn a wide variety of Air Jordan 34, Air Jordan 35, and Air Jordan 36 Player Exclusives, most of which hold special significance to the Celtics forward.

But, given that overall sales of high-performance basketball shoes are down, how will a shoe from the Tatum firm sell?

According to figures from market research firm NPD, sales of high-performance basketball now account for less than four percent of the athletic shoe market, a massive drop from its market share of 13 percent in 2014. The fervor for High-performance basketball models have waned since we last saw Michael Jordan at an NBA game.

Add to that the fact that sales of high-performance basketball shoes are also down approximately 13 percent compared to the same period last year, this is the fourth year in a row that total sales of basketball shoes Have decreased.

Tatum who lands a potential signature will follow the Air Zion 1, the first exclusive model from Pelicans star Zion Williamson. The New Orleans forward also reportedly signed a five-year, $ 75 million deal with the brand in 2019.

Getting a return on that type of investment is highly unlikely, according to NPD’s Matt Powell.

“I don’t see how the brand can profit from this investment in terms of merchandise sales,” Powell said. Brands typically spend about 11 percent of sales on marketing. So to justify $ 15 million a year, their shoes would have to wholesale $ 136 million. “

It’s for this reason that Jordan Brand has been cutting back on production of signature shoes – they discontinued the Carmelo Anthony line after the thirteenth iteration in 2017, and they’re churning out Chris Paul in much smaller quantities. Russell Westbrook, who initially had a lifestyle line with the brand, is currently on the fourth model in his exclusive ‘Why Not’ series.

Times have also changed for the consumer, now children care more about what a player wore to a suit, instead of what he wore in a game. For them, off the court is the new thing on the court.