u/Meme_Pope

This kind of flew under the radar, but I think it’s very interesting/funny.

At some point earlier in the year, Nike decided to make a Wemby signature sneaker and designed it after the Statue of Liberty, implying that he’s is France’s gift to the U.S. On the back is “You’re welcome” in English and French. Apparently this was set to drop later in the postseason.

Obviously, Nike didn’t anticipate Wemby’s PR going downhill, making “you’re welcome” seem obnoxious and arrogant. Also didn’t foresee him playing New York for the championship, home to the actual Statue of Liberty and also having Brunson, who literally just had his own Statue of Liberty themed sneaker drop earlier this season, also made by Nike.

Nike is now dumping this shoe in Asia and there is no planned U.S. release at this time. I wonder if it will become a collector’s item like the alternate winner shirts going to Africa.

Edit: People are trying to say that this was always intended as an Asia-only release should know that this is Nike’s standard MO for problematic products they have already produced. In 2021 they made the Overbreak Mars Yard Asia exclusive after Tom Sachs got cancelled for sexual misconduct. In 2019 the creator of Undercover expressed support for the Hong Kong protests and they pulled the release from the US, to later dump in Asia, sans China.

Double edit: People keep parroting that this shoe is always Asia exclusive. Wemby already has 2 other versions of this shoe released in the US, this is completely false. Hilariously, they are getting this info from the AI overview, which cites this shoe as the source that it is normally Asia exclusive.