Lin gets his own shoe
Jeremy Lin #17 of the New York Knicks and Team Shaq looks on during the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge part of the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend at Amway Center. (Feb. 24, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Jeremy Lin is one step closer to having his own sneaker line.
Nike started selling Lin-themed sneakers on its website this weekend to capitalize on the Knicks point guard's unprecedented rise from obscurity to worldwide phenomenon.
Priced at $130, the Nike Zoom Hyperfuse Low iD basketball shoe is blue and orange -- just like the Knicks' colors -- and is the shoe that Lin has been wearing this season.
Fans can customize the sneakers for color, size and to add Lin's name on the tongue top. Rather than create a new Lin-only shoe, Nike simply added him to an existing line.
According to the Nike website, the sneakers will take 22 to 30 days to be delivered. They are not available in stores.
"We used the power of the Nike iD process to create this Nike Zoom Hyperfuse Low iD for Jeremy and celebrate his first appearance at this weekend for the game's elite," Nike spokesman Brian Strong said Saturday. "Fans can utilize nikeid.com to create and purchase this shoe or other versions that include their own design inspiration."
Asked when Lin will have his own line and when his shoe will appear in stores, Strong said: "We are not commenting on any speculation around future plans for Jeremy."
Lin, who has been with Nike since 2010, is making his first foray into the serious world of All-Star marketing. It began with "Lin-sanity" T-shirts, which are not exclusive to one apparel company.
Lin, who played less than nine minutes in Friday's All-Star Weekend Rising Stars Challenge, made an appearance for Foot Locker Saturday at the same Orlando mall that hosted All-Stars Derrick Rose, Paul Pierce and Russell Westbrook this weekend.
Fans started lining up at 9 a.m. for a chance to get an autograph from Lin. By the time he arrived at 12:10 p.m. through a Saks Fifth Avenue store, hundreds of fans were lined up around a steel-fenced area in the center of the Florida Mall. He was wearing a Linsanity T-shirt -- no hyphen.
Lin sat at a table and signed photos of himself and other items for the fast-moving crowd until about 12:55. Not everyone made it in, however.
Lin then was whisked away for another appearance before some much-needed R&R. The Knicks return to practice Monday; their next game is Wednesday against Cleveland.
"I'm going to shut it down until the Cleveland game," Lin said. "I definitely need this break."
The Florida Mall is the same venue that had a near-riot Thursday night during the launch of a new basketball shoe that had nothing to do with Lin.
Hundreds of people packed the mall parking lot that night in anticipation of a shoe release at midnight. Sheriff's deputies in riot gear closed the mall and dispersed the crowd. Two people were arrested for trespassing and one for fighting, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
That shoe release was canceled.
