ESPN The Magazine sought the expertise of Matt Powell, analyst at SportsOneSource, and John Brilliant, founder of CounterKicks.com, to discuss what footwear is, and soon will be, driving sneakerheads wild.


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“The marquee basketball business has been terrific. And by marquee, those are shoes that are endorsed by a player. Derrick Rose is a hot phenomenon right now. His shoe from Adidas, the lightweight AdiZero Rose 2.5, is doing great. What’s interesting is that I don’t see these shoes being worn on the street. Like a soccer player who doesn’t wear his cleats off the field, basketball players [even amateurs] are not wearing these shoes on the street.” —Matt Powell

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“The Hyperdunk 2012 will be worn by LeBron James and all of the Nike basketball athletes in this summer’s Olympic Games. It has digital sensors built into the shoe that connect to an iPhone, and it records your vertical leap and distance in miles covered in a game. That will be a huge leap in technology, and it’s raising the price point up to more than $200.” —John Brilliant