 NBA superstar Kyrie Irving, who had one of the best-selling sneaker lines of all time, has just now signed with a Chinese brand called Anta. David, this is significant, man. Let's talk about it. Yeah, this is going viral. And of course, you know, on the hot-pot boys, I feel like we're perfectly positioned to understand all the different angles. This is going viral for several different reasons. They enter in a sneaker way, all the way to a geopolitical way. So, Ed, we got the whole gamut covered from silly to serious. We're about to break it down, get in the comment section, our own takeaways. But long story short, Andrew, Kyrie Irving is probably the highest profile athlete to sign a gigantic Chinese sneaker deal because he's signed for seven years with Anta. Clay Thompson's on there. Gordon Hayward's on there. But he's also going to be the creative director of Anta. So, he's kind of getting one of those old school Jordan brand deals where he's probably getting an equity split. He's probably getting all these other things that he would never get from your Nike Adidas Puma and things like that, right? And obviously, he's controversial. That's why he got dropped by Nike, despite having probably at the moment the number one selling sneaker line. I'm not saying people don't like Jordans, people don't like Kobe's, but you got to think, Andrew, the price point for Kyrie's and how much the kids just want to play like him. Kyrie was the top selling sneaker line in the whole basketball world. No, the kids love Kyrie. Kyrie low, Kyrie mid. They got all the different Kyrie's, man. So, make sure you like, subscribe, turn on your notifications, Andrew. For people who don't know, Andrew, Chinese brands have really, really been coming up in the basketball performance sneaker world. Yeah, I think that if you look at any sneaker reviewer from America and that's non-Asian, they still rank a lot of the Chinese brands at the top. Now, the thing about it is the reason why you don't see a lot of those shoes out is, to be honest, they're not at your full lockers. They're not available. They're not on amazon.com. You kind of have to get them from like certain sites that sell the Chinese shoes. Also, surprisingly enough, these basketball shoes made in China are not cheap. No, they're actually very expensive. For example, Andrew, the way of way 10 retails for like 250 in America. And oftentimes due to, you know, whatever geopolitical things that are going on. There's like a $40 tax on top of that. So sometimes you could pay up to $300 for a pair of way away. Right. So of course, that shoe honestly is a really good shoe. Now, is it worth $300? That's up to you to decide. But David, you were talking to somebody and this we're going to get into the comment section soon, right? But because you're really into sneakers, performance sneakers, you have, you talk to somebody that's deep in the performance sneaker game. What did they say? With a lot of deep contacts in the industry, basically they were saying that the Chinese brands are allotting their designers bigger budgets to create the shoes. So they're not cheaping out. Whereas the Western brands are more in a mode where they are trying to maximize shareholder value. So even though some of the technologies are still amazing. For example, you know, Jordan has like eclipse plates and like double stacked zoom there. They may be cutting corners on materials in other places to maximize profit margin. All right, David. Now, thinking of all the other industries that we know or kind of like product lines, like would you say that Chinese basketball sneakers rank relatively way higher in their arena amongst basketball sneakers than any other like Chinese product that you know, like, like maybe in drones, DJI drones. Chinese drones rank very high. And then Chinese sneakers, they rank higher than Chinese cars. Yeah. I would say honestly, Chinese sneakers are like only number two to Nike right now. They have far surpassed Adidas basketball. I'm not saying Adidas doesn't have some good shoes, but Adidas basketball is bad. Well, they're just not putting a lot. Adidas is not putting a lot of money into the basketball department. And if you think about China, if we're talking about multiple Chinese brands, yes, they're putting in collectively way more money than Adidas and probably Puma. Yeah, because basketball is the number one sport in China that people love to play. But Nike is still king right now. But anyways, guys, second is number two is still pretty good. Somebody said, man, he is about to change the sneaker game, mark my words. I never thought I would be buying a pair of Anta's. Guess I'm rocking Anta now. Somebody said Nike fumbled hard, man. Yeah, they got rid of Kyrie for jaw. And then look what happened to John. Nike is not okay. But let's talk about this because Anta is actually probably what the second number Chinese shoe brand like behind me is number one. Yeah. Leaning is number one. Anta is number two. But because Kyrie Irving is signing with Anta and Kyrie shoes are such good performers, everybody loves them. Generally, people are going to believe that this Anta is going to be good for them. Like if Kyrie likes it and can do all the crossovers, do a little dribble, hesitate to drop cross, then other people are going to be able to wear them too. Yeah. Like you're going to believe that this is going to be a high quality shoe. And it's probably not going to be cheap. No. Somebody said, man, I think Kyrie just watched that movie air about Jordan and got inspired. But the thing is nobody in the US is going to care about Chinese brands. Yeah. So this was this is kind of funny. Is it real though that like, even though you see Anta ads on the court side of the NBA, it's like you walk those ads are mostly for the China market. You can't buy it. You can't go to the store and pick up Anta's. Yeah. I do. You think it's going to change? Do you think with this gigantic shoe deal that Kyrie got? Is it for just the China domestic market? Because that you got to think the China domestic market is so big. They could pay Kyrie a ton of money and they're still going to recoup just domestically. Yeah. I don't know, but it seems like because Kyrie is the biggest international basketball star that you've ever signed, you would want to try to get the shoes more available. Do you think they're like 180 because they have to play that VAT tax? You know what I mean on Amazon, but they got a full size run. Do you think that that would be enough of a distribution outlet? You know, versus like obviously they're not going to be in the foot lockers and et cetera, et cetera. But like if just Amazon got a unlimited stash. If you just made them available, I think some people are going to buy them. Now, they might not be the $120, $110 Kyrie shoes, right? You know how you got Kyrie Lowe's coming from Nike? It's true. Yeah, it's way cheaper. American brands selling in America, they can push. Yeah, Nike is expensive in China. Chinese brands are cheaper in China. Exactly, exactly. Somebody said, ain't nobody wearing a Chinese brand, man? And somebody said, hey man, nobody was wearing underarm before Steph Curry either. Yeah. No, I do think people are going to find it hard to wear a Chinese brand. Period. Like that's true. It just is. But a lot of people don't even want to wear Adidas because Adidas is a German brand. Right. But the real sneakerheads, if you watch reviewers on YouTube of all, and they're coming from all different races and backgrounds guys. Right. This is not just racially buying. Like what? No, I'm not just saying the Asian reviews. I'm literally saying everybody, if you watch the reviews enough, they all rank like leanings and antas fairly high. So I'm just saying like, I think I'm not saying that everybody's going to be wearing Chinese shoes, but maybe in five, 10 years, it depends on how well the Kyrie line goes. It's already started in China. People are really wearing domestic brands a lot. Somebody said, oh man, what happened to Clay now? Anta is Kyrie's brand. And somebody said, oh, I already know the traction is going to be crazy. I'll tell you this, Andrew. The things that Chinese shoes are known for is comfort and traction. Yeah. This next comment said, man, Kyrie Irving has just been a disappointment. Since he won the championship with LeBron ever since Boston, then to the Nets with Durant. Now Dallas with Donchich and then his controversy and him getting dropped. And now he's with a Chinese shoe brand. It just seems like Kyrie's going downhill. Can you understand why people would think that Kyrie's career is going down because he signed with the Chinese shoe brand? It seems like people, I think the general feeling is from people that don't know sneakers. They think that when people sign with a Chinese shoe brand, it's just for the money. You're saying it's like having to go play over in the CBA? It's like, oh, better learn Mandarin, buddy. It's because you're falling off. That's what people feel. I don't think so because if you watch Kyrie play, his efficiency splits are going up and he's got as many highlights as he's ever had. He might not be doing the super low sweeping crossovers, but he's got, he's gotten so intricate. He does stuff, Andrew, that I've never ever seen. And I'll probably never see again in the NBA every game. Yeah, you know, when we signed Kyrie Irving to Anta, we believe he is still have at least like six, seven gray more years. And he is going to put on a show and he could also change basketball in China. Yeah. I mean, right now the Anta athletes are clay. He has eight shoes and Gordon Hayward has four shoes and some of them are pretty good looking. I do think this is a little bit of an aside, Andrew, on Dallas, they're going to need like a facilitator because I think Luca and Kyrie beat both being score first in the back court. They're going to need like almost like if Ben Simmons can get his mental right or like Mike Conley, they're going to need to do something. Somebody said, hey, how come everybody's saying all these political things when Kyrie does something, but nobody said anything when Austin Reeves just signed a million dollar deal with the Chinese brand Rigor. Yeah. Austin Reeves signed a seven figure deal with Rigor. And Austin Reeves obviously also got a bigger contract from the Lakers recently. I would say Austin Reeves and also he's from Arkansas. He's like a true blood American. So if you're mad at Americans, I'm just saying Austin Reeves, who is like your, your favorite white boy from the Lakers corn fed. No. And he seems like a really nice guy, cool guy, super American. Parents were former athletes. He just signed with a Chinese brand. I don't know what this means. Everybody's doing political man. We're going to get into the political comments later. Andrew, some people said, how come he didn't sign with a black owned brand or make his own brand? Somebody said a Chinese company. What? Why didn't you sign with a African American owned or native American shoe company? Yeah. Actually, I thought that I'm sure he took a look because I think that would have fallen well within his image and his message. And I think that would have been cool for Kyrie to do. If there was a competitive shoe brand out there that was black owned or native American owner, whatever, whatever like fit within his identity that he signed with, I think that would have been cool too. But to be honest, the Chinese shoes, they're pretty good. I mean, they make all the American shoes over there too. We're talking about like manufacturing capacities like at an 11 out of 10. Yeah. And also, I do think guys Kyrie, if he's really trying to make an impact in this world, and if he feels like at all he can impact China or at least Chinese basketball at all. And he's got the size. He's a he's a he's even going to be a bigger star than Jeremy Linden away over there because he's still, you know, a superstar superstar. Yeah. I mean, I think the chief creative officer role, Andrew is huge because like you said, no Western brand is going to offer Kyrie that high profile of a role because they're like probably scared of him because he has made controversial statements in the past, at least controversial too, especially to be honest, more like more. Yeah. The Western. I mean, if you believe in Kyrie and his belief in his mission, actually, I think this is actually a pretty good way of making an impact globally because anyways. Somebody said it's funny that the guy who talks about human rights signs with the company from one of the countries that has the least human rights, selling his soul to disingenuous Chinese company. Somebody said, yeah, what is he going to put out CCP sneakers? That's actually no again. I think that there's a chance he believes that he can actually make an impact and help and start change. Like think about it. He's the creative officer. He gets to do all these different cool designs with the Chinese brands sell it in China. So then Chinese people get the message and then it all gets translated. Guys, trust me. He has reach out. I would not be surprised if he builds his own brand. Sort of how like D'Angelo Russell is signed under way of Wade and way of Wade is under leaning. Yeah. Yeah. Um, somebody said all Nike shoes and all shoes everywhere from any brand are all made in China anyway. So what's your point? And then of course the end of we're getting to the really geopolitical ones where someone was like Kyrie is a trader. He is a trader and he hates America. And somebody said, yeah, unfortunately, these NBA players only care about issues they can relate to. So they only focus on issues that disproportionately affect African Americans and they don't really care about all this other stuff that we care about. Um, obviously this comment was from a white person and this kind of like we care about. Yeah, you know what I mean? This this went into a whole thing. So it's like, I don't know, man. I mean, I think that black American athletes, Andrew, have always stated things that were counter to like what the white American mainstream wanted them to say. We're talking about Muhammad Ali burning up his draft card, saying no via Kong ever called me an N word. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, it's big statement. It's crazy. Yeah. I mean, what do you think about this, Andrew? Like, why is it like they're expecting Kyrie to think like Donald Rumsfeld? I think people don't like to see Americans turn their back. I don't think Kyrie is turning his back and I, but I see like, are you going to, are you going to get mad at all the other NBA players? Because you already know, based off what Kyrie said, he's already not the most supportive of your goals. So I guess you got to get mad at like the Fred Van Fleets and the Austin Reeves and the Gordon Hayward. Gordon Hayward, Austin Reeves. Those are your white boys. Those are white American boys. You know, some of the best white American players in the NBA and they signed a shoe deal with China. So I'm just saying, if you're going to get mad at Kyrie, you got to get mad at them too. I'm not saying get mad at anybody. I've been chenzo better not go over there. I've given up on the NBA a long time ago. They ain't filled with the real Patriots. Now, like somebody said, well, what have the Chinese done to Kyrie? They never had his ancestors in bond. You know what? Never mind. Dude, you know what? We could go on and on guys. A sneaker deal got politicized. Okay. Anything that has to do with China is getting politicized. But David, I guess overall like what are your takeaways? Like do you think Kyrie has this other motive that's like, man, you know, I could change the world through China because China is trying to change the world right now and America is competing with China. I can be this bridge between the East and the West. Yeah, I do think that Kyrie thinks about that. I don't know how many of his thoughts are geopolitical, but I do know that he thinks a lot about identity and a lot about culture. And I do think that answers really going to give him a lot of space to represent all the identities that he wants in his sneaker line. And I'm sure upcoming clothing line. And I'm sure he'll be able to sign athletes that he relates to, like underneath his, you know, the umbrella subdivision they give him. Yo, this one comment that was like, oh, good. Kyrie Irving, the most responsible person to put in a position of like the corporate business. It's like, yeah, Kyrie is like, oh, the creative director. Wow. I mean, obviously there is a potential for this deal to be very volatile too. Yes. Yeah. Especially if Kyrie criticizes China or something like that, which I, you know, it could be. Yeah, it's going to be interesting, man. It's going to be interesting. I don't know. Somebody said, you know, people are just mad because it just feels like the U.S. is not the world leader anymore. This was addressing all the comments of being like, man, the NBA sold out LeBron is a CCP asset and all that stuff. I mean, I do think, do you think the other brands are worried about seeing this when you see Kyrie? Now Kyrie to certain brands are like, well, I don't even want to mess with Kyrie anymore. So I'm done with him. But like when they see him signed with a Chinese brand, this only means that more and more superstars potentially are going to sign with Chinese brands. It only means that. I mean, for sure. It reminds me a lot of when Japanese cars enter the U.S. market in the mid 80s into the 90s. You know what I mean? Like people were like, you ain't a true American if you're buying these Japanese to Yotas and Hondas because they're profits is going back to Yokohama. You know what I mean? And it's just like, dude, we live in a globalized world now. Of course, to be honest, do I think that there is a higher proportion of white people who feel like patriotic in a in a more way that minorities do not feel? Right. I do think so. And I do think that they have more like, I mean, some people are going to say it's whether it's patriotic or redneck or hillbilly, the way that white people process American patriotism is very different than a lot of minorities. Yeah, that's true. How did it get that way, guys? I can only guess. I'm sure we can make 10 videos about that. Let us know what you think of Kyrie Irving signing with Anta in the comment section below. Is it good? Is it bad? And what do you guys think of the sneakers? Until next time.