Matt Varga In a social media blast yesterday, adidas Basketball revealed that they’ll be shipping out a bundle of their NBA stars’ sneakers to athletes at 5 HBCUs to continue celebrations of Black History Month. The collection matches up the likes of Anthony Edwards, Trae Young and James Harden to those select schools. Each specific pair will make their on-court debut over the course of the next week and change.
The news is a sneaker-centric extension of adidas’ partnership with these 5 specific HBCUs, a shared history that began with the rollout of an NIL partnership program in 2022. Last year, Grambling in particular renewed their relationship with the German giant, and a player exclusive colorway of the then-brand new D.O.N. Issue 4 were produced in commemoration.
In this more wide-ranging announcement, the men’s and women’s team of each university will receive specifically tailored adidas PEs. For the gold portion of this collection, U Arkansas-Pine Bluff athletes will receive PE Anthony Edwards shoes, Alabama State will get Damian Lillard’s, and Grambling will get Donovan Mitchell’s D.O.N. 5. The two purple-dominant PEs belong to the Hawks and Clippers stars, with PVAMU matching up with Harden and Alcorn State the recipient of exclusive Trae Young shoes.
At least for now, the purple and gold versions of those half dozen shoes will remain just as their title states, player exclusive. However, fans of the programs can look forward catching these sneakers on the feet of each school’s athletes until February 12th.
Elsewhere for the Three Stripes, they’re preparing for the NBA’s big weekend in style, unveiling a new All Star adidas D.O.N. Issue 5.
