Desmond Bane is putting comfort over pride as he continues to wear Lebron’s signature shoe vs the Lakers in the playoffs

The Memphis Grizzlies are a team known for their grittiness and never backing down from tough situations. Their team has an unwritten rule that they won’t wear the signature shoe of their opponent when they play against them. However, Desmond Bane is choosing comfort over pride and is wearing the “LeBron XX” sneakers against James in the playoffs. 

Bane injured his big toe back in November and had to miss 17 games in a row because of it. The third-year-pro found that the “LeBron XX” sneakers help support his injured toe the best of all the shoes he had available to him. He’s a Nike athlete and said that wearing LeBron’s latest signature shoe is the best move for his career.

NBA betting sites have the Grizzlies at (-104) to win Game 2 tonight vs the Lakers.

LeBron James says he’s going to send more signature shoes to Desmond Bane: ‘I got to make sure he’s a LeBron athlete now’ https://t.co/qPyQA4Y9sK

— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) April 19, 2023

Desmond Bane will wear the “LeBron XX” tonight vs James and the Lakers

Bane has been nursing a toe injury for most of the season and has gone to multiple doctors since then. There’s a strong chance that he’ll need to get that surgically repaired this summer but has accepted having to play through the pain for most of the season. As a Nike athlete, Bane had to find the right shoe that would be the most comfortable in his return.

Twenty-two players across the league have their own signature shoe, but only a handful are with Nike. He tried Paul George and Kyrie Irving’s signature shoes. Those did not work out for him, but then he tried the “LeBron XX” and it was a bittersweet moment for him.

He’d finally found a shoe that was comfortable enough for his big toe. However, Bane was not thrilled to be wearing James’ shoes. The two had a small incident earlier this season, but Lebron was quick to smooth over the incident once he saw Bane was wearing his sneakers. James even approached Bane before Game 1 and asked if he “had enough of ’em” and if he needed “more” shoes.

Bane says he thinks they moved on from the incident and considered it a sincere gesture from LeBron and appreciated it. LeBron said it was “super dope” to see Bane wearing his latest signature shoe.