Who could’ve guessed that in 2026, the sportswear name that’s on everybody's lips would be… Skechers? It turns out that Skechers has been moving in stealth all this time, preparing for a new golden age of “Skechers is a Serious Sportswear Brand Now, Actually” awareness that’s kicked off, pun intended, with OG Anunoby. 

The New York Knicks player was laced up in a pair of Skechers SKX Nexus sneakers in a player-exclusive “NYC Blue” colorway for Game 4 of the 2026 NBA playoffs, when he secured victory with a showstopping tip-in during the game’s final seconds.

With the Knicks’ historic Game 5 win making them NBA champions for the first time in over 50 years, Anunoby also made history for the shoe company by becoming the first basketball player repped by Skechers to ever win an NBA title. 

But Anunoby is just the most visible piece of a much bigger puzzle. The company also represents the Las Vegas Aces’ three-time WNBA-winning shooting guard, Jackie Young (and just signed a multi-year deal to be the WNBA’s official partner) and is a major presence at this year’s World Cup via England men’s soccer captain and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, who’s been called the “best striker in the world.” With the April announcement that Skechers is also backing the Tom Brady-backed Birmingham Phoenix cricket team, it's clear the footwear label is working overtime to build up a reputation as a serious presence in performance sports. 

It’s a sharp turn away from Skechers’ usual reputation for producing elderly or even “uncool” shoes, though perhaps it shouldn’t be such a surprise. Even if the brand culturally feels like a distant cousin to ubiquitous sportswear giants like Adidas and Nike, the reality is that Skechers is the third-best-selling footwear label in the world by sales; it posted record sales of $9 billion in 2024, and grew year-on-year by 12 percent. 

The money has always been there, but the ambition is new. Skechers has been stacking sports sponsorships since its massive lifetime deal with Kane in 2023 and an equally huge partnership with basketball star Joel Embiid in 2024, poaching him after his previous Under Armour deal lapsed. With the overlapping World Cup and NBA moments, 2026 is the culmination of Skechers’ simmering aspirations.

It’s also entering a market at an opportune time for advancement: As titans like Nike have seen sales slip, there’s never been a better time for Skechers to shed its image as the maker of my mom’s favorite cheap shoes and finally get people to put some respect on its name. 

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