In the sneaker business, the feet of professional athletes are the most valuable billboards in the world. The company that gets its shoes on the best basketball players, football players and soccer players wins, because those athletes’ footwear choices have outsize influence over everyone else’s purchasing decisions.
That fundamental truth about high tops and cleats — that getting top players in your brand and keeping them there is good business — was the subtext of a critical piece of a corruption and bribery network outlined on Tuesday by federal prosecutors, which swiftly resulted in the demise of a Hall of Fame coach’s career.