While NBA fans who are lucky enough to get playoff tickets will file out of each game wearing pretty much anything that has their team’s branding on it, the players they worship will be making completely different choices—and every apparel brand out there would love for that choice to involve them.

In last year’s Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat, the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook let the world know that he thought he was responsible for the hipster trend to wear funky lensless glasses, USA Today recalls.

The playoffs just started this past weekend but it’s already gotten off to a good jump on the fashion front as the Heat’s LeBron James dropped some jaws (and not in a good way) with his Tommy Bahama-esque shirt and James Harden of the Houston Rockets showed up for post-game interviews wearing a shirt that involved a whole lot of pleather. Los Angeles Clippers stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul also got into the act. Russell Westbrook wore a sleeveless leather top and gold bedazzled high tops after his team’s game Sunday.Continue reading...

New Grownup Burger Recalls Grownup Film Moment

The words burger, Heidi Klum and bourbon aren’t generally found in the same sentence, but that’s changed now that Carl’s Jr. will become the first fast-food chain to release a burger branded by a liquor. The Jim Beam Bourbon burger will start being sold Monday night and to celebrate the moment, the chain has turned out a sexy ad featuring supermodel/businesswoman Heidi Klum reprising one of American film’s sexiest characters, The Graduate’s Mrs. Robinson.

In it, Klum seduces the camera and her naïve young male costar while chowing down on a massive Jim Beam burger. (Don’t worry, teetotalers. Unlike the famed Mrs. Robinson, the burger is alcohol-free.)Continue reading...

T-Mobile kills off wireless contract, readies to launch LTE network.

Gordon Brothers Europe agrees to buy struggling Blockbuster UK, saving 2,000 jobs and brand. 

W Hotels plans to double Asia presence over the next five years.

AstraZeneca settles Crestor patent suit.

Apple, Microsoft defend pricing policies in Australia.

Britain's BAE Systems wins five-year, $780 million US military contract.

BMW looks to Mini Paceman to challenge growing Fiat market.

Bridgestone launches new tire line to reignite Firestone brand.Continue reading...

With the Year of the Snake dawning, Nike's zodiac cycle is complete: The approaching Chinese New Year will bring what Nike claims is a 12th version of its special edition zodiac animal-themed shoes.

In 2001, Nike had just one zodiac offering, the Air Force 1 Low 3M "Snake." In the ensuing years, some Nike zodiac shoes were better than others. (Air Max 1 Year of the Ox, anyone? Nike Dunk High pigs?).  This year, with a better creature to work with, and as it had with last year's Year of the Dragon, Nike —along with its Jordan brand — has introduced a collection of serpentine shoes.

Nike isn't alone: Shelves of shoe stores in China are about to be filled with scaly offerings that would make Indiana Jones shudder. Continue reading...

It's less than a month before the NBA All-Star Game tips off in Houston — which means it's time for Nike’s marketing department to begin leveraging as many sales as possible from basketball fans.

Today, the sportswear giant announced a series of shoes and sportswear tied to the event that use space as a theme since Houston is the home of NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. 

Nike made a similar space tie-in during last year's All-Star Game in Orlando, Fla.Continue reading...

On Wednesday night, Kobe Bryant became the fifth and youngest member to enter the NBA's exclusive 30,000 point club. He joins Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as the NBA celebrates in its video recounting Bryant's journey.

A week after the United States Anti-Doping Agency let loose a thousand pages of painful details about how Lance Armstrong and pretty much every other top American bicycle pro of the last decade doped, Nike has finally released its own news on the matter.

Following a protest at its Beaverton, Ore., HQ yesterday, Nike this morning confirmed it's dropping the athlete with two terse paragraphs, serving up a serious financial blow to Armstrong even though still continuing to support the Livestrong philanthropic brand he founded. The sports giant just released a limited-edition collection to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Livestrong, which promotes cancer awareness and healthy living, as part of a licensing deal that will continue.

Just as Joe Paterno's name was scrubbed from the Nike campus, Armstrong will also see his name removed from the fitness center on the Nike campus in Oregon, as CNN is reporting that Nike will remove his name from the building. In tandem with Nike's news, the disgraced cyclist also announced this morning that he was stepping down from his role as chairman of Livestrong.

The news prompted a mass exodus from Team Armstrong. On the heels of Nike's announcement, sponsor Anheuser-Busch announced it's dropping the cyclist when his deal as a Michelob Ultra brand ambassador ends on Dec. 31st. The Giro brand, which produced a custom $15,000 bike helmet for Armstong's 2010 Tour de France race and a branded line of helmets, also quit Team Armstrong, along with the Honey Stinger brand and, as the Wall Street Journal reports, RadioShack .

In all, Bloomberg estimates that Armstrong stands to lose $30 million as his sponsors flee.Continue reading...

The NBA season may only be 66 games this season, but Nike is not missing an opportunity to sell more shoes. At the start of February, three of its big-name endorsers — Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Miami Heat’s LeBron James, and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder — lent their names to Black History Month-themed sneakers on store shelves.

Now the talented trio will all be taking the court for the NBA All-Star Game in Orlando on Feb. 26 and Nike isn't missing a beat. The sports shoe giant is releasing space-themed shoes for each player to sell in honor of the city’s relationship with space travel, according to Fox News. (It’s only an hour west of Kennedy Space Center.) As Fox News reports, the Nike shoes will feature graphics that "pay homage to the supernova — arguably the most powerful force in the universe." The outsoles of the shoes will glow in the dark and show will have individual “mission patches,” just the way astronaut uniforms do.Continue reading...