NEW YORK -- Never has a seven-story man, elite or otherwise, created any noteworthy noise in sneaker sales, not even when Devious Darryl Dawkins tried to get rich in a hurry by advertising a different brand on each foot.
Kareem, Shaq, Patrick Ewing, feel free to name the centerfold or his company, consumers simply haven't identified with Goliath.
Yao Ming is almost certain to be the exception. Reebok's imminent signing of the Ming Dynasty for numbers ($75 million -- excluding royalties -- over 10 years with an escape clause after six) approaching those LeBron James got ($100 million) to follow in Michael Jordan's swoosh-steps, is certain to alter, if not end, Nike's global supremacy.