Banned By the NBA – Making a Killing Off Bad Press

Imagine creating a company and building a product that could revolutionize the way people live, do business or play sports… then being told your product couldn’t be used for business or in any professions? This would be detrimental to your business, and the idea of not having a pro athlete / entertainer being about to sponsor and sport your product would be a disaster!… or would it?

This is EXACTLY what has happened to a new shoe company, Athletic Propulsion Labs and their new $300 shoes called the “Concept 1“. The promise from the company is that these shoes will increase your vertical jump anywhere from 1-8 inches. Sounds crazy right? Well… not too crazy! The NBA has banned the use of these shoes as they are considered a performance enhancing product. The only thing better than having Lebron James or Kobe Bryant running down the court in a pair of these, is the NBA banning these shoes and solidifying the amazing claim that these shoes WILL make you jump higher!

What seems like a disaster for Athletic Propulsion Labs, has turned into anything but. ESPN and every other sports outlet has been covering the story and Athletic Propulsion Labs is getting an amazing amount of exposure for their breakthrough technology shoe for nothing. Heck… I even ordered a pair to give them a try!

Check out some of the free publicity Athletic Propulsion Labs has been receiving due to their shoes being banned in the NBA. This is the type of exposure that can’t be bought!

- Rejection by N.B.A. Gives New Shoes Even Greater Bounce

- NBA: Players can’t wear Concept 1s

- NBA Bans Athletic Propulsion Labs’ Concept 1 Shoe Designed to Increase Vertical Leap

- Can special basketball shoes really make you jump higher?

My favorite article so far has been the one from Sports Illustrated (bottom link above) where they actually do a video test. In short, one guy jumps off one foot and doesn’t see much of a different, then another jumps off two and jumps a bit higher than he ever has before. We will have to wait for more people to purchase the Concept 1s and take their video testimonials to YouTube to see the truth behind these shoes and if they really work.

In the meantime… Athletic Propulsion Labs will bask in the glory of being “Banned by the NBA“! What a great way to kick off the upcoming NBA season!