Well since I was in fact talking about sneakers exclusively, yes, Kobe is currently the GOAT of NBA footwear. You’re making this about Jordan, when my post was to point out that among his professional, collegiate, and high school peers, LeFlop gets no love for his bricks. Even his Nike brethren under contract ignore his shoes.
Of course more people are wearing KD’s now over Jordan’s. The newer Jordan’s are ass stylistically , and if MJ didn’t wear them, no one cares. KD’s have some of the best shoe tech going, and consistently rank as a top performer. Hell, even I currently play in KD’s. Kobe is the current king is, because the trend is for a light, fast, low top with a good “court feel”. Kyrie Irving was holding that spot for a minute til he went full retard and switched to a Chinese brand no one really follows.
You’re right, Jordan’s shoes had zero impact on the overall reflection of his game. But as I said, we’re talking sneakers, and you’re off your rocker if you even think even for a second his shoes didn’t have a profound impact on sneaker culture. We’re a few generations in and kids and adults still rock J’s enthusiastically. Models 1 through 14 still sell well when they drop a new retro. The hottest shoe right now is a Jordan 4 and Nigel Sylvester collaboration. Even your GOAT knows what’s what…