Damian Lillard's Insole Company Spreads Through NBA Locker Rooms

Roughly 25 NBA teams now outfit players with insoles made by a company co-founded by Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, according to estimates from his business partner cited by NBC News. Lillard did not have to sell the product to his own locker room — his new backcourt mate already used it without knowing who was behind it.

How did Ja Morant find out Lillard owns the company?

At the start of Portland's preseason training camp, Ja Morant told Lillard he needed more pairs of the orthotics he wears, NBC News reported. Lillard responded, "You know that's my company, right?" Morant initially thought Lillard was joking, per the outlet's report.

The company is Move Insoles, which Lillard co-founded with Nate Jones, a longtime athlete marketer who works at Goodwin Sports, the agency that represents Lillard. Jones began developing the product in earnest in 2019 and brought Lillard on as a co-founder, with NBA veterans Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford signing on as investors, according to NBC News.

How many teams and athletes are using the insoles?

Jones estimated that around 25 NBA teams now use Move Insoles, NBC News reported. Adoption extends beyond basketball: the Dallas Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb and five-time WNBA MVP A'Ja Wilson are also listed among the athletes using the product, per the outlet.

Is the spread tied to endorsement deals?

According to NBC News, the adoption pattern mirrors what happened with Morant — players and team medical staffs are picking up Move Insoles through word of mouth rather than through sponsorship arrangements or direct requests from Lillard. Lillard "hasn't gone around the NBA evangelizing his own product," the outlet reported, yet usage has still spread across more than half the league's rosters.

What does the company's leadership say about that reach?

Jones framed the organic growth as validation of the product, not just the brand. "I've been watching the NBA and been an NBA junkie my entire life," Jones said, per NBC News. "So to create something that these players rely on, believe in, that their medical staffs rely on and believe in, is a big deal."

What is Lillard's role in the business beyond his name?

NBC News reported that Lillard has described the insoles as giving players "support and different options," language that appears alongside his comments in company materials cited by the outlet. His investment puts him alongside Paul and Crawford as NBA figures with a financial stake in a product now worn by opponents they face on the floor — including, for at least one preseason moment, a teammate who did not realize whose company he was already relying on.

The figures on team and athlete adoption come from estimates provided by Jones to NBC News; the outlet did not cite independent verification of the team count. Portland opens its regular season with Lillard and Morant both on the roster, the pairing that produced the locker-room exchange now circulating alongside the company's growth numbers.

For the original reporting on the Trail Blazers' preseason and the exchange between Lillard and Morant, see NBC News.