{"id":552239,"date":"2026-01-22T02:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T02:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/552239\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T02:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T02:13:13","slug":"what-are-those-the-story-behind-spencer-jones-start-up-sneakers-for-nuggets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/552239\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018What are those?\u2019: The story behind Spencer Jones\u2019 start-up sneakers for Nuggets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spencer Jones has conversation starters on his feet when he steps on the court.<\/p>\n

The \u201cAndiem Pivot 1.0\u201d sneakers he\u2019s sported this season might not be the flashiest, and they\u2019re definitely not the most popular option in the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few guys at the free-throw line were like \u2018What are those?\u2019 They hadn\u2019t seen them before,\u201d Jones, a 24-year-old Nuggets forward, told The Denver Gazette last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had to explain it several times.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the Brooklyn-based company lacks in brand recognition is made up for in functionality and ambition to make ankle injuries a thing of the past. Andiem founders Ezra Smyser and Alex Morel launched the \u201cPivot 1.0\u201d a couple of years ago, and Jones is the first player to wear them in NBA games. The brand\u2019s name combines \u201cand\u201d for continuation and \u201cdiem,\u201d the Latin for day, to come up with the company\u2019s \u201cmore days\u201d mantra.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met through basketball and really bonded over our shared ankle injury history and frequent reinjuries, including many monthlong recoveries, and even surgery,\u201d the founders said in an email to The Denver Gazette. \u201cWe were fanatical about staying on the court and became obsessed with solving the problem. It was a decade-long journey of experiencing injuries and observing how so many other players \u2014 at all levels of the game, even the NBA \u2014 were dealing with the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The duo met with orthopedic surgeons, intellectual-property lawyers and experienced executives in the shoe industry before designing their debut shoe. They met Jones in Las Vegas at Summer League last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was already in need of a new shoe,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThe way I play, my feet and everything like that, I was blowing through shoes all summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NuggetsOrlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) moves the ball past Denver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones (21) during the first half of an NBA game Dec. 27, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo\/John Raoux)<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Jones had a meeting scheduled with Paul Roberson, who founded a resistance-band company called FLO Unleashed, at Summer League. Roberson invited Smyser and Morel to join. The duo remembers the meeting taking place in a tearoom on the top floor of a Las Vegas hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the end, Spencer was wear-testing the Pivot \u2014 Euro-stepping, jabbing, pro-hopping between triple-decker pastry plates, tea pots and quizzically staring patrons,\u201d the founders said. \u201cFrom there he decided to trial the shoes over the offseason, periodically touching base to share what he liked and that he was planning to use them in preseason. Before we knew it, it\u2019s opening night, and Spencer is rocking Andiem vs. the Warriors. By then, we knew he wanted to be involved more seriously, and we just had to find time to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only is Jones wearing the shoes on a nightly basis. He\u2019s also listed as an investor and adviser in the company. Andiem could do a lot worse as far as brand ambassadors go. Jones holds a management science and engineering degree from Stanford. He\u2019s one of few, if any, NBA players with an active presence on LinkedIn, which uses to build his investing and venture-capital networks.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpence is a unique guy, man. He\u2019s smart; he knows it,\u201d Nuggets coach David Adelman said after Saturday\u2019s practice at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a worldly guy. He knows what\u2019s going on. If I mention current affairs or what\u2019s going on in the news, he\u2019s one of the few guys that shakes his head like he knows what\u2019s going on. Spence knows what\u2019s going on. He\u2019s a smart guy, and he\u2019s had a really good season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old has equity in the company and frequently hears from the founders whether it\u2019s a congratulatory message after a good game or questions about the shoes\u2019 performance at the highest level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in talks about possibly making a custom for me down the line,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt\u2019s really cool to be a part of something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DenverSpencer Jones\u2019 shoes (The Gazette, Jerilee Bennett) Jan. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Nike was Jones\u2019 brand of choice, and convenience, prior to this season.<\/p>\n

Between last season, which Jones almost exclusively spent in the G League, and his five-year college career with the Cardinal, Jones took the court in different pairs featuring the swoosh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just the ones I got for free,\u201d Jones explained.<\/p>\n

Jones didn\u2019t have an extensive history of ankle injuries. He estimated he rolled or sprained an ankle once or twice a year like most people playing that much basketball. The larger issue was the sides of the shoes weren\u2019t up to the wear and tear his game demanded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing was that it\u2019s very sturdy and can handle my style of play,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny other shoe I was wearing was usually blowing out around a month, month and a half, maybe even less. The fact that they lasted all three months \u2014 no issues with anything \u2014 that was kind of like my testing period. \u2026 I\u2019ve worn it for almost nine months now, and it\u2019s way better than any other shoe I\u2019ve used.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andiem\u2019s shoe features a wider base that\u2019s beneficial for Jones, who said he has flat feet. That puts a lot of stress on the side of the shoe. There\u2019s also a built-in strap around the front of the top of the shoe that provides additional reinforcement. The patent-protected technology also includes what the brand calls \u201cescape\u201d insoles that feature extra padding in the heel for added protection, more bounce in the forefoot and a full layer of memory foam that molds to the wearer\u2019s feet over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take a completely different approach to support. This is not a brace inside a shoe. The shoes are built on the principles of balance and connection. it\u2019s not just about preventing injuries. We want to help athletes move better,\u201d the founders said. \u201cBraces and tape try to immobilize your foot, so if you start to turn, you\u2019ll have some extra material to counter that force. Our tech is designed to prevent the roll from passing into the inversion danger zone by giving you extra balance, proprioception, and making you one with the shoe as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DenverDenver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones (21) fouls Los Angeles Lakers forward Luka Don\u010di\u0107 (77) during the first half of an NBA game Jan. 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo\/Jack Dempsey)<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The shoes have received some solid product placement this season.<\/p>\n

Despite playing on a two-way contract, Jones has been active for 43 of Denver\u2019s first 44 games, and he\u2019s started 28. That was the case again Tuesday against the Lakers.<\/p>\n

Jones switched onto Luka Doncic on Denver\u2019s first defensive possession. He sunk a corner 3 over LeBron James on the Nuggets\u2019 first offensive possession, and he went on to hit his first four 3-pointers in his little-known kicks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brings the energy every night. He plays hard. He can make shots. He reads spacing. He doesn\u2019t ever call for the ball. He\u2019s just one of those guys that can do it all on the court,\u201d Nuggets guard and New Balance athlete Jamal Murray said after Tuesday\u2019s loss. \u201cHe was everywhere. He\u2019s somebody that we\u2019re relying on right now. Even him being that size and in the corners a lot, he\u2019s still rebounding and giving us extra possessions, which are keeping us in the game. We\u2019re going to need more of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shoes were put to the test in Boston on Jan. 7. Not only was Jones frequently matched up with Celtics star Jaylen Brown, but a couple of minutes into the game, Jones sprinted back on defense and deflected a pass to prevent an easy Celtics bucket. The sequence ended with Jones crashing into a couple of camera operators and seats in the first row. Jones stayed in the game for 7 more minutes but missed the rest of the game with soreness in his left foot. He missed Denver\u2019s next game against Atlanta but was back for the Jan. 11 game against Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only missed one game because of it because of the structure I had in the shoe. It gave me full confidence to go out there despite not really being 100% in a couple of those games following it,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a freak accident. If I was in any other shoe, I probably would\u2019ve taken at least another game off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DenverDenver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones, left, and Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg pursue a loose ball in the second half of an NBA game in Denver. (The Associated Press)<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the kind of substance that supersedes style or hype.<\/p>\n

Jones has fielded questions about his new shoes from curious teammates and coaches of choice. Some opponents have been more critical than inquisitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only skepticism is no one has seen it, so a couple of people were clowning me when I first started wearing them,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t care. \u2026 It was much more structural and everything like that, even though I like how they look.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spencer Jones has conversation starters on his feet when he steps on the court. The \u201cAndiem Pivot 1.0\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[7,301,187,3943,6,302],"class_list":{"0":"post-552239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-nuggets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-denver","10":"tag-denver-nuggets","11":"tag-denvernuggets","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-nuggets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115936337475118316","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}