If economics is supply and demand, wouldn’t it be useful for companies if they could pull demand out of a hat; if they could create new marketplaces out of thin air, instantly cashing in on the first-mover advantage. There they would stand, titans of industry, as the lone player in a market.

Sportswear and equipment giant, Nike, has accomplished exactly that with their Nike Pro Combat line. The Combat line is essentially a Dri-FIT compression base layer, complete with “advanced padding in key areas.” Included is compression underwear and basketball shirts. Both retail at $75.00.

Nike Pro Combat was first developed into a Nike Football line, with the famous image of honeycombed Minnesota Vikings running back, Adrian Peterson. Pro Combat gear is now being unveiled as a Nike Basketball line, with the likes of Lebron James and Amar’e Stoudemire as front pitchmen. Nike, the principal inventor of sports marketing, and the undeniable revolutionary, has really outdone themselves this time around. I will attempt to see through the “elite” brand of Lebron James. For sports fans, I would encourage you to look past deflected glory, a term I learned at Nike U (University of Oregon). Deflected glory is a fan (shortened for fanatic, remember), emotionally connected with their team, projecting the team’s current or past successes. Some fans even take credit for their squad’s success. And if it’s not that extreme, all fans talk as if they’re “part of the team.” It’s a classic, subconscious comment like “we were dominant on the blocks tonight.” I wasn’t taught this term but I suppose there is such thing as deflected depression when a team loses, or if the team happens to be the Chicago Cubs.

Strong emotional ties to a team’s success boosts a fan’s own self-esteem or happiness. Imagine the fan who riots, setting the city on fire after their team wins a championship. Pure youthful exuberance, and an I’m-better-than-all-of-you mentality. Never mind many of the people living in the city are fans of the same team. Nobody ever said emotions made sense. In addition to arson, a sports team’s success also encourages fans to buy officially licensed team products, which the sports marketing game relies on. Think college football bowl apparel rolled out in the month of December while fans are on a high. Gear that most fans will never wear after the bowl game.

It’s time to call Nike’s bluff, for once, on Pro Combat Gear; or marketing genius, if you prefer.

Firstly, what are the merits of “preparing for combat” with ergonomically designed foam padding on the thighs, hips and tailbone? I suppose it makes sense. If it doesn’t bother the athlete on the court, it protects them from nasty falls when they get upended in the air, or get elbows to the thighs (I’m looking at you Bruce Bowen).

Actually, the mere existence of Bruce Bowen really upends my argument. Fortunately, city league players down at the “Y” probably aren’t matching up against Bruce anytime soon.

Elbows just don’t hit you in the thighs very often out on the basketball court. You pretty much have to be going up against a Bruce Bowen protégé for thigh pads to come in handy. Tailbone pads could come in handy if you get knocked on your butt, but the only time it’s an injury concern is if your vertical leap is considerable. It’s not until you get way up into the air to dunk or lay it in, that someone can really make you lose control of your body. Not sure that really applies to most of the people who have and will inevitably buy these products. And as far as hips go, I can’t think of anybody messing with my hips other than the above tailbone scenario.

The Combat shirt provides protection for the ribs, sides and lower back. Some people are kind of ticklish in those areas. I guess that’s a plus. Unless basketball starts to allow Ali right hooks and jabs to the liver, I think my ribs and sides will be just fine playing ball. And protection of the low back could be helpful if you’ve had major back surgery on a few discs, but maybe pickup ball isn’t the smart place to be anyway, in that case. Like the hips, the low back could be vulnerable in the tailbone scenario.

If the recreational basketball you’re playing has any substantiated parallels to combat, I would recommend seeking health insurance before entering the battlefield.

Pro Compression shorts without padding retail at $25 or $30, depending on length. It is just like Nike to throw in some foam padding which add limited value, triple the price, and trot out Lebron James and company to sell them. This is one of the reasons it makes economic sense to pay Lebron James $90+ million; it’s easy to move product and to instantly validate new product lines from the Nike lab. There is no other product on the market similar to Nike Pro Combat, particularly in basketball. Nike creates a new product class with no alternatives for the consumer, wraps the products in adored athletes and watches the cash roll in.