In sneaker sales, King James bows to Jordan

San Francisco

LAST summer, shortly after claiming his third NBA title, LeBron James said he was still chasing Michael Jordan and his six championship rings. But James is also chasing Jordan in the world of signature shoe sales - a realm still dominated by the Air Jordan line 13 years after its founder retired.

So Nike and James are trying something new with their newest release, the LeBron 14, to build extra buzz. Instead of a standard rollout on Nike's website or at retailers, a small batch of the shoes is going directly to a secondary marketplace before a wider release - the sneaker world's equivalent of an initial public offering of a stock.

Nike released 23 pairs of the LeBron 14, along with 23 pairs of his signature shoe from his rookie season, on Friday evening to the highest bidders on StockX, an online sneaker resale marketplace …