This is why the Grizzlies star Desmond Bane has to use LeBron's shoes against the Lakers

There's an unwritten rule in the NBA that players should not wear their rival's signature shoes, but the Memphis Grizzlies star Desmond Bane has to break it.

Desmond Bane has been using the LeBron XX signature shoes for a while now, and even the Lakers superstar has made sure Bane has enough pairs of his sneakers to use, but there is a reason why Desmond uses them.

Desmond Bane has a medical reason to violate the unwritten rule, wearing LeBron XXs against the Lakers. Bane: "I got to leave my pride to the side and do what's best for my body and career."

Bane visited multiple doctors after suffering a Grade 2 sprain of his right big toe during the Memphis Grizzlies' Nov. 11 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. What was initially expected to sideline Bane for two or three weeks kept him out for most of December, after an injury to the sesamoid, a small bone in the joint of the big toe that Bane will likely need to get surgically repaired this summer, complicated matters.

Bane has to use Nike comfortable shoes

That meant, in part, finding a comfortable sneaker that had a stiff bottom to support his toe. Because of Bane's shoe deal, it had to be Nike. Bane tried different Nike shoes of different players but nothing that could helped him with his injury. Finally, Bane found his solution: the LeBron XX, the latest and 20th edition of LeBron James' series of signature shoes.

It was a bittersweet development for Bane, who wasn't happy to wear the shoe of the Los Angeles Lakers' active legend, considering their contentious history. "Nah. I mean, nah, I [wasn't]," Bane told ESPN, pursing his lips and shaking his head, weeks before the second-seeded Grizzlies and No. 7 seed Lakers met in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. "But you know, I got to leave my pride to the side and do what's best for my body and my career."