There’s his team, the Sacramento Kings. He’s their clutch architect, entrusted with the responsibility of winning close games. He’s so nice with that part. So nice that he was fifth in total clutch points scored last season and third in most clutch field goals made, too. 

He’s the Kings’ offensive foundation in all the other moments of the game. He breaks defensive walls with speed that scares. Got defenders looking like the Popeyes lady. They can’t catch him or their breath. He makes dudes in their mid-20s look like grey beards at the barber shop, the ones talking about how nice they used to be. But he’s really that nice. 

He’s got five straight seasons of 20-plus points per game to his name. And with how he’s stacked the improvement of his career, the numbers don’t illustrate the way he’s pieced everything together. 

Bop, bop–quick cross. He’s found space. Lots of it. Could be a faster-than-light pull from the midrange. Defender won’t even get their hand up. That kind of speed. Could be a left-handed smash at the rim over a skyscraper. One of those dunks where his legs kick back behind him. Something to see the Flow outsole real good. Could be a dish to one of the many shooters that now call Sacramento home. Could be a drop-off to the big. But it will be a bucket. And it will be rapid. 

Alright, offense orchestrated. Time for defense. The kind of defense that some coach in the middle of the country is gonna show their star player. “See, see, this is that desire,” he’s gonna say. “You play like this? You play like this? You’re gonna make it.” He’s gonna almost plead with the kid. He’s gonna show Fox picking up three-quarter court, sitting on the point guard’s strong hand. When that point guard does a lazy spin move to try and get back to his dominant side, Fox will pick him on the turn. Boom. Bye bye. Another bucket. 

That’s the way Fox has been upping his game. He’s got the Kings in prime position to scare the daylights out of the West. 

But it’s the night lights that are coming to define this All-Star. There’s the beam. It gets lit every time the Kings win a game. It rises high through the Sacramento sky, a vertical line of purple, built as a warning shot.

Not night lights of the city, though. Nah, not those kinds that are made for social outings. He intimately knows the night lights of weight rooms, of empty gyms, of phone screens. After the workouts that nobody sees, Fox has been building something else. He’s been working on the Fox 1 by Curry Brand. 

Now all those texts messages, emails and FaceTimes back and forth with Ed Wallace, Senior Designer at Curry Brand and Under Armour, have been realized in a physical product. 

The Fox 1 by Curry Brand is here.

A Friday under the daylight of Rancho Cordova, CA, is where all the time under the night lights pays off. Fox, along with his wife Recee and their daughter Poppy, saunters into the athletic facility where we’ve set up our cameras. Fox gets his hair cut by Kevin McClain of Skills Barbershop. Recee eats some lunch. And three colorways of the Fox 1 are waiting for all of us. 

The “Happy Fox Day” is a blue/orange joint inspired by one of Fox’s favorite Christmas movies, Jingle Jangle. The purple/green “Light the Beam” is an homage to the aforementioned winning signal that shines over Sac-Town. 

No. 5’s favorite edition of the trio we have here on set is the “Happy Fox Day Alt.” It’s a green option, also inspired by that same movie. Green is the lefty’s favorite color and it induces a vocal reaction from him when he sees it. 

Slowly, without even realizing it, Fox has been working on a database of colorway ideas. He loves video games, he loves anime and he loves his kids. Those are just the foundations for what we’ll see on the Fox 1. 

“Ed would come to me and ask, you know, five, six, seven different questions and then you give him an answer and I’m thinking, I don’t know what the hell he’s gonna do with that answer,” Fox says. “Then he comes back with, like, 75 different concepts of the 10 things that you might have told him. So just how the creative people are behind the scenes, just having him take those words, come back, you know, a week or two later and putting them on a paper and then asking, you know, Which ones do you like? That process was crazy.”

Wallace heard a lot about Dragon Ball Z and Avatar in his early conversations with Fox. They started to make him PEs of the Curry 1, Curry 2 and the Curry 4 that were callouts to some of his interests, including one for his son, Reign. But as Wallace got to work on the signature, things took an unexpected turn. 

“I started looking at more animals, like foxes,” he says. “Normally I wouldn’t have a reason to do that. It’s just something I thought about. Like, This can be cool to put a little fur up there [on the tongue] and having a strap as I was thinking about speed and brought that to a point [where] I was like, I can make this look like a little fox tail. So those were the things I never explored before.” 

The Fox 1’s defining design piece is the midfoot strap. Each of these different colorways has a different visual across the strap. It’s something De’Aaron had always wanted, ever since he was playing in Under Armour silhouettes as a middle schooler. 

“A big thing for me was having a strap,” Fox says. “One of my favorite shoes to play in growing up was the Bloodlines with Brandon Jennings. That and the Black Ices. The Black Ices also had a strap, too. Those were kind of the concepts that I thought about. I didn’t know what the strap would look like exactly, but when going through the process, I’m like, That’s a big thing for me.” 

Wallace, who is also the lead designer on the Curry line, said that he initially sat down with Fox at a photo shoot for the Curry 11. Fox mentioned then that he wanted a strap. Wallace ended up with a fixed strap and a two-mesh upper, along with no-sew wrapping near the toe area and a heel overlay that provides support under the heel. The traction is powered by Flow, the mainstay cushioning for No. 30 since the Curry 8. Curry Brand’s innovators found out how to remove rubber from their products, resulting in premium grip on the outsole. The Brand’s namesake is always heavily involved in the sneaker creation process. But he wasn’t for this one and it resulted in an amazing memory. 

“When we were in China actually, he hadn’t seen the shoe yet,” Fox says about the trip that he accompanied Stephen Curry on in September. “So when we were in China, we were about to lift in the hotel and he was like, Yo, you got your shoe? I’m like, No, I don’t got them on me. He was like, Damn, I wanna see them.”

When he finally did see them, it was a wrap. 

“He didn’t let them go,” Fox continues. “We went through a whole workout actually, he was, like, holding them, putting them down, doing his thing and then, like, [he’d] be looking at them… Like, Steph’s 10 years older than me, right? I think he’s played eight more years than me. But I watched—I was in high school when Steph won his first MVP, when he won his first championship. Since I’ve gotten to a certain level, I’ve never really, like, necessarily idolized guys. But then when we went on that trip, I’m, like, Steph is on a different level. The way that people react when they get around Steph is, like… But then when you actually see it, we can’t even walk through an airport. Just being around someone of that stature and then seeing him love the product that has my name and my logo on it is just, like, that’s a different feeling, too.”

It won’t be the last time that Fox sees someone wearing his sneaker. He’s already heard from teammates and opponents about the silhouette, although it was just preseason by the time we went to print. He wants to see them on teammates, on his opponents and on fans in the streets. 

“We knew we had to bring a lot of energy and make the shoe fun,” Wallace says. “He also talked about wanting to make the shoe look fast. We know his playing style, so we knew that we needed the shoe to look fast, and he also mentioned that he wanted it to look runner-esque.”

Fox and his close friend Reno have also been mentioning that they’re trying to usher in a bygone era with the Fox 1’s aesthetics. 

“Reno definitely was the most excited,” Fox says. “We kind of knew how we wanted it to look a little bit. He was like, I’m wearing them with jeans, [with] sweats. I’m bringing back the wearing basketball shoes with jeans.

“I’m like, yeah, I want a shoe that you don’t only wear on the basketball court because especially, like I said, this day and age, people aren’t going to buy basketball shoes to not play in them. So we wanna kinda have that. We wanna try to have the best of both worlds.”

So Fox is building with the Kings and with his signature sneaker. And Curry Brand is building out their larger family. 

That’s the key word—family. 

Type of family that goes all the way to China and then comes back for a barbecue on a Sunday afternoon. Where Canon Curry plays around with Reign Fox. Where No. 30 and No. 5 go head-to-head in postseason matchups and then hug it out afterward. Curry Brand is a family, where athletic gifts take a backseat to morals. 

“I couldn’t think of a better athlete and person to join the Curry Brand team,” the best shooter ever says of Fox. “To have somebody that believes in what you’re doing, believes in what the brand stands for, and believes in not just being a Curry Brand athlete, but taking that and building that into your identity as a player is special. And that’s exactly why we chose De’Aaron—he believes in Curry Brand and our mission as much as he believes in himself on the court. I’m grateful to have a partner that is so dedicated to our brand and invested in what our collective future holds.” 

What does that future hold? Lots and lots more clutch shots. Lots and lots more speed that scares. Lots and lots more steals. And lots and lots more Fox 1 colorways. Because brick by brick, step by step, De’Aaron Fox is building. 

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson.

The post De’Aaron Fox on the Fox 1 by Curry Brand, Family and His Love of Christmas appeared first on SLAM.

Our minds change when we travel. Being given time and space to think while up in the air allows ideas to form. The shifting time zones and landscapes brings wondrous feelings of inspiration. In these busy, busy days, we sit in our seats, look out or look up, and our minds wander. We’re blessed to have physical transportation further our emotional transformations. Journeys to different places make us into different people. Creativity flows and new art emerges. 

With all these years of adventuring, P.J. discovered a way to communicate his long-winding story. 

The “Sky Blue” Nike Air Flight ’89 is inspired by the countless flights that he’s taken. “Flight PJ17” is on the heel because this specific colorway takes its cue from the Boeing 777-300er that flies through the heavenly blue sky where metamorphosis occurs on the daily. P.J. took it even further by only making 472 pairs of these, a direct callback to the exact number of seats on a 777-300er. 

P.J. knows all about the sky, just like he knows all about sneakers. Picking the Air Flight ’89 for this colorway illustrates just how much he cares about staying true to his passion of rocking kicks that he personally loves. With a massive supply of more popular silhouettes at his disposal, he went with a deep cut—straight from the feet of Scottie Pippen. 

Originally known as the Nike Air Flight Low, this silhouette dropped back in 1989. Some will say it’s related to the Air Jordan IV because of its nearly-identical outsole and lace-locking system. Also, Tinker Hatfield (no stranger to long flights either) designed this pair, as he did the AJIV. But whether or not it’s actually related to the IV, it goes down as a important piece of Nike Basketball lore. Full-grain leather sits on the upper, while an encapsulated forefoot Air unit and a visible heel Air unit cushioned Pip’s landings from those acrobatic forays to the skies of the Chicago Stadium. 

Back in August, we released P.J.’s KICKS 26 cover story. It’s an appropriate time to bring back this quote from him: “Sneakers help me emotionally through everything. Just the love for shoes keeps my mind off of a lot of bullshit that I could be thinking about and dealing with. The love and the job, especially now just because we got so much going on within sneakers, culture, fashion and everything. It’s something that gives my mind a break off of everything else that’s going on around me. And I think different people have different things in their lives that, over years, they kind of figure [themselves] out, you know, things that make you happy. You know, you build a garden in your backyard, whatever it is. Wednesday night bowling with your boys. Everybody has something, and sneakers [have] always been my kind of release of everything where it’s just natural and I just love it.”

The post Inside the Inspiration: P.J. Tucker x ‘Sky Blue’ Nike Air Flight ’89 appeared first on SLAM.

These guys are friends. 

Sounds obvious, right? For sure. Easy to acknowledge it sounds obvious. But SLAM is celebrating its 30th anniversary. We’ve been around NBA players for a while now. We’ve seen that a ton of them are colleagues, not friends. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. These guys spend months on the road together. Their team responsibilities pull them away from their families. So most players keep it cordial with each other, but in the same way that you leave your work environment, they do, too. 

We’re not here to burst any bubbles. You should still believe in Santa Claus. Hell, hopefully one day the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot finally emerge. But we regret to inform you that most NBA players don’t kick it with each other outside of practice, even if they make it seem so when they’re in public. 

That’s why the genuine laughter of this trio, all three of them former Villanova Wildcats, was a much welcomed surprise. They seem to be friends off the court. There’s a ton of history between them, which we will get into. But you just never know what’s for the internet and what’s for real. 

SLAM 249 featuring the Knicks is available now. Get your copy here.

Josh pulled up first. He was early. He and one of his agency reps sat in the corner of the gym, with windows displaying the amazing manicured lawns outside the gym. It was the first day of March and the sun was reminding us it existed after a long winter. Finely-kept evergreen trees couldn’t block the natural light, so Josh, with his perfect braids and fresh white Ralphie tee, was illuminated. 

He deserves some of the spotlight. He’s the one who does the dirty work for Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau. Deflections, switches, backside call-outs all fall under his list of responsibilities. He also plays a lot of minutes. Like, a lot. As we go to press, he’s averaging 41 minutes a game over his last 22 contests. He even played the entire 48 against the Golden State Warriors on March 18. Hart’s role increased when the Knicks suffered injuries to two of their best players; he was called on to essentially be a 6-4 power forward. He has to get bruised up down low, fly around on rotations, jet back down to the paint and then grab rebounds. Over that same 22-game stretch, he pulled down an average of 11.3 boards a contest, way up from his career average of 6.5. Recently, his rebounding numbers have been major. In a stretch from late February to mid-March, he’s had one game of 18 rebounds and two with 19. And to make those two 19-board moments even more impressive, they were both part of triple-double performances. Triple-doubles are portraits of desire and technique—they require reading the game on a serious level. Hart has had five triple-doubles in his seven-year career. They’ve all happened in this current season. 

Hart’s a serious competitor on the court, which, according to Brunson, is the only time he’s ever serious at all. The two were roommates at Villanova and know each other very, very well. For example, Hart knows that Brunson’s favorite childhood player was Steve Nash. Brunson can counter that knowledge by adding that Mike and Ike is Hart’s favorite candy. Brunson, who was named an All-Star this season, says plainly that besides being about his business in basketball, Hart loves to joke around. There’s no arguing from Hart. In fact, Brunson and Hart only communicate in one way throughout the entire shoot.  

Brunson and DiVincenzo arrived together at the gym in Connecticut. It was starting to get dark when they walked in. No more individual spotlight on Hart. Instead, the three of them were the center of attention. Right from the jump, Brunson and Hart speak to each other through veiled inside jokes and outright insults. Sly smiles followed everything they said. Whenever Hart did or said something ridiculous, Brunson would look around helplessly, praying somebody else noticed the insanity. DiVincenzo, the youngest of the trio, consistently cracked up with laughter no matter what. 

DiVincenzo has had a winding road since making it to the League in 2018. The Bucks picked him 17th overall, but he didn’t get a ton of burn in that first season. To go from the height of winning the 2018 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player to only appearing in 27 games (a nagging heel injury can be blamed, too) is a fall off that would take the heart of most. That speed bump, however, gave us the first look at DiVincenzo’s resiliency. He came back the next season, played 66 games and averaged 9.2 ppg. The following season, he started every game he appeared in and upped his points average yet again. He would have been a huge part of the Bucks’ NBA Finals-winning group if not for an ankle injury that needed to be surgically repaired. 

Still, he has a ring. 

The Bucks traded him to the Kings in February ’22, where he suited up in only 25 games for then-coach Alvin Gentry. His next stop, the Warriors, reminded the NBA of how he plays when healthy. More resiliency. After fighting back from injury, he showed that he can run the 1 or play the 2. The Dubs had him dishing the ball to their Hall of Fame shooting duo. They had him filling the slots on cuts. He was one of the very few guards in the NBA allowed to crash the offensive glass (in this age of otherworldly athleticism and aerial acrobats, most teams prefer to send guys back for transition defense). When given the opportunity, he showed the ability to create his own shot off the bounce. 

He’s doing all of that now for the Knicks. This season, his three ball goes down nearly 40 percent of the time, above the League average. He has four games of more than 30 points this year, too. He had never had a 30-point game in his NBA career before this season. In his last 21 games, he’s going for 20.8 per. Big jump. Big, big jump. 

As most basketball players know, being on the same team as your friends usually increases production. There’s a foundational layer of trust that underlies everything when hooping with the bros. A portion of the stresses that come from playing with strangers get replaced by the fun of running around with your boys. Taking crazy shots or throwing stupid passes are usually followed by choice words from teammates. But sometimes those bad shots or wild passes result in strokes of genius. Genius is more likely to happen with brothers than it is with strangers, when people trust in those choices, when you really know the guy who has something to say after those shots and passes. And defensively, that trust shows up in the form of big rotational swings—a gamble in the passing lane getting covered by that dude who really enjoys Mike and Ike. 

Playing alongside friends is a treat. Winning alongside friends is a special privilege from the basketball heavens. 

These guys won together on the biggest collegiate stage. 

Hart was a junior by the time DiVincenzo and Brunson got to Nova. Though DiVincenzo didn’t play much in that 2015-16 season, Hart and Brunson were two of the Wildcats’ leaders. Along with Kris Jenkins and Ryan Arcidiacono, they guided the Wildcats to the 2016 national championship. They conquered close games, raced back from big deficits and survived the gauntlet together. Together is the key here. 

It’s a fact that the bonds we as humans form get deepened by stressful environments and heightened situations. When you’re 18-21 years old and the entire nation is watching your every step, giving you all their opinions, placing their hopes on your shoulders, that’s a stressful environment and a heightened situation. 

Then when Hart was playing for the Lakers in 2018, Brunson and DiVincenzo won the natty again. More stressful environments and heightened situations. 

So, of course these guys are actually friends. Their bond began in college, where young minds are shaped and formed without nationally-televised basketball games. Add in the games on TV, the thousands of screaming fans, the legacy of a Hall of Fame coach and that would’ve made for a deeper bond together. Now fast forward a few years and add the layer of Madison Square Garden, the generations-deep Knicks fandom and the pressure of possibly playing in May or June…that’s a lifelong bond. 

The three of them hit the bathroom together to change into their uniforms at our shoot. When they come back to the gym, Brunson’s no longer wearing DiVincenzo’s jersey. But they’re all still laughing. And they continue laughing. Hart is the ringleader. Brunson is the seemingly-innocent-but-actually- devilish instigator. And DiVincenzo uncontrollably laughs at it all. 

None of this happens without Brunson, by the way. He’s the All-Star, he’s the Knicks’ best player. He’s their floor general. He’s their clutch scorer. He’s the heartbeat of the Garden. All the numbers point to this being his best season yet. Those numbers actually become redundant because they all make it clear that he’s an elite player. One number, however, sums it up. Five. 

He’s fifth in the NBA in scoring, as of this writing. 

Nobody thought that the 33rd overall pick in the 2018 Draft would one day lead the Knicks’ franchise revival, be an All-Star or be near the top of the League in scoring. But the game is easy when playing with friends. 

Especially with friends who love to compete. All three of these guys are physical. They hustle hard. Hart hits the glass, DiVincenzo recovers from injury after injury and Brunson goes down into the land of trees despite his height. They relish the big moments. They love the challenge. It’s obvious they love playing together because they play together. 

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau spoke about them after a big road win over the Golden State Warriors in March.

“Josh’s role expanded,” Thibs said at his postgame press conference. “Donte’s role expanded. And Jalen just keeps rolling. It’s a team, and that’s what we prioritize. We want guys to sacrifice and put the team first, but there has to be that belief. I think when your best players have that belief, then your entire team ends up having that belief.”

Even when they’re making fun of each other and laughing at each other, they do it together. After about an hour in front of our cameras in that Connecticut gym, they leave, together. 

Portraits by Marcus Stevens.

The post The Reunion of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo appeared first on SLAM.

We compiled a group of individuals (programming note: 30 entries, not 30 people total) who mean something special to SLAM and to our audience. Read the full list here and order your copy of SLAM 248, where this list was originally published, here.

Freshman year at Davidson had just concluded. Stephen Curry was still Dell’s son. Now, Dell is Stephen’s dad. But it took a minute for people to make the change. Right after his first year as a Wildcat, Stephen did a photo shoot and interview for SLAM 109. It was the issue that came out in July 2007. With just a little hint of a mustache, the young Curry looked up at our camera. His gray Davidson sweatsuit was loose on his 6-1 frame. 

“It’s a good honor to have Dell Curry as my dad and to have his name, but I’m trying to make a name for myself,” Stephen told SLAM. 

What was good with the basketballs that he effortlessly rifled into the hoop from long distance? Were they actually crystal balls? Were they seeing stones into the future? Because he did it. He made a name for himself.

Now the world knows Stephen Curry as the greatest shooter ever and one of the most iconic players in League history. We here at SLAM know him as the star of 11 covers. We know him as the participant in countless interviews with us. We know him as the voice printed in our stories and speaking in our videos. We know him as a generous partner, as somebody who has given us his time, even though he doesn’t have a ton of it to give. 

He spends most of that time breaking and then setting the record for most career three-pointers ever made. For real, though: That record gets broken and then re-set in every game he plays. Then he spends some of it winning championships. Then he spends some of it giving back to the community. Then he spends some of it as one of the very few people with their own sneaker company. And then, thankfully, he spends some of it with us. 

A good example of his time being spent with us is the cover of SLAM 219. Numero 30 was already three championships deep when he invited 150 children from around Oakland to join him on that cover. Other highlights from that day in 2018 include the fact that he debuted the Curry 6 with us, that he also wanted E-40, Andre Ward and the legendary Al Attles to be part of the shoot, and that he wore a pair of shorts reminiscent of the “We Believe” Warriors. It was a perfect day. Those kids got a memory they’ll never forget. Longtime SLAM photographer Atiba Jefferson got an image we’ll never forget. 

Throughout these last 16-plus years, we like to think we understand him. The world knows him fairly well, but we know a few different parts of him a little bit better. 

We know him to be a deeply passionate fan of good basketball; of setting screens, talking on defense and giving out high fives. We know him to be a scarily intense competitor. We know him to be romantic about the game. We know him to be a storyteller—his footwear has evolved into the equivalent of his life’s work. Different colorways continue to let him share what he finds meaningful without ever saying a word.

And when he does say words, he says things like this that further his romantic ideals about the game: 

“There is room in my mind and spirit for more imagination,” Curry told us in KICKS 25. “More self-expression, more moments where people see a different side of you because every year is so different. The challenges are different. It requires more of you, and that brings out the different reactions, different forms of self-expression and presence on the court. But the mystery of what that is and the unknown is what makes it so dope and so much fun. I have no idea what that’s gonna look like, but I’m going to keep living it. 

“You know, what happened this year and our journey to win a championship, all the accolades that I got, the night, night stuff, all that stuff I had no idea was going to be happening, but I fell in love with the journey and all that stuff takes care of itself. So now the challenge is to maintain that energy, maintain that perspective, go back to the drawing board and try to continue to be the best version of yourself. Because you’re never, ever complete.” 

Featured image via Getty. Portrait by Atiba Jefferson.

The post THE 30 PLAYERS WHO DEFINED SLAM’S 30 YEARS: Stephen Curry appeared first on SLAM.

We compiled a group of individuals (programming note: 30 entries, not 30 people total) who mean something special to SLAM and to our audience. Read the full list here and order your copy of SLAM 248, where this list was originally published, here.

It was very, very simple. Just a pump fake and one dribble to her right. That’s all she needed to win Game 3 of the 2015 WNBA Finals. A pump fake and one dribble to her right gave her all the space required to drill a buzzer-beating three from the top of the key. And that highlight is probably the best way to capture Maya Moore’s greatness. She was always efficient. She was always steady. She was always the closer.  

In 2018, we used Moore’s SLAM 217 cover (and the cover shoot content) to help catapult our women’s basketball coverage. Coming off that shoot starring the prolific winner (four WNBA championships, two Olympic Golds and two NCAA championships), we launched WSLAM, which has now grown to become the best coverage of women’s hoops on every level. 

And what a player to start with. Moore won throughout her entire career. Whether by the eye test or by looking at the stats, her dominance is obvious. This would be a good time to mention how she averaged 18 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in her eight seasons with the Minnesota Lynx. It’d be appropriate to mention how she won the EuroLeague twice. And here, right here, feels like the correct place to mention how she also won the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto title, the WCBA championship three times and the world championship twice. 

We’re not calling her the GOAT. No, no. No, no, no. We’re just saying we understand those who do bestow that title upon her. Because…damn. That’s a lot of winning. Also, can’t forget the MVP trophy, the five different All-WNBA First Team selections, the WNBA Rookie of the Year award and the Finals MVP nod. Or the game-winners. Or the many on-court highlights that defied logic and all the history of previous WNBA players. We had never seen somebody on the floor like Maya Moore. 

Even off the court, Moore was singular, as she remains to this day. For somebody so utterly dominant and competitive when the bright lights are on, she has consistently been a gentle soul away from the flashbulbs and the cameras. Flip to page 41 of SLAM 217 for evidence. 

“My identity is not being the best basketball player,” Moore told us at the time. “Or even being Black. I mean, I’m a Black woman, and I own that. I try just to do as much as I can to live an authentic life and point people to truth. And being authentic means admitting when I don’t know. And admitting that I could’ve been better. And admitting I want to be better if I can.”

That hunger to be better is a little familiar. It sounds like somebody else who, like Moore, wore 23 on their jersey.

Moore was quickly grabbed up by Jordan Brand after she left UConn. It’s an important part of her story, and it contributed to her being on this list. Having the honor of being the first woman signed to Jordan is a quality illustrator of her greatness. The high standard that Michael set was met by Maya. 

Being associated with the Jumpman, as well as everything else she did on the court, combines for a nearly unquantifiable impact. We have to wait a few more years for young players across the country to get drafted to the W, get asked about who inspired them and hear them all speak about how much Maya Moore means to them. But it’ll happen.

Though Moore’s on-court career ended on August 21, 2018, her impact didn’t. She retired from basketball with a mission. She wanted to help a man named Jonathan Irons get released from prison. With Moore’s assistance, Irons’ wrongful conviction was overturned. Moore and her family advocated for previously concealed evidence in his nonfatal shooting case to be brought before the Missouri courts in 2020. He had spent over 20 years behind bars as an innocent man, and Moore gave up basketball to help him get his life back. Then, in the plot twist of our time, Moore and Irons got married soon after he was released. It’s one hell of a love story. 

So in the end, Moore, one of the greatest ever, hung up her Jordans to live her authentic life.

That SLAM 217 cover story opens  with a wry smile on Moore’s face. On some you-know-how-good-I-am-at-everything kind of energy. Both competitive and gentle. 

Photo via Getty.

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Originally released in 1996, the Nike Air Penny 2 was the second official signature silhouette for the extremely unique Penny Hardaway. A 6-7 point guard, Penny was blessed with extreme athleticism that he then paired with high-IQ decision making.

This “Baroqoue Brown” edition of the 2 has a leather upper that’s complimented by a mesh tongue. Nubuck mudguards, underfoot carbon fiber and visible Nike Air finish things out for the silhouette. And just so you remember how incredibly nice Penny was, 1Cent is one of King James’ favorite players ever. 

The post The Nike Air Penny 2 is Part of a Big Sneaker Legacy appeared first on SLAM.

There is mystery under the water. There is mystery above the water, even far away from the water. Parenthood is a mystery. Nothing is guaranteed. 

LeBron James found himself a pearl through diving into parenthood. His daughter Zhuri is the precious treasure that he guards as if he were an oyster. 

Zhuri, along with the idea of an oyster hiding a pearl, serve as the inspiration for the Nike LeBron 21. Longtime lead LeBron designer Jason Petrie worked together with the King to develop the idea of protection being the 21’s main theme. With that knowledge in mind, oysters and pearls begin to visibly break through the design language of the latest silhouette for number 23. 

Like those pearls that hide deep under the water, the 21 has a pearl detailing that hides under the outsole. The center of the outsole is carved out to reveal the shank plate that helps with torsional rigidity. And what’s on the shank plate? A pearl design.

The 21’s overall design is playing off the pearl idea, too. Materials have varied from colorway to colorway, but the heel is uniform—its line are shaped like an oyster. 

Functionally, the 21 has Zoom Air units in both the forefoot and the heel. But there is a difference from the front of the sneaker to the back of it. The Cushlon carrier foams have different densities from heel to forefoot, meaning that there is firmer foam in the heel and softer foam in the forefoot. Each heel strike in the 21 contains a progression from the firmer foam to the softer foam. 

Colorways of the 21 have also been related to different pearls and oysters. Nike has so far revealed the “Abalone,” the “Tahitian,” the “Freshwater, the “Akoya” and the “Dragon Pearl” editions. Other colorways currently lay hidden. Let’s dive into the unknown to find more. 

The post Zhuri James and a Very Unexpected Source Inspired the Nike LeBron 21 appeared first on SLAM.

The Full Force was influenced by the Air Force 1 Low and by a few other pairs from yesteryear. The Force logo on the midsole is reminiscent of the kicks that used to be worn by a rebounding machine who played in Philadelphia and then Phoenix. That’s for the heads. But the Full Force is for everybody.

Get your pair of the Nike Full Force Low.  

The post The Nike Full Force Low is Back From the Future appeared first on SLAM.

So, right now, here we are. 

We’re in an empty room in the bowels of the Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City. Good energy is flowing freely. These five players are in sync with each other. There’s a lot of laughter, a lot of jokes, a lot of compliments and some healthy trash talk (Shai swears that none of them have ever beaten him in King of the Court). 

As the core of this squad, these five players have somehow quickly learned invaluable lessons in chemistry. They’re very much linked. They pass one ball back and forth to each other throughout our interview. Even though Holmgren missed all of last season with a right foot injury, he was still with the squad and he easily breaks down why the Thunder click so well. 

“This is my first NBA team,” Holmgren says, “but I’d say what separates this team from most NBA teams is most NBA teams got a bunch of 30-year-olds and then you’ll have some new dudes come in every couple years and, like, cycle through that. There’s no real connection because you got the OGs and then you got the lil’ bros and it’s like, the lil’ bros gotta carry the bags, you know what I mean? It’s, like, a hierarchy. But here, we’re damn near all still kids. So we all cool.” 

SLAM 247 featuring one of the coolest teams in the League is out now.

Yes, this group is young. Gilgeous-Alexander is the oldest at 25, followed by the 24-year-old Dort, the 22-year-old Williams, and Giddey and Holmgren, the pair of 21-year-olds. But last season proved how well they play high IQ basketball together, minus Holmgren. Their defense was in the top half of the League, an impressive accomplishment for a group without years of experience. Their offense is an ever-evolving organism of dynamic movement, only possible through selfless harmony.

Mark Daigneault has crafted a system that emphasizes this togetherness. Beyond the highlights of Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring outbursts, Williams’ dunks, Giddey’s passes, Dort’s steals and Holmgren’s blocks, a true foundation has been built. It stands on unity and commitment. They’ve pledged themselves to crisp ball and player movement and highly timed switchability. It’s easy to miss. All five of these guys, and many other players on the Thunder, are cold as ice. They play in rare sneakers, rock clothing that displays their distinct auras and move with a general ease. But this is a real basketball team. They can hoop. 

“I’d say what separates this team from most NBA teams is most NBA teams got a bunch of 30-year-olds…But here, we’re damn near all still kids. So we all cool.” 

– Chet Holmgren

Nothing better illustrates how equally smart and well prepared they are than their strong side cuts. It jumps out immediately when watching Giddey’s individual highlights and Williams’ individual highlights. The same plays pop up in both film studies. The rhythm to their offense starts to emerge when Giddey drives to the right side of the floor. Williams regularly hits the same cut from the right wing whenever Giddey approaches his defender. Time it out next time the Thunder play. Usually two or three dribbles from the Melbourne native, JDub finds his angle and then…BOOM. A big dunk. JDub already has a few serious body bags. 

“We practice it every day,” Giddey says about the strong-side cuts to the rim. 

Hold up, though. Record scratch. We can’t know that. Nobody’s supposed to know that. 

“Cut that out, bro,” Gilgeous-Alexander jumps in after a seemingly nervous laugh from JDub. “We don’t wanna give away the sauce.” Sitting on the far right, Gilgeous-Alexander looks over to his teammates and says it again with a sly smile. “We don’t practice that, bro. We don’t practice that. It just happens. They just figure it out,” he says with another smile. 

Alright, so Gilgeous-Alexander just happened to average 31 points a night. And Dort just happened to figure out how to increase his total points scored in every season of his career. And Giddey just stumbled upon pulling down 8 rebounds and dishing out 6.2 assists each game. And JDub somehow walked into playing 30 minutes per game as a rook. And Holmgren was the No. 2 overall pick by happenstance. Alright, alright, alright. 

There’s no reason for any of it. It all just…happened?

Maybe. But probably not. Because we’re here right now in the present, with the past’s impact being fully felt and the future too far away to be a thought, we can look at each of these players truthfully. 

There’s the dynamic scorer, the young big whose potential might be limitless, the trusted playmaker, the lockdown perimeter defender and the versatile do-everything-forward. To varying degrees, each of them can dribble, pass and find their own looks. To varying degrees, each of them can sink an open shot. To varying degrees, each of them can make game-defining plays. To the same degree, each of them have bought into Daigneault’s vision. That vision started with patience. They’ve been biding their time. For now…

Gilgeous-Alexander’s rise in the NBA dates back to his rookie year. He started for a surprising Clippers squad that caught everyone off guard by taking the dominant Warriors to six games in the 2019 playoffs. He was just 20 years old gifting the defending champs with 25 points in a playoff game. There was substance to his game that a lot of people didn’t realize. They saw him, and they saw a young kid. He made them see him as an expanding problem. The Thunder saw him as a certified solution. They brought him to Oklahoma City in July of 2019 (the same trade gave OKC the pick that JDub was eventually selected with in 2022). Gilgeous-Alexander’s iso game continued to grow. He’s become nearly unguardable. Most know him as crafty. Very few know him as a reader. But he’s not reading books. He’s reading defenses like they’re children’s books. He gets to his spots and cashes out. A lot of his damage comes from the…duh-duh-duh…dreaded midrange area.

“If you look at it, the most prolific scorers in the NBA and over the years have shot midranges,” Gilgeous-Alexander says. “Kevin Durant, T-Mac, Kobe, Devin Booker right now, Bradley Beal, Jimmy Butler. At the end of the day, you just make shots. Where it comes from is your choice, but as long as you make them, you’ll be alright.”

Gilgeous-Alexander plays at his own pace. He’s methodical with the ball in his hand. The Thunder, as a squad, play fast, thanks in part to Giddey. He’s a pure point guard who stands 6-8, blessed with sightlines high above defenses. Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams sing his praises right after we’re sworn to secrecy about those strong side cuts that definitely don’t get practiced every day. 

“I’m gonna give you the answer right now—it’s Josh Giddey,” Gilgeous-Alexander says. “When you have a passer like that, it’s inevitable.”

“It makes you move,” Williams joins in. 

“You have to cut, you have to move,” Gilgeous-Alexander continues. “And he’ll find you.”

“There’s only one team in the world with a Josh Giddey,” Holmgren adds. 

“I’m being dead serious,” Gilgeous-Alexander emphasizes. “A lot of it is Josh. He’ll find you if you’re open. So get open.”

“Vanilla Magic,” Holmgren says. 

Giddey silently sits in between his teammates. He’s not boisterous. He’s just effective. Very effective. 

“It feels good to make other [teammates] feel good,” he says. 

One of the teammates that is consistently on the other end of Giddey’s dimes is Williams. They were undeniably aligned with each other. Giddey loves to initiate the offense from below the three-point line. He finds JDub because JDub never stops moving. It seems like JDub has echolocation on for gaps in the defense. But the rook also demonstrated advanced ability with the rock in his hand. He’s already efficient in the pick-and-roll, which he credits to spending three years in college at Santa Clara. Whether he’s got the ball or is setting the screen and diving to the rim, he knows how to do it far better than most players his age. He played almost every position and role at Santa Clara. His time at school served as a first class education in hoops. Like Gilgeous-Alexander, JDub reads the defense and takes what he’s being given. 

“Especially since I got into the NBA, a lot of it has been tailored toward playing off of who’s on the court,” Williams says. “If I’m out there with them, a lot of it is reading stuff,” he says about his high-profile teammates. “Where am I going to cut from or where I’m going to get open shots from? Other than that, it’s just kind of, like, going downhill.”

The Thunder do indeed play fast and they drive to the tin a lot. A lot. There are already a handful of names in Dub’s graveyard. Those questions about his lack of athleticism going into the draft have been disproven over and over. Not only do those downhill attacks produce Jalen Williams dunks—they also produce Lu Dort threes. Dort has worked extremely hard on his jumper since coming into the League back in 2019. His reputation as a defensive stopper is of course very true. Dort’s footwork while evading on-ball picks should be taught to every kid in the nation.

Dort’s revamped jumper hides a unique and often overlooked detail. Shooters are taught to extend and hold their follow-throughs. It really does aid in the shot’s probability of dropping, especially when shooting from over 24 feet away. Dort, however, rarely holds his follow-through. Most of the time, his right hand retreats. He doesn’t hold it up. 

Taken by surprise when it’s pointed out, Dort shows how his right wrist has a hitch in it.

“My wrist is messed up, you know what I mean? So when I do it, I’m not doing it on purpose,” he says.

The reveal makes Gilgeous-Alexander gasp. It makes Giddey grin. It makes Holmgren stare. 

“Oh my God, I’m learning so much,” JDub says. “Wow, I did not know that.”

It’s a comfortable and natural reaction for him. And it’s worked. His shot has consistently gotten better throughout his career, while his defensive prowess has grown, too. He has tons of lockdown knowledge to share with Holmgren. Last season, the Thunder’s defensive principles were specifically designed to mitigate their lack of size on the interior. That all changes with the return of the 7-1 rookie. Holmgren is gonna score. OKC’s offense will get him open looks. But he’s gonna make his name on the other side of the ball. He has switchability in the pick-and-roll, so he’ll be tasked with guarding smalls in space. He has weak side swats on lock thanks to his 7-6 wingspan. Plus, he’s much more competitive than he looks. People have been trying him for years now. He always responds.

“I really just learned how good the talent level is in the NBA,” Holmgren says about his one year away from the court. “You could play great defense and literally not make a mistake and still give up three points. There’s great players in this League and great players make plays. Sometimes it’s just good defense, better offense.”

He’s ready for the challenge. 

But that’s looking just ahead to the future. It’s still a little far away. 

Right now, these five guys got a few more things to do. They gotta throw on some jewelry. They gotta take some photos. They gotta laugh some more. And they gotta fully be where their feet are, down here in the basement of the Paycom Center, all eyes on the coming season.

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Portraits by Marcus Stevens.

The post The OKC Thunder are the Coolest Team in the NBA Right Now. Here’s the Secret to their Sauce appeared first on SLAM.

This story and so much more is featured in the latest issue of KICKS 26. Get your copy here.

First Team

P.J. Tucker

As sure as the sun rises in the eastern sky, P.J. Tucker is back on our First Team. There’s nobody in the League more versed, more versatile and more willing to play in any pair. He cemented himself long ago on this list, yet he keeps on proving himself over and over.

James Harden

James Harden is a fairly uncommon human being in general. He did, after all, help to rewrite the NBA rule book with his singular style of play. His seventh signature silhouette, the best of the 2022-23 campaign, is particularly exceptional. It’s got a funky shape, it’s got an upper that looks like a puffer jacket, it’s full of the best tech the Stripes has to offer and it had incredibly hard colorways throughout the season. 

DeMar DeRozan

It’s not a shot at P.J. to say with confidence that DeMar DeRozan has the best Kobe collection in the League. As has been printed in these pages many times, he’s played in every Nike Kobe silhouette throughout his career and continues to add Kobe PEs that look more like art pieces than sneakers to his collection.

Ja Morant

Before his signature sneaker debuted on Christmas Day 2022, Ja Morant had been hooping in high quality Kobes and original versions of the early Kyries. Then he stomped into the signature game with a handful of unique colorways. And because he moves differently than just about everybody in the League, there’ll be more originality in his future.

Stephen Curry

The best shooter ever had variety in 2022-23. Curry 10s, FloTros of the 1 and 2, some sprinkling of the 4 FloTro all got court time with No. 30. There aren’t many others who tell stories with their footwear like Stephen. His nonstop commitment to the underrated and underrepresented often gets communicated through his footwear. 

Second Team

LeBron James

Flavor after flavor after flavor. LeBron James’ 20th season will be remembered for the multitude of colorways he played in. Both the Nike LeBron 20 and the Nike LeBron NXXT Gen appeared under the bright lights in equally subtle and outrageous makeups, night after night. 

Paul George

Even though his signature line has wrapped up, Paul George didn’t miss a step. Each game brought a new chance for him to show off his unexpected appreciation for basketball sneakers, like, for example, wearing the “All-Star” Nike Kobe 6 while playing in the City of Angels. You get the connection?

Malik Monk

Malik Monk very much understands how to properly apply hues to footwear. All of his Kobe PEs, be it 5s or 6s, are consistently fire. None of them are really that similar, either. There’s a ton of variation from pair to pair, with browns and blues and purples and blacks and pinks
showing up throughout his stable. 

Trey Lyles

Look, let’s be honest here, yeah? Kobes are this generation’s Jordans. Trey Lyles has a stockpile of rare heat that he’s amassed over the years and most of them aren’t protros. He’s on this list because he consistently hoops in heavy hitters from the game’s most cherished line, oftentimes reminding people about pairs or colorways they’d previously forgotten. 

Jayson Tatum

Another visual storyteller, Jayson Tatum started the season with many versions of the Air Jordan 37 and Air Jordan 38 Low that let the public in on what matters most to him. Once ASW rolled around and he got to unveil his first signature with Jordan Brand, the storytelling door flew clean off the hinges. Tatum tells us a whole lot about himself without ever saying a word. 

MVP: P.J. Tucker

LeBron James only has four MVPs. Michael Jordan only has five MVPs. What in the hell is good with that? That’s not the truth. Both deserve a minimum of 10. In the context of basketball sneakers, P.J. Tucker is LeBron. He is MJ. In our pages, he will continue to get his shine until he hangs up his sneakers for good.

We’ve called him a lot of things over the years, like the Michael Jordan of wearing Jordans. We’ve compared his conquering of basketball footwear to passages in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Now that we’ve finally gotten him on the cover and had a chance to listen to him speak openly about sneakers, he’s the MVP because he loves it all more than anyone else. We hear you, P.J. 

Rookie of the Year: Jalen Williams

The list of Stripes silhouettes that Jalen Williams played in is mighty long. It includes the Harden Vol. 7s, Crazy 97s, Dame 5s, Top 10 2000s, D.O.N. 4s, Agent Gils, Harden Vol. 4s, D Rose 1.5s and Dame 8s. 

Williams maintained a steady rotation throughout the season, varied with many colors. He seems to be a student of the sneaker game. He joined the likes of Tracy McGrady, Nick Young and Jaylen Brown when he rocked mismatched adi joints. The young star popped out to All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City with one white Harden Vol. 7 and one pink Harden Vol. 7. His name will most definitely show up again in these pages next year.

Most Improved Player: Paul George

The Swoosh decided to end Paul George’s signature line at the PG6. It went out with a bang, concluding after the drop of his collab with Hot Wheels. 

The ending of one thing is the beginning of another. Freed up from being required to play in his latest signature model, PG hit the ground running by wearing Kobe 4s, Kobe 5s and Kobe 6s. He dug into the closet for the return of the PG1, the PG2 and the PG2.5. Strategically, he secured this spot when he played in the “Draft Day” Kobe 4s in Charlotte. That was a wakeup call signifying there was another knowledgeable sneakerhead ready to show out. 

LeagueFits Arrival Sneaker of the Year: Russell Westbrook

Michael Jordan’s retirement in 1998 gave the first class of Brand Jordan athletes the full sneaker spotlight. They were getting to play in retro colorways made just for them. Guys like Ray Allen, Derek Anderson, Vin Baker, Eddie Jones and Michael Finley are the reason every sneakerhead knows what PE (player exclusive) stands for. Retro PEs continued for the next couple of Jordan athlete generations, with guys like Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson gaining fame for their heat. 

But Jordan Brand changed up the overall thought process a few years back. Retro PEs are far more rare now. 

Their scarcity is why Russell Westbrook’s Air Jordan III colorway is getting the nod for the LeagueFits Arrival Sneaker of the Year. Seeing these IIIs in the wild is like seeing the Loch Ness Monster finally reveal itself. 

Best of the Brands:

Curry 10

adidas Harden Vol. 7

Jordan Tatum 1

New Balance TWO WXY v3

Nike LeBron 20

PUMA MB.02

READ MORE: KICKS, NBA, WNBA

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The post The 2022-23 KICKS Awards: First Team, MVP and MORE! appeared first on SLAM.

“Like Joël said, I’ve worked on a lot of game shoes,” Lefferts, the embroidery expert, says. 

“Materials have such an emotional impact, especially in Jordan. If you look at the AJXI, patent leather. It also has to feel, like, instinctively like it’s Jordan, which, to me, this did.”

The post The Air Jordan 38 is Woven Through History by Expert Craftsmanship appeared first on SLAM.

Truly.

Really. 

Absolutely. 

You truly, really, absolutely do not understand how difficult it is to conceptualize, design, color-block, manufacture and sell your own pair of basketball sneakers. 

The money is a factor. 

The time is also a factor. 

The work is also, also a factor. 

It is no small feat to turn that dream into a reality. So much is required of that dreamer. It takes years to see all that money, time and work get realized with a physical product. 

Now run it back! 

You truly, really, absolutely do not understand how difficult it is to conceptualize, design, color-block, manufacture and sell your own pair of basketball sneakers twice. 

There’s a relatively new company in the basketball footwear space that has managed to accomplish this exhausting feat in back-to-back years. The team at Ethics has somehow defied the odds. 

Ethics was founded by Sabrina and Langston Galloway, a wife and husband team. It just so happens that the wife part of the equation possesses a razor-sharp business mind and the husband possesses a net-cracking jumpshot. Sabrina and Langston lead a team of only four people. They’ve been the leaders who have conceptualized, designed, color-blocked, manufactured and sold the lgONE and, now, the lgTWO. 

The lgTWO is lower and lighter than its predecessor. Supported by a double cushioning setup in the heel and forefoot, the TWO’s sole is also home to lateral and medial torsion bars. It’s not hard to miss how clouds influenced the TWO’s upper design, which is made of nylon and suede. And each pair of TWOs features hand-stitched detailing. 

Langston has been a pro since 2014, making stops with seven NBA teams. He last played for the G League’s College Park Skyhawks and just got the call to hoop on the USAB Select Team. He’s been a lifelong sneakerhead and has worn legendary pairs on the game’s biggest stage. He can talk hoops and sneakers all day long.

But, instead of having him do that, we asked him about his wife’s evolution since they launched their family business. 

“We were excited about her going back to school and getting her MBA from Tulane,” he tells KICKS with a big smile. “That was a big moment of how we were positioning ourselves as a company, as a brand. Knowing that we’d have somebody on our team, somebody that’s internal, that can help me continue to grow businesses that we’re involved in, not just for myself, but for her as well. 

Being able to go out and be her own boss. From seeing her grow exponentially in everything that she has going on, whether that be with her company, the Galloway Group, or just helping
with what’s going on with Ethics, the foundation that she’s running, she’s spearheading a lot of intricate pieces of Galloway Inc. She’s been day-in, day-out the driving force, and I give her a lot of credit every single day because she really has kept us together.”

Action photo via Getty Images.

The post The Superteam of Langston and Sabrina Galloway: Founding ethics and the lgONE and lgTWO appeared first on SLAM.

Nike Basketball had a drought. They’d gone just over 15 years without having a WNBA signature sneaker. It was long past time that a woman was placed under her own spotlight. The powers-that-be at the Swoosh finally called on New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu.

After authoring one of the greatest college basketball careers ever at Oregon, Ionescu has left her mark of greatness on New York. She only played in three games as a rookie because of an ankle injury that required surgery. In the three full seasons she’s played since then, she’s been an All-Star twice and has registered a complete stat line of 15.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 6.1 apg in 87 combined games.

The Nike Sabrina 1 was unveiled at 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City. Flanked by Deepa Ramprasad, Nike Footwear Product Director of Basketball, and Ben Nethongkome, Senior Designer of Nike Performance Basketball Footwear, Ionescu had a smile damn near tattooed to her face at the unveiling where the trio lifted the curtain on the creation process of the Sabrina 1. They emphasized that it was created for the “Dream Seekers” of the world, all the people whose ambitions outweigh their fears.

KICKS caught up with Ionescu and Ramprasad to get into everything you need to know about the Sabrina 1.

KICKS: How does this all feel? To be the first woman in over 15 years to have a Nike signature?

IONESCU: It’s a dream come true. It’s something that I would’ve never thought of growing up watching all these athletes have signature shoes and now being able to showcase that to the world and just continue to allow all these young girls, all these young boys, to just dream of becoming whatever it is they wanna do. Being able to do that while also hearing my story and maybe if there’s one or two pieces that they can relate to and find that helps give them confidence, sometimes that’s all you need. That’s really what I’m excited about is just continuing to provide opportunity and that’s also why we talked about our price point being what it was because we just want everyone to be able to wear the shoe and just continue to dream.

KICKS: Even with everything you’ve already accomplished, you didn’t expect to get your own sneaker? This was still just a dream?

IONESCU: At least how I think and how I process things, I just do the work and buy into the process, trust the process and know that everything will come in time. Obviously it was something that, you know, I had been in talks with Phil [Knight] and we had talked about when I was coming into the League and signing with Nike, but it’s always a blessing, no matter if you think you deserve it or expect it [or] you don’t. For me, it was never an expectation. It was more just an honor to be able to be a signature athlete. Now that I’m here, I wanna do everything that I can to just provide for other generations to come.

KICKS: Deepa, Sabrina is very well known for her competitiveness. How did that show up during your work with her on the sneaker?

RAMPRASAD: It wasn’t competitiveness so much as being so precise and so laser-focused on, like, what did we want to accomplish? Being really consistent on that. I think that really speaks to obviously Sabrina’s game, but it also is really a testament to the partnership and the collaboration that we’ve all had together.

KICKS: Sabrina, how did you find out you were getting a signature sneaker?

IONESCU: I was just in a meeting and I had left. It was after practice. I was actually with Jason [Goldstein], who is one of my agents at WME. He had this video for me and asked if we could sit down to watch it. I was like, Sure…? Don’t know why you can’t show me as we’re walking the streets of New York City. But we went to a restaurant nearby after the meeting I was in and he just pulled out this video. It was weird because it was all these Nike reps, these people at Nike that I was like, Why are they in a video right now? I was looking and listening and everyone was saying congratulations, congratulations and I was just waiting for like…I said, What happened? What did I do? I thought something had happened. And then it was like, You’re gonna be the next signature athlete. I started crying. I really didn’t know how to feel at the time. I think this shoe is gonna open doors and gonna accomplish things that I can’t even see and put into words right now. It’s always very surreal. It was a day I’ll never forget.

KICKS: How did the video come to life, Deepa?

RAMPRASAD: It was the height of COVID when we started the preparation work on the signature process and product. We would obviously have loved to be able to celebrate and have that moment together in person, but we just couldn’t. So it was really a conversation about, How do we celebrate and give her her flowers that she so deserves from afar? So the video was born. I don’t need to see it again. [Laughs] But I’m happy that it exists. That was a really special memory for sure.

Ionescu has broken out five colorways of the 1 so far this summer. She submitted the best shooting performance of All-Star Weekend history—NBA or WNBA—in a red-based, orange-accented 1 colorway, and then she scored 18 points, dished out 8 helpers and pulled down 6 boards in a different edition of the 1, this time in white with pink detailing.

The Sabrina 1 is home to full-length Nike React with a top-loaded Zoom Air unit in the forefoot. The embroidery patterns on the upper are inspired by Ionescu’s family heritage in Romania. And Nike adds that the 1 has a “dotted ‘i’ that wraps around the top and bottom outsole of the shoe. The wraparound detail ends in a dotted ‘i’ on the heel.”

The post KICKS Exclusive: Sabrina Ionescu on the Nike Sabrina 1s and Chasing Dreams appeared first on SLAM.

SLAM: What is the smallest detail of basketball that you can share with us?

Stephen Curry: Probably breathing. My skills coach Brandon Payne always talks about breathing is a skill. And I think for the young kids it’s beneficial but they can kinda get away with it just because they’re so energetic and young they don’t even need to warm up these days. They just go out there and hoop. But the deeper you get into your career being able to control your breathing, like, recovery, controlling your nerves, all those types of things. I’ve really tried to master that in the last five, six years. Nobody would really know you’re doing it while you’re doing it.

SLAM: Physical and mental at the same time?

SC: Exactly. Just connecting that. That’s an all-the time-thing. It doesn’t matter if it’s, you know, in my training sessions or training camp or preseason or regular season or Finals, whatever it is, like, it’s always a fine detail of kind of mastering the game.

SLAM: Beautiful. What have you learned from kids?

SC: It’s just a reminder of, you know, there’s a lot of different approaches to the game. You know, they’re so talented and skilled and they all have different strengths and weaknesses, but being able to put them in a position where they’re tested with the details of balance and mechanics and processing information, like, that cycle always kind of reveals itself. I keep telling them, even in my 15th year, going into my 15th year in the League, I’m still trying to perfect the stuff that I’m teaching them. And they’re probably learning for the first time. They remind you of that journey. We all started from somewhere. They’re a lot better than I was when I was their age. Just understanding, like, I still feel like I can get better, so I hope that they hear that and then watching them get bright-eyed when I tell them something like that just gives me so much juice. This game is such a beautiful game.

SLAM: It is so beautiful and I want to get back to the kids in a second. But the way that you’re talking about the game to me, it really makes me think about intention and instinct and how basketball exists on this bridge of intention and instinct. What’s the clearest way that you can illustrate where instinct takes over when you’re on the court?

SC: I mean we drill it in some of the sessions that we’ve had out there where Coach McKillop, he mentioned he wants to train players to be detailed but free and the freedom comes in being able to just make decisions and be able to see the floor and try and make it almost slow motion. Like, the way that you can process information, where your defender is, where the other 8 guys that are on the court are. Time and score, you know, the flow of the game, all that type of stuff. You could talk about it for hours. Like, examining every single game you watch on TV, how many decisions are being made on every possession. I think that’s why every play is different, every game is different. Being able to understand who you are as a player, play to your strengths, but then process information within the game… When you can master that and then the game slows down the instincts are like… it’s almost like you’re Spider-Man out there for a little bit where you can just kinda bend the game to your will a little bit. And there’s confidence that comes with that too.

SLAM: Can you run me through what your senses of sight, touch, and hear are doing in those moments where you become Spider-Man?

SC: That’s a good question. I feel like it’s one of those things where it’s hard to explain just because everything just feels in sync. You’re not really hearing the crowd, even if there’s, like, 18,000-19,000 people in the stadium, you don’t really feel it. You feel like you’re by yourself out there. There’s a little bit of inner conversation going on, almost like narrating what’s going on in real time. But the flow of the game, or I guess the flow of your senses are all just in sync. And it’s a fun space to be in when you have that much control over the game.

SLAM: Have you seen any of the kids demonstrate anything close to that?

SC: They all have their moments for sure, and I think even, like, Cooper Flagg, when he’s out there, he’s one that shows just a know-how and a confidence and a basketball I.Q. Always trying to make the right play at all times. He obviously can show his athleticism and his overall skill set, but he’s one that I’ve seen that’s never really in a hurry out there. And for the high school level that’s hard to find cause they’re so athletic, so fast, they rely on that. But he almost plays like an NBA style at, whatever he is, 16. So that like… watching that, you can see it. You can see the little difference in just his pace and his overall know-how. But, I mean, all the guys are showing it in terms of being able to make plays, show their dominance at certain times within the sessions that we run. That’s why they’re here, they’re all top notch talents. Both the boys and girls.

SLAM: Most definitely. Yeah, the girls have been killing it all weekend too. I have a very nerdy shooting question for you. I see you and Klay [Thompson] do this all the time. So depending on where your momentum is carrying you, going left, you guys will break and start to fade back to your right. Going right, you’ll carry all the way into your momentum, like, run into the shot. Why does that work?

SC: It’s something that you just drill and it just feels comfortable. Now I gotta break down why that is. I feel like… well a lot of it too is because the ball… for me, like, when you’re going to the left you’re most likely dribbling with your left hand. And so it’s really hard to take your last dribble and do a pick up–we’re getting really nerdy now–dribble the last ball, or your last dribble, pick it up and it’s coming back to the right hand at some point so that momentum almost slows your whole body down to a certain extent. And then to get power and all that you’re carrying that energy up as opposed to letting it carry you in that same direction. Conversely, on the right side if it’s the hard pound and the last dribble is with the right hand there’s not any energy going back this way cause you’re not going to throw it back over here then go that way and shoot. It’s just gonna be kinda up into the shot pocket. So you can kind of carry that energy with you a little bit easier, especially as a right-handed shooter. Because it’s all about flow, right? The ball is going to dictate where the flow and the energy is going. So going to the left is kind of coming back into your shot pocket so it’s going to slow your body down a little bit. To the right, it’s not really moving but up so your body is gonna carry it with you. And you just want to be in as much constant rhythm as possible while you’re shooting. That’s balance, I guess, in terms of mechanics.

SLAM: Which I’ve heard you talk about a million times. I’ve heard you talk about your feet a million times too. Why do you not hop on your shot anymore?

SC: I’m getting old.

SLAM: Is that the real answer? That’s for real?

SC: It’s just, uh… efficient, efficient movement. So, I think that’s really the best way to explain it. When you create space or however you’re doing it, the last thing you want to do is give up that space by unnecessary movements. So maybe just getting a little bit more efficient with getting off the ground quicker. You get deeper into your career, you’re not going to be as explosive as you once were. Even for me to say explosive, I’m not above the rim, but there’s an explosiveness in terms of short movements, quick change of pace, change of direction, all that type of stuff so, just being as efficient as possible.

SLAM: Yeah, it always bugs me out when people say you’re not athletic.

SC: There’s a lot of different definitions of that term. Athleticism, hand eye coordination, all that. I’m somewhere in there.

SLAM: Last night you got to give the kids the Curry 11 for the first time. I know you can’t share a
ton about it. What can you tell us about the Curry 11 at this moment?

SC: First off, just it being the 11th edition of your signature product is crazy, knowing
how long we’ve been on this journey. Feel like we’re continuing to get better with, not just the innovation behind the shoes and the technology we have in there, there’s more Flow which is something we’ve been doing since Curry 8. And so, we’ll continue to elevate that tech adding a couple layers on the upper that we’ll share a little bit more detail later, but it’s just the next edition of a product that has really helped me in terms of traction, in terms of change of direction and being able to have that good fit out there on the court. And then where I feel like we’ve developed in terms of the storytelling around the colorways and all that. That’s something that we want to share throughout this whole journey, so I’m looking forward to truly unveiling it come this fall.

SLAM: And is that something you can talk about, the story you gave the kids last night about being outside and loving nature?

SC: Yeah, I got a little bit of the Curry Camp swag on right now, but got to give them the
Curry 11 “Curry Camp” colorway that will be just exclusive for them as kind of a perk for being invited to this camp and this experience. But yeah, a lot of the outdoor theme, the outdoor colors, we told them we’re going camping so we wanted to bring that colorway story throughout all the products that we did for the camp this year and the one that they got it screams that. So I think they loved it.

The post Q+A: Stephen Curry on Breathing, Shooting and The Next Generation of Stars appeared first on SLAM.

“My life always revolved around basketball since I gained my first thoughts,” P.J. Tucker says. “My mom put a ball in my hand at 3 or 4 years old. It was a Michael Jordan basketball goal with the backboard. I just remember being in Germany and playing and the joy that playing basketball has brought me for 34 or 35 years. If somebody could see it through my eyes, the love and joy for the game and everything that kinda revolves and shapes the game…The game has been my life since I can remember, and that love and joy for it—just playing basketball—would be so crystal clear to people of why I play like I play and why I do what I do.”

P.J. Tucker is not the Sneaker King.

P.J. Tucker is a basketball player who loves sneakers. But he is not defined by sneakers. 

He is defined by passion. 

P.J. Tucker loves basketball. He loves everything that comes with it, too. But he does not love all of it more than he loves the game of basketball. 

A scorching hot day at The Better Generation in Houston is the backdrop for Tucker’s long-overdue KICKS cover shoot. There is a big picture to capture here. TBG is the sneaker store he co-founded and co-owns with Brandon Davis. We’ve shut it down for the day so that a Bentley Continental GT V8 could roll into the store’s front yard. 

Tucker knows cars, planes and trains very well. He’s hooped all over the globe. The son of Raleigh, NC, has played for six NBA teams. Though he was the 35th overall pick in 2006, he didn’t find a steady job in the League until 2012. Those years in between were spent playing overseas. 

As a world traveler, he has many stories to tell. Much to his delight, we give him a task to sketch out the connection between stories, hoops and sneakers. P.J. excitedly maps out his basketball career by highlighting the sneakers he most associates with each stop on his worldwide tour. 

Raleigh, NC, Enloe High School Eagles, Class of ’03

“Space Jam” Air Jordan XI

“Ohhhhh, I got my ‘Space Jams’ on going to New Bern Cook Out. We have a game that night. After the game, we go to Sheryl’s where the party’s at. It’s a hair and barbershop school. The lady’s [who owns it] son is our age and he threw parties, and he threw them at his mom’s spot. And then afterward, we going to Cook Out on the way home. My order, back then, I was all about the grilled chicken tray. Cajun grilled chicken sandwich. Lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, cajun fries.”

Austin, TX, University of Texas Longhorns, 2003-06

Reebok S. Carter 

“I was coming with it in Austin. In Austin I’m rocking the Sean Carter Reeboks. ‘S. Dots’ with a polo and jeans on. Killing them. You know they was a [size] 40, bro. You know they was a 40 with a belt. We’re going to The Drink. The Drink is the spot, that’s the stomping ground. Me, Vince Young and the crew. Everybody knows the basketball players and football players were at The Drink. The line is around the corner. You’re not getting in. We walking straight in, straight to the upstairs and it’s shut down. It’s over. We ain’t dropping a dime. Behind the bar pouring, bro…that’s different. Hook ’em.”

Greektown, Toronto, Ontario, Toronto Raptors, 2006-07 

“Brown Crocodile” Nike Air Force 1 Low

“Toronto, we’re going to Cactus Club. Vibes. I got on the ‘Brown Crocodile’ Air Force 1s. Yes, I got those on for sure. 100 percent. 100 percent. Oh my God. I had just started getting NBA checks. Them joints was $1,500, bro, retail. $1,500? In ’06? Cactus Club is a vibe, bro. It’s a restaurant-turned-speakeasy type. It’s four levels, [with] a rooftop…The lights on, going crazy, going crazy. You getting me hype over here.” 

Broomfield, CO, Colorado 14ers [D-League], 2006-07

Nike Air Force 1 Low 

“I was rocking all white Air Force 1s and I took no good clothes. It was, like, team sweats. I was out of my body because I really, like…it was probably one of the lowest points of my life when they sent me down. Oh man, it was bad. My swag was at an all-time low in Broomfield, Colorado.”

Holon, Israel, Hapoel Holon Tigers, 2007-08

Nike Air Yeezy 1 & Nike Air Huarache 2K8

“Finals MVP, a championship. Knocked off Maccabi for the first time in 30 years. Going crazy. One of my favorite years—entirely—in my career, NBA included. Top three for sure. But that was 2007-08. You know what dropped in ’08? They came out in Tel Aviv. If you don’t know what they is, [in] 2008, Kanye West released a shoe. That’s all I can tell you. He released a shoe. Oh man. I got them in Tel Aviv, dog. In Tel Aviv. I got two colorways in Tel Aviv. I got the gray and the tan. That was a year, dog. Happiness, playing basketball again. Because Toronto was a total…Toronto tore me down, and Tel Aviv brought me right back. Back falling in love with the game because I was able to play [again]. I only played 17 games in Toronto. That’s why my number is 17. So, it was like Tel Aviv brought me life back. And then I didn’t realize how much fun I was going to have playing in Europe. And it was like, Oh yeah, this is it. Listen. Huarache ’08. Top five basketball shoes ever to me. The white/blue/green pair. Oh my God. That year I hooped in those all year.”

Donetsk, Ukraine, BC Donetsk Tigers, 2008-10

Louis Vuitton Jaspers 

“I got the Louis. They just came out. The all white on white, the black high top, the gray with the pink bottom. I got all three in Kiev, Ukraine. All three. Walked right in the store. They was just right there. I need a 12. LV 12. [They reply] One second. All three pair. Oh my God. Mind you, I’m paying a lot more because the euro was kicking the shit out of the dollar back then. So we used to get paid and be like, Yo, give me some euros and…ah, it was bad. But it didn’t matter. They had all three in store. It was crazy. By myself. In Ukraine they speak no English. I had a translator that was with me, like, 80 percent of the time that the team paid for because nobody spoke English. And a driver and all that. But sometimes we landed in a city, like, good cities, I just dip out, all the good cities, and go shopping. It’s what I do. That’s like prime [Kobe] because Ukraine was Kobe 3 and 4. Ukraine was all Kobe for me. It was nothing else. Like, iDs crazy. Those were the years of iD crazy. And this is the most money I’ve ever made. I’m getting, like, $800,000 a year tax free. We’re going crazy. So I’m buying 10 pair of iDs at a time. You got nothing to do in Ukraine, so I’m just on my laptop making iDs, sending them to my mom’s house. My mom boxing them up, putting my cereal boxes [in them], my little stuff for me to eat and sending boxes at a time. Oh, the care packages are footwear. The food is additional. Throw some Cinnamon Toast Crunch in there for me, you know what I’m saying?”

Herzliya, Israel, Bnei Herzliya Basket, 2010

Nike Kobe 4

“Herzliya is crazy. We’re going to Herzliya Mall. Herzliya is on the water. They got the mall on the water. The mall is literally on the beach. Incredible. They had a Nike Store. You already know…”

Thessaloniki, Greece, Aris Basketball Club, 2010-11

Nike Kobe 5 

“Me and Bobby Brown used to go crazy at Thessaloniki. Kobe 5 year for sure. We had the all gold uniforms and that year the white/gold/black 5s [came out]. Had about 20 pairs of those. And just ran through those. Ran through ’em. Because everywhere you go, you gotta think, like, we got to Athens, Go to Nike Store. They got stores here? We go to the store. They got my size, I’m buying it every time. That way you can have them on time. Playing in your league, like, playing in Barcelona, Moscow. Nike stores. All these prime Kobe years, though, are the easiest because…making all those iDs to match the uniforms, shit used to be fun.”

Quebradillas, Puerto Rico, Piratas de Quebradillas, 2011

Nike Air Force 1 Low 

“We’re going to Isabella Beach. That was heavy Air Force 1. Puerto Rico, my Air Force 1 game there was crazy. Every day, Air Forced out. I’ve always been a big, big Air Force 1 [fan]. Where I’m from, that’s, like, the No. 1 shoe. You know the beach, all white on whites. It was a clean, fresh pair. That was all about that.”

Montegranaro, Italy, Sutor Basket Montegranaro, 2011

Nike Kobe 5 

“All Kobe. Italy was all Kobe.”

Bamberg, Germany, Brose Bamberg, 2011-12

Nike Kobe 8 

“Alright, so Bamberg is Kobe 8 and I would say my No. 1 Kobe. Crazy, because at the time I thought the 8 was the best ever. I just went crazy with the Kobe 8. And our colors were red, gray, black and white. And the Kobe 8 was just so perfect for the iD, dog. We just went insane with those. When I think of that, other than winning MVP, winning championships and doing all that, it was like, yo, the Kobes that year were insane. Playing in EuroLeague that year, everybody was wearing Kobe 8s, bro. Even when I look at pictures from back then, everybody was wearing Kobe 8s. It was like Kobe took over the world that year with that shoe.”

Phoenix, AZ, Phoenix Suns, 2012-17

“Olympic” Air Jordan VI and Amar’e Stoudemire Nike Air Max2 CB ’94 PE 

“[I always ate at] Matt’s Big Breakfast during the season in Phoenix. I was wearing a lot of heat during that time. That was the first big multi-year deal I signed. That was, like, filling in the blanks in my collection. I started getting a lot of stuff I wanted that I didn’t have. I just started going crazy. There was a store in Phoenix that was unbelievable during that time. Pound For Pound. Jay [Gaspar] had a pair that he had signed for him. And I was like, Jay—Jay is the equipment manager for Phoenix. He’s been there since he was, like, 6 years old. He was a ball boy at 6. He’s an OG equipment manager. One of my favorite people in the world. He’s the best. And he has Shaqs, Steve Nashs… And he has these white, gray and orange [Barkleys]. Ah, they’re beautiful. With the S.T.A.T. on the side. So that was a mission of mine to find those and I did. And the black, purple and orange. And the all-purple.”

Milwaukee, WI, Milwaukee Bucks, 2021

Nike Boots and Timberlands 

“Nah, listen, Steny’s was the spot [where I hung out]. And they’re big, big Milwaukee-everything fans. Milwaukee’s a bar town so all those kinda dive bars, local people go there every day for their drink after work. It’s that vibe of Milwaukee and why the love of Milwaukee is so crazy. Because these people are like, if they love you, they love you. I can’t buy a drink there. And you know the wild part, when I go back, I’ll sneak in and just surprise everybody. Like, all the locals, the people that go there every day. And it’s still, like, same shit. It’s dope.”

Miami, FL, Miami Heat, 2021-22

Nike Air Max 1 

“Here we go, here we go! I’m wearing heat in Miami. I’m wearing runners a lot in Miami. That’s just kinda the vibe. The Air Max 98 or 95 with my little Nike running sets. It’s so hot and chill. That’s just the everyday kinda uniform. Tank top, running shorts, Air Maxes. That’s just my everyday there. Air Max 1s. I would say Air Max 1s because that’s my favorite Air Max ever, and I wore Air Max 1s to death in Miami.”

Philadelphia, PA, Philadelphia 76ers, 2022-23

Air Jordan I 

“In Philly I wore a lot of Jordan Is, like, the normal brown Travis. I got a pair of ’85s and ’94s that I wear, the ones I wear wear. ‘Chicagos’ and ‘Breds’ both. And they’re my go-to pairs. Every time I wear those shoes, I wear those pairs. Even though I got a lot of ’85s and ’94s. They’re broken in perfect. They’re super comfortable. They’re, like, molded to my feet. They’re my shoes. They’re super worn down, but they look good.”

The Better Generation is shaped like a container. It’s a wide and narrow store. Walk in through the front door, turn left and P.J.’s section comes to life. A floor-to-ceiling display case of his Sixers jersey, game-worns and Kobe-signed pairs are the greeting. An impressively extensive collection of clothing follows. Two little seating pods close it out, resting underneath a “17” made out of moss. 

Seated under the 17, Tucker is fully engaged. He’s talking sneakers in a way that he doesn’t often get to talk sneakers. His high level of animation is a welcome surprise. He’s having a good time. Why doesn’t he share this side of himself more often?

“It’s not that many that [have] really, really been in it and been doing it and really understand it,” he says. “I almost tell them I don’t want to talk about shoes anymore because they don’t know. People don’t know, right? I’m not mad at them, I’m just tired of answering the same questions. Sneaker King, how are you—blah. Like, bro, you have no idea what any of this is about.”

He details how there are so many people out there who view him as the “Sneaker King.” They only know one thing about him. There’s much more to him than sneakers. It’s a constant in his life he can’t escape. People expect the anointed Sneaker King to behave a certain way. He doesn’t wear sneakers for the public’s approval, though. He does it out of the love that’s been mentioned. That love is threatened at all times by the uninitiated. His work to protect the pure nature of his passion is a daily commitment. 

“It gets ruined a lot,” Tucker says about his passion for sneakers. “There’s other things that bring it back. This [conversation] is bringing it back, 1000 percent. This is making me go back and think about my original love and why I do it and how it came to be. But even still, there are so many other things that tear it down and all the people that don’t really love it. They just kill it and destroy it. But that’s what makes me keep going, too. Regardless, I can’t let them take the shine away from what we love. All the things that make it what it is. It’s like, fuck that.”

He rolled up to this shoot with approximately 30 pairs in two giant bags, including the famous 24-pair holder that longtime followers of P.J. will know. Time unfortunately ran out and not every pair could be photographed. They were all hitters. Every single pair. Hype and resell value all through the roof. That’s not the best part. The best part is that all of them were worn. Every outsole showed clear signs of wear. And this is some stuff that’s so nice that it’s actually dumb. Dumb nice. Stupid nice. Crazy nice. 

“Kyle’s Wedding” Kobe 4s. “Board of Governors” XVIs. “Cactus Jack” IVs. “Pigeon” Dunk Lows. The Mags on the cover. Dumb, stupid, crazy nice pairs that 99 percent of people would never even put down on a carpeted floor in their own house. But Tucker wears all of them. He wears many more, too. He spent a few minutes during the shoot showing off photos that aren’t part of his Getty Images history, flicks from his days overseas. In real time, when the most hyped-up pairs of Kobe 4s-8s were getting released, he was playing in them. He wasn’t holding them for later. He was making memories with them on his feet. Even while at Texas, there are photos of him hooping in Air Jordan XIVs, Nike Air Penny 4s and Air Jordan IIIs.

Footwear has always been about memories and stories for Tucker. He doesn’t chase hype. He chases the indescribable feeling that sneakers give him. 

“It means something,” he says. “It puts you in a place and a time. And it gives you that feeling. And that feeling, like, there is nothing like that. 

“I can’t,” he responds when asked to verbalize the sensation. “It’s hard to put that feeling into words. It’s one of those things that only you know in your heart, like, how that shit makes you feel. No one else will ever understand it.”

KICKS 26 is OUT NOW!

He’s been communicating with everyone for years. What he’s saying in this interview has been said without speaking many times before. There’s another layer he mentioned about people not understanding him for who he is. Eagle-eyed Instagram followers will see beyond the sneakers and the cars and notice that a majority of Tucker’s captions have to do with mental fortitude and emotional evolution. He’s on a journey of betterment and the sneakers are part of it. 

“Sneakers help me emotionally through everything,” Tucker says. “Just the love for shoes keeps my mind off of a lot of bullshit that I could be thinking about and dealing with. The love and the job, especially now just because we got so much going on within sneakers, culture, fashion and everything. It’s something that gives my mind a break off of everything else that’s going on around me. And I think different people have different things in their lives that, over years, they kind of figure [themselves] out, you know, things that make you happy. You know, you build a garden in your backyard, whatever it is. Wednesday night bowling with your boys. Everybody has something, and sneakers [have] always been my kind of release of everything where it’s just natural and I just love it.”

There is an intensely deep connection that Tucker feels with the game and with what surrounds the game, including sneakers. And then there’s basketball itself. 

Tucker’s career arc hasn’t been easy. He was a beast at Enloe High, a man playing against little boys. He averaged more than 16 points a game in his junior year at Texas. He was a scorer while he was on the way up the ranks. But then he had to switch it all up. Like he said, the Raptors humbled him as a young pro. When he went over to Europe, he was a scorer again. He was a Finals MVP, a champion, a go-to guy. The man. But his goal was to make it back to the NBA. Change was nonstop. He had to continue to adapt.

Always evolving. 

At this point in 2023, his reputation as an NBA player was set in stone a long time ago. It’s a beautiful role. The 38-year-old is the last of a breed that went extinct a long time ago. He will do whatever is needed to win. Nothing better illustrates his desire for glory than Game 6 of the 2021 Finals. He played 36 minutes of extremely physical hoops and only took one shot. But his effort didn’t diminish at all. He had the best plus-minus of anyone in that game. Defense, hustle, energy, heart—raw passion. Good luck finding anyone else in the League right now whose effort wouldn’t go down if they couldn’t shoot the ball. Passion is the only way that a performance like that is possible. 

“[Desire to win] kind of built, even though I’ve always been like that, it made it through the roof of honesty with myself,” Tucker says. “With the ‘humble, hungry,’ like, all that. But it’s more understanding self. Understanding success, what it takes to be successful and how much you’d rather win than have individual success. Then once you figure out that people care about winners and not actual people, then that changes your whole trajectory, too. Everybody wants to win, but everybody wants to win the way that they want to win. They want to win being the man. They want to win with everybody saying their name. They want to win with everybody showing their highlights on ESPN and their friends being all happy, that kind of thing. But who wants to just fucking win, right? Who is like, I just want to win! I want to stand at the top of the mountain no matter what my stats are, no matter what happens. It ain’t a lot. I’ll tell you that right now. And to change your whole shit to be one of those people to not really care, to not care…Just to win.”

He says that things started to click for him when he made it back home from his overseas adventures. 

“There, I was the man,” he says about playing abroad. “I’m the guy, right? But then that’s how I learned to be a role player in the NBA. From being the man in Europe, I learned to be a role player because I know what I needed. I know what I needed guys to do. In Israel, I had my boy Chris Watson. Every rebound, he’s running down 50-50 balls. I can count on him. I knew what I was going to get from him. But it’s the self reflection of I’m not him and I’m not trying to be him. I’m not trying to fight him for a position. I don’t want to be James Harden. I’m P.J. What do you need me to do for you to be successful for us to win? I’m P.J. and I’m fucking the best P.J. there is in this fucking game. And nobody can do what I do on a nightly basis.”

His playing style and his playing style are both completely unique. And passion for both games drives it all.

“My love for basketball created my love for sneakers,” Tucker says. “I didn’t just [say] like, Oh, I like shoes. My first pair of shoes ever was a pair of Jordan Is in ’85. That was my mom. I didn’t pick that. But I did watch Michael Jordan and fall in love with the game and love what he was wearing. Then from that it was like…boom.” 

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson.

The post P.J. Tucker is NOT The Sneaker King… He’s Much More appeared first on SLAM.

As the name indicates, it’s the fourth version of New Balance’s flagship performance basketball silhouette. The NB design team turned up the volume with this one. The v4 is the first time that they’ve combined their high-quality cushioning technologies. FuelCell and Fresh Foam dance around each other, weaving and mixing on the v4. Things are gonna get all kinds of plush when the pair drops later this year. 

Time to get scientific. It’s the only way to correctly articulate the incoming elegance. Please peep the elevated diction in honor of the opulence. This is decadent expressionism. 

KICKS 26 featuring Jamal Murray is out now. Shop now.

Starting with FuelCell, New Balance took foam cushioning and hit that sucka with nitrogen. By infusing it with an element straight from the periodic table, some serious softness gets unlocked. The FuelCell cushioning that’s packed with nitrogen was seen on the v3, but it wasn’t joined by Fresh Foam. Now it is. Fresh Foam was made by 3D motion capture study. The engineers who worked on it collected data from pressure mapping and force application and then used that data to get the ideal comfort. 

When the dust settled on the v4’s final form, the FuelCell showed up in the lateral forefoot
and the medial heel. Fresh Foam popped out in the medial forefoot and the lateral heel. The v4’s outsole shows how the setups unite. It’s impressive engineering to get different compounds to interact with each other. FuelCell’s job is to provide dynamic responsiveness. Fresh Foam’s objective is comfort. Breathable mesh then covers the v4’s upper. There are also mid-foot webbings for lockdown and a big external heel counter. 

“Smooth,” Murray says about the v4. “It’s light. Comfy.”

He’s been a member of the New Balance squad for nearly three years now. As one of their most important athletes, the brand relies on his input to drive the TWO WXY franchise’s direction. 

“Just comfort, first and foremost,” he says on what he asked New Balance to deliver in the v4. 

“And I like colors. I like being able to separate the colors. I just want to be able to have more play in what it’s going to look like on the court. Even the black and white, something so simple as black and white, kinda reminds me of the old T-Macs in a way. Just kinda brings back memories. And I see the potential in what we can do this season.”

Speaking of what he and New Balance can do this season, he offers a slight preview of the v4 PEs he’ll be rocking in 2023-24. 

“You’ll definitely see the flooded out again, for sure,” he answers. That’s a reference to his preference for sneakers made up of mostly one hue, so much so that it floods the entire sneaker. “That’s my favorite. I like to have a sleek look, clean look, nothing too fussy. But I think with this, the way they designed it, I can still be creative.

“This doesn’t look blocky,” he goes on about the sneaker. “And I can obviously play with the colors and put it to my liking. As long as it doesn’t look too fussy. I can still look clean. I can either go with the flood look or I can mix it up.”

Murray says that footwear played a big role in his creativity as a kid. 

“That was the first thing I was able to create,” he says. “I did a lot of drawing growing up. My dad did a lot of drawing and sketching. He did t-shirts and hoodies and all that. And I feel like shoes were my first way to, you know, put what I had in my mind onto the court.”

Though NB doesn’t offer much on Murray’s v4 PEs, reps confirm that allusions will be made to Murray’s heritage, his love of the UFC and even his appreciation for red and white wines. 

These days, Murray says that music has become his creative outlet. He likes to read lyrics as artists like Lil Wayne, Eminem or J. Cole are mid-flow. With all the traveling he does and the time he spends getting mentally prepped for high-octane physical performance, he’s constantly listening to music, so much so that it’s helped him off the court. 

“Actually, music helped me speak a little bit better,” Murray says. “Getting in front of big crowds, I used to get really nervous. I still do to a point, but it used to be bad back then. And being able to read lyrics at a faster pace helped me articulate what I’m trying to get across better.”

It’s only been about two years since reading the lyrics has made him feel more comfortable with speaking in public. He’s pretty comfortable right now at our shoot. He’s gravitated to the white/black/red v4s since he came on set. In between rapping along to every line of these Cole songs, he’s been coming up with ideas. He’s thrown up a few peace signs. He’s pointed to his ring finger. He’s done his own styling and picked out what he feels most comfortable in, namely the dark green hoodie he’s wearing on this cover. 

Always a floor general.

Just less than a month has gone by since the championship-clinching win on June 12. 

Murray’s story is well known by now. He tore the ACL in his left knee on April 12, 2021, and still managed to climb all the way up the mountain to win the title. 

What’s less known is the man who lived the story. Murray has a tendency to stay quiet and not open all the way up. It’s not out of difficulty. He’s not a disrespectful human. In fact, it’s because he doesn’t think people will understand. He lives his life in the details. This is somebody who understands the feeling of individual muscles.

He pays attention to the heel movements of his opponents. He’s extremely attentive, but he operates in a world where speed and ease are the social currency. His true love of the game definitely takes more than 15 seconds to explain and that’s just about the attention span for most of the basketball-viewing public. That’s part of the game’s beauty. It can be fast food, or it can be a five-course meal that lasts four hours. Murray likes the latter. It just takes him a while to show it. 

Go back and watch his postgame press conference after the Nuggets won it all. He had been at the podium for about two and a half minutes when he started to break down the way his shot was feeling. Headed into a very technical territory of jump shooting, he stopped himself. “Forget—whatever,” he said on stage. He cut himself off. He stopped himself again during our interview. He was asked about an infamous staircase. It’s a staircase he’s mentioned in interview after interview and would prove to be a barometer for his rehab. 

“Obviously when I first got hurt, I couldn’t even bend my legs,” he says. “So going up the stairs, that’s why it sticks in my head so long. And with the injury and the knee, when you’re going down the stairs, you feel the tendon working. So when I was healthy enough to go down and up stairs, I could feel the wiggle on the way up and down. I could feel [that] I couldn’t bend as much. So that was stuck in my mind. Like, I gotta lift more, I gotta go deeper in my lifts when I’m doing single leg. I gotta do a heavier weight, I gotta ice more. I’m too sore today. That was my tell of how my body was feeling and where I was at.”

He almost didn’t allow himself to speak at a granular level about the sensation of one tendon in his left knee. But the granular level is the very best level. 

After that, it was only about the details. Jamal Murray, NBA champion, New Balance athlete, pride of Kitchener, Ontario, broke down his approach to watching film and shooting the basketball at a very, very, very granular level. Here’s some real insight into the mind of a title-winning point guard: 

“I go home and I watch so much film. I’ll be at dinner, throwing on my highlights. I’ll be watching some other guys. Talking about movements in basketball, and feel, and rhythm, and that hop that you’re talking about. Trae Young does the hop, too. Every time I do the hop, I’m probably rejecting. Every time he does it, he’s looking to reject or he’s looking to pull up. It’s a deceptive thing. You create an off-beat step to get your opponent going one way. You’re trying to make your defender think that you don’t see what’s there. Even if he’s sending me that way, I’ll just turn my body more and hesitate so that as he steps, I haven’t gone anywhere. Now I can reject or I can play off it. [Nikola Jokic] flips the screen, pull-up three. It’s all a read, and the reads are so minute, so detailed, a lot of people don’t know what I’m talking about. 

“So when I watch a highlight, right? Say I reject a screen and I shoot a pull-up three. An easy example. I’ll watch my shot, my steps. I’ll watch especially the timing. A lot of times, especially in transition, I’ll throw the ball to Jok and you don’t even see that we made eye contact. But I remember, OK, he looked at me then. His defender wasn’t looking. That pass is there. Or, The help defense didn’t see that so I know that’s there. When I shoot that pull-up three, as soon as the defender goes like that, that’s when I go. It’s hard for them to look back and see that. I’ll look at all that. Then when I get to the shot, I’ll look at how I went to my shot. Did I go left-right? Did I go right-left? Did I hop? Did I lean too forward? Did I jump too high? Did I not jump at all? Did I take too long? Did I arc it too much? Did I not hold my follow-through? Did I lean to the left because I was going to the left? Did I lean to the right? Did I over-lean? Did I over-kick? And they’re all makeable shots so when I dissect myself, I’m not—I could always do something better. But if I’m going to take that shot again, there are things I can fix to make it. So then I watch reactions. I’ll watch the fun stuff. I’ll watch the coach. How’d he react to a bad shot I made? Who stood up on my team to celebrate the three? Stuff like that.”

This section has not been for the casuals. This section has been for the ’heads. It’s been for the basketball-playing, mechanic-loving, film-obsessed nerds. Just a little bit of revenge for all of us. 

An orange couch has been sitting in the corner of the studio. Murray moves from the first photo setup over to the couch and quickly says these flicks are his favorite of the day. Looking over at the monitor, his face instantly shifts from mean mug to smile when he sees himself propped up with the v4 colorways all around. 

Click, snap, lightbulbs go off. 

The photos taken, the interview done, the real love for the game showcased, Jamal Murray takes off the yet-to-be-released New Balance TWO WXY v4 and exits the photo studio we’ve rented in Denver. 

Portraits by Marcus Stevens.

The post Jamal Murray Debuts the New Balance TWO WXY v4 and Shares the Secrets to His Jumpshot appeared first on SLAM.

Ten years have gone by since the 2013 Minnesota Lynx completely dominated the WNBA, going 26-8 in the regular season and 7-0 in the postseason to capture their second title in a three-year span. Minny’s squad led the W in offense and ranked third in defense. Their big three of Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen were all over the League-wide leaderboards for the whole season, where their names pop up across multiple categories. Starting power forward Rebekkah Brunson and starting center Janel McCarville show up in several of their own categories for best stats of that summer. 

Head coach Cheryl Reeve constructed a ceaseless system that suffocated opposing offenses. Brunson and Moore flew around the floor for blocks and steals. Coach Reeve turned the offense over to Whalen, whose probing playmaking abilities tore defenses apart. Moore and Augustus could score in any one-on-one situation. Supreme role players Monica Wright and Devereaux Peters filled in the gaps on both sides of the ball. McCarville had a deft passing touch. Brunson was a highly efficient finisher. They ran through everyone and they did it together. 

Moore was unquestionably the best player in the world in 2013. Flanked by her whole team, she was shaking her head in apparent disagreement when she accepted the Finals MVP. 

“The most valuable players are standing right behind me,” she went on to say. “I just can’t take this myself. The way this team has battled all year together has been unbelievable. This is the all-defense first team. These are the most valuable players. All of them behind [me] have just, night in and night out, not cared who gets the credit, helped me look good, and I try to do the same for them when I can. It’s just a really satisfying feeling to hold this trophy with this team.”

As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of this historically great team, here’s a breakdown of the starting five who helped them march into the record books. 

Lindsay Whalen

14.9 PPG, 5.8 APG, 4.4 RPG, 49% FGP

Minnesota native Lindsay Whalen made it back home to the Lynx in 2010 after six seasons with the Connecticut Sun. She was a complete maestro when she finally suited up for her home state’s team. The 197 total dimes she dished out led the W in 2013. With targets like Moore, Augustus, Brunson and Wright, all that probing she did collapsed defenses with ease. She played with a penchant for the dramatic. Whay loved a good no-look pass. A former hockey player, she was a bruiser, a contact-loving finisher at the tin. She sought the bumps, dared smaller guards to get physical with her and outran bigger forwards. She made the 14th most free throws in the League that summer. 

As the head of the team’s offense, Whalen’s bully ball set the tone every night. She was aggressive. Her head was always down to drive the lane. She was gonna get a bucket, whether by herself or for one of her All-Star teammates (Minnesota was repped by Whalen, Moore, Augustus and Brunson at the 2013 All-Star Game). 

“To know we’re champions again, unbelievable season, unbelievable group of players, coaches, everybody,” she said after the Finals win. 

Maya Moore

18.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.7 SPG, 51% FGP

The aforementioned best player in the world. Up to that point in 2013, Moore had a trio of high school state chips, two college championships, an Olympic Gold medal and one WNBA championship. There was nothing she couldn’t do on the floor at the age of 24. Hit some Googles on her 2013 highlights. She was coming out of nowhere for blocks on jumpshots. Yo, it’s real, real, real difficult to block jumpshots. She was getting mixy, but not at social functions; rather she was mixing the sneakers off defenders with her dribble moves. Her behind-the-back escape dribble was wildly effective. Her athleticism was maxed out, too. Contortionist-type aerial acrobatics were the norm. To think her game was all flash and no fire would be foolish, though. The footwork she consistently displayed in her iso package was near perfection. She very rarely wasted any movements. It was just about a bucket, anywhere, anytime. Actually, all the time. 

In the locker room after Game 3, Moore said, “It’s just been a dream to be able to play the sport that we love for a living and to be able to do it at the highest level, and then walk off as champions together. This is stuff you remember [for] the rest of your life.”

Seimone Augustus

16.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.5 APG, 52% FGP

We’re gonna go ahead and call it right here: Money Mone has the best handle in the history of the WNBA. That one-two cross she used to hit everybody with was dis-gus-ting. A deadeye from within the three-point line, Augustus was the Lynx’s guaranteed bucket-getter. She made the midrange into her very own dance hall. Many, many, many defenders got free lessons in the cha-cha slide. 

Augustus made a huge sacrifice with the arrivals of Whalen and Moore. Minnesota was her team between ’06-10. She was easily going off for 20 points a game throughout those five seasons as the steady leading scorer. But they weren’t winning. At all. She wanted to win. A whole lot. To her credit, she shifted her role, delivering when necessary instead of whenever she wanted to. It made all the difference. She became Minnesota’s flamethrower, its secret weapon. In the seven postseason games the team played in 2013, she scored 18 or more in five of them.  

“Our mindsets were different,” Mone said after the Finals. “Really focused on what we needed to do to bring a championship home.”

Rebekkah Brunson

10.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 50% FGP

Of course, nobody knew in 2013 that Rebekkah Brunson was going to become living history. She was still years away from retiring, but when she finally called it a career in 2018, she had the distinction of being the only WNBA player ever to have won five championships (shout out to the ’05 Sacramento Monarchs). 

She may be the most underrated component of the ’13 championship run. She was on scouting reports for her defense, but with all the attention paid to the big three, she knew how to reliably convert their deliveries out of double teams. She was rock solid, a high IQ hooper willing to do the little things that equaled up to the big things. Work the public probably didn’t recognize. On-time defensive rotations and on-target extra swing passes were her difference makers that really only Coach Reeve and Brunson’s teammates praised her for. 

“It feels so amazing, oh my gosh!” she said in the locker room after Game 3. “I mean, it feels like this is my first one, really. I’m so excited, so blessed to be able to share it with these girls, with this franchise. It’s just awesome.” 

Janel McCarville

6.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.9 APG, 49% FGP

Janel McCarville was the last piece of the 2013 championship puzzle. She was traded from the New York Liberty just before the season began and got to rejoin Lindsay Whalen, her University of Minnesota college teammate. Though she only averaged 2.9 assists for the year, McCarville was an incredible passing big. She had the signature dime of the Finals. An on-ball pluck during the third quarter of Game 3 saw her bounding down the floor, pursued by a pair of Atlanta defenders. She dropped the rock off between her legs to a trailing Brunson, who finished the lay and got an and-1. It was one of those momentum-swinging moments that deflated the Dream and inspired the Lynx.

WSLAM 3 Cover Tees are available now.

Photos via Getty Images.

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Remember a few years back when there were a bunch of people who were around hoops, but didn’t really actually hoop, and they were trying to tell hoopers to quit shooting the midrange? Yeah, nah, Kahleah Copper didn’t listen to any of that. The former WNBA champ and two-time All-Star possesses a middie that’s something out of an instructional video. It’s been a big reason she’s scored the ninth-most points in the W at the time of this writing.

The foundation of her shot is a fluid two-foot hop. It helps her establish momentum on the way up. Her release point is high, at the top of her rise, and it’s followed by an extended and long-held follow-through. Copper’s textbook progression should be studied everywhere.

Her journey to get here should also be studied. Not just the evolution of her shot into a two-dribble automatic machine, but the resolve she’s shown during her eight seasons in the League. It should be a lesson to young hoopers everywhere: This all takes time.

Copper as a freshman at Rutgers (5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds a game on 41 percent shooting) looks like a whole different person when compared to her as a senior (17.7 points and 8 rebounds a game on 50 percent shooting). Patience paid off when the Washington Mystics selected her with the seventh overall pick of the 2016 Draft. She had a solid rookie campaign for Washington, appearing in 30 games, and she was good enough that the Chicago Sky wanted her to be a part of the trade that sent former WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne to the nation’s capital.

Copper played through four full seasons averaging between 14-16 minutes and 6-7 points a game. She couldn’t crack the rotation in a real way in DC or Chicago. Her career drastically changed during head coach James Wade’s second season in the Chi in 2020. Coach Wade increased her minutes by more than double what she played in 2019.

Copper delivered.

In the 2020 wubble, Copper’s stats were more than solid: 14.9 points, 5.5 boards, 2.1 dimes and 1 steal per. Included in 2020 were a trio of 20-plus point games (all wins for the Sky), marking the first time in her career that she went for 20 or more on three separate occasions. The signs that she was evolving appeared in other ways, too. She recorded at least 1 steal in over half the games she played, her rebounding was way up (she got her first career game of 10 rebounds at IMG) and her three-pointer was much improved.

Though the Sky lost in the first round of the 2020 postseason, Copper and her squad were about to get a major roster addition, one that would fully unlock the potential of the North Philly kid. The arrival of future Hall of Famer Candace Parker in Chicago was the final push to get Copper’s game all the way turnt up. Parker was vocally adamant about Copper for the entire summer. She was constantly praising the energy she brought to the floor. With the voice of a legend in her ear, Copper realized what she was capable of.

The 2021 playoffs belonged to No. 2, who was officially stamped by winning the 2021 WNBA Finals MVP trophy. But before she accomplished that, she put up serious numbers: 17.7 ppg and 5.3 rpg. And she shot 52 percent from the field.

Her offense featured a lot of that still-improving jumper with a ton of attacking the rim. She’s both fast and quick, so anybody trying to stay in front of her? Best of luck. Surprisingly, though, as her individual star rose, she played more efficiently within the system that Coach Wade had constructed. About two-thirds of her buckets came off assists, swung from the fingertips of Courtney Vandersloot, Parker and Diamond DeShields. Copper was playing high quality, high efficiency basketball. She maximized success for herself and for her team.

During her cover shoot for SLAM 236, Copper said that her competitiveness has been nurtured since she was a young kid. It had been waiting to burst out of her from the days when she couldn’t get off the bench in DC. That championship run was the truest form of Kahleah Copper. It was her honest aggression in the brightest spotlight, merciless and unrelenting. Her numbers in the Finals tell part of the story: 17 ppg and 5.5 rpg on 50 percent. The rest of the story can be told in Parker’s own words after the final buzzer sounded in 2021.

“Just playing against [Copper] in L.A. all the time and just not being able to guard her, like, I feel like our games could be compatible, we could make each other better,” Parker told NBC Sports Chicago. “I’ve just been so proud of how she’s stayed the course all the time and just been great. I always tell her before the game, like, Show them what we already know. Every game. She did that this entire season.”

That season ended.

The next one began.

Copper continued to ascend as a singular talent in 2022. Her points per game, her rebounds per game, her assists per game and her shooting percentage elevated, and she notched the highest point total of her W career with a 28-point outing against the Indiana Fever. Copper was hooping at an even higher level than before, but the Sky lost in the second round of the postseason. Then Parker and Vandersloot left, and then deadeye three-point shooter Allie Quigley and former WNBA champ Emma Meesseman departed, too. All of a sudden, Copper was alone in the driver’s seat, responsible for leading her team.

That brings us to 2023. Coach Wade has clearly defined the role of his former Finals MVP. He needs her to score, create and compete as well as possible. Those two-dribble pulls in the midrange are out of necessity. Copper is running more pick-and-roll, responsible for reading more of the defense than ever before, even with her new and reliable backcourt mates Marina Mabrey and Courtney Williams along for the ride. This is officially her franchise now, as evidenced by the 16.6 ppg she’s currently averaging, which of course marks a career-best in that category.

It’s likely that by the time you’re holding this magazine in your hands, Copper has been named to her third All-Star team, where she’ll get the chance to build on what she did against the League’s best in both 2021 and 2022.

“I think I was the ultimate competitor,” Copper told us in her SLAM 236 cover story. “Even re-watching the games and seeing how locked in I was and seeing my intensity on defense. Getting hyped, just every little detail. I think that my competitiveness hit another gear.”

Copper got to feel the warmest sunshine imaginable with that championship in 2021. There were difficult times before that win, and there will be difficult times ahead. But it ain’t nothing. Don’t you dare ever count out the kid from Philly.

Photos via Getty Images.

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But that doesn’t mean it was easy. A reinforced wall of doubt and skepticism stood in between Kobe and his desire back in the mid-2000s. Not many understood the vision, and far fewer were willing to welcome the future of basketball sneakers. 

The prevailing knowledge was that low-cut sneakers would be unsafe. Players wore mids and highs because of the perception that the extra height safe-guarded their ankles. But clunky and heavy sneakers, mixed with tight tape jobs and bulky ankle braces, were actually way more dangerous. The secret lay waiting in ankle strengthening stretches and proper heel lockdown. 

Bryant and legendary Nike Basketball designer Eric Avar believed in the future so much that they burst through the wall and arrived on the other side with the low-cut Kobe 4. They refined that concept with the Kobe 5. Bryant won back-to-back championships with those. And with nearly two straight calendar years of basketball played in those silhouettes, the ever-meticulous Bean gathered up all of his findings. And it was the Kobe 6 that became the masterpiece. 

Even lower than the 4 and the 5, the 6’s foundation used Nike Zoom cushioning in the heel, a Met Zoom Air unit in the forefoot, a Phylon midsole and a carbon fiber shank. The upper was triple-layered. Under the surface, a standard mesh interacted with Flywire cables. Flywire, also seen on the Kobe 4 and the 5, is what allowed Avar to go lower. The cables were placed strategically in spots where the foot endures extreme stress, and their durability let Avar shed a ton of unnecessary materials. 

Above the mesh and the Flywire, Bryant introduced the basketball world to the land of snakes. The Kobe 6 coincided with the debut of his Black Mamba alter ego. Always inspired by nature and the animal kingdom, Bean had found a kinship with the highly venomous killer from sub-Saharan Africa whose venom helps it make easy work of mice, birds, squirrels and, yes, even humans. Bryant wanted everyone to know that he was the top of the top, the most unforgiving and feared player in the NBA. The final layer of the Kobe 6’s upper was made of a faux-snakeskin material. 

Kobe’s mind made the connection between soccer and basketball—two of his great passions—and millions of people followed. The 6 has become the most coveted of his already highly sought-after line. Colorways flooded in and continue to do so. 

After all these years, the epiphany’s light continues to guide the way.

The post SLAMKICKS Presents TOP 100: Here’s What Basketball Sneaker We Ranked at No. 3 appeared first on SLAM.

No. 1: Air Jordan XI

SLAMKICKS Presents TOP 100: The Greatest Basketball Sneakers of All Time

Empires rise and fall. The idea of revolution leads to the action of destruction as the new tries to overtake the old. The course of empires has looked mostly the same for millennia. The fight for power, the victory. Generations of this cycle went unbroken for decades and decades. 

Until Michael Jordan showed up. 

He has ruled two kingdoms at the same time for over 30 years. On the basketball court, he is a six-time champion and Olympic Gold medalist, the universally agreed-upon greatest of all time. Off the court, his sneakers have carved the land with all the force of centuries-old erosion, sculpting the basketball map to his liking and leaving it marked with his indelible footprints. 

The best of his empire is the Air Jordan XI. It’s the ultimate treasure. It shines like a precious stone discovered deep within the heart of a faraway mountain. The patent leather that’s made it the basketball sneaker supreme holds a radiance that has endured since May 7, 1995, when MJ showed his loyal subjects the promise of tomorrow. Tomorrow came on November 10, 1995, when the XI finally released. 

The “Concords” led the way. That white and black version dotted with purple let everyone finally see the patent leather, the carbon fiber support plate and the nylon cordura upper. It let them feel the texture of the basketball net-inspired laces and feel the cushioning of the full-length Air bag. It let them hold the best ever in their hands. 

Tinker Hatfield, the Michael Jordan of sneaker design, was inspired by cars, lawnmowers, backpacks and an airport. And, of course, by the emperor himself. 

Michael had asked Hatfield and the team at Nike for a shiny sneaker during the Air Jordan IX’s creation process. It didn’t happen with that pair, but by the time Jordan was ready to return from his famous 18-month stint as a baseball player, Hatfield was also ready to present him with the XI. 

Tink had clocked how lawnmowers were being designed with a sleekness and a direct desire to be “cool,” much like how cars were being designed to look fast. And in those same cars, he had seen the glossy finishes that convertibles of the day featured, just as he had seen that the roof of Denver’s airport had a shiny top. The sum of Tinker’s observations was the XI, the very pinnacle of basketball footwear. 

It was worn by the greatest player ever during the greatest single season ever. Jordan and the Bulls went 72-10 in ’95-96, the season that saw the XI on the floor. Number 23 snatched up the All-Star Game MVP, the regular season MVP, the Finals MVP and his fourth overall championship. 

The genius of the best basketball sneaker ever steered the course of His Airness’ empire straight into forever.

SLAMKICKS Top 100 is available now in this exclusive Gold Metal Edition.

Photos via Getty Images.

The post SLAMKICKS Presents TOP 100: Here’s What Basketball Sneaker We Ranked at No. 1 appeared first on SLAM.

Now that you have the criteria in your mind, hopefully all 100 of these sneakers make sense to you. 

I stand by this list wholeheartedly. When we made SLAM Presents JORDANS Vol. 6: The Air Jordan XI, we very clearly and very definitively put “The Best Basketball Sneaker of All Time” on that cover. That was my true belief before we made that issue and it remains after making this issue. From that No. 1 spot and onwards, we extensively combed basketball sneaker history. I spent days writing down over 300 different sneakers that could’ve been on here and then we—sneakerheads and basketball nerds on the SLAM staff spanning multiple generations—spent a whole bunch of time arguing with each other to hammer out the list that you’re about to read. 

For all those who think I’m foolish for putting the Air Jordan I in the fourth slot and for all those who recognize I know my stuff by including the Nike Hyperfuse 2011 on this list, I welcome you all. This type of stuff is where it gets fun. So let’s have some fun, SLAM Fam. 

As always, wear your damn kicks. 

Peace,

Max Resetar

Which basketball sneakers made our list? Let the debates begin…

No. 1

Worn by the greatest player ever during the greatest single season ever.

READ HERE

No. 3

These kicks coincided with the debut of Kobe’s Black Mamba alter ego.

READ HERE

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The ox and turtle remnants that were converted to archives featured the now-known-as Shang numerals. The Shang dynasty, dating back to the 14th century BC, made their own number system. 

Hundreds of years later, in the 9th century AD, Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī worked at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. The immaculately-carved fossil-colored entry ways of the House, which was also called the Grand Library of Baghdad, held local poetry, both contemporary to the time and from the past. The space was primarily dedicated to translating the globe’s most respected works of literature and academia from Persian, Greek and Latin to Arabic.

In those sacred halls, al-Khwārizmī was influenced by the work of the Shang dynasty. Their number system, founded so many ages before, helped him to introduce the entire world to the Hindu-Arabic numerals, the number system still used today in so many places across the planet. History recognizes him as the Father of Algebra.  

The momentum of the centuries caught up to those numbers al-Khwārizmī popularized. Each gained their own meaning. The number seven is particularly special. 

Numerology became a universal language because of how many people recognized the characters that al-Khwārizmī favored. Music is another universal language. Rather than the one of absolutes that numerology can be counted as, music is a language of emotions. Whether or not the lyrics of song were translated at the House of Wisdom doesn’t matter. The feelings of a well-constructed song can be experienced by any human. The scales that make up these global methods of communication contain seven notes.  

High above both the Yellow River and Baghdad, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn had Claudius Ptolemy completely enthralled. Ptolemy, a Roman, spent his days working as a mathematician, geographer, music theorist, astronomer and astrologer. He lived in Alexandria, Egypt during the 2nd century AD. He looked up in the star-filled desert skies, spellbound by what he saw without the aid of any telescope. The planets went from eyes and straight up to his imagination, which bounced between the sand and the mysteries overhead. Ptolemy’s analyzation of these luminous bodies in the sky ultimately led to them being referred to as the seven classical planets. They are the reason that we measure weeks by seven day intervals. 

When those skies got stormy and rain pounded down across the deserts of Alexandria, the House of Wisdom and the Yellow River, and when clouds turned from puffy white to dense grey, humankind didn’t get a say in another phenomenon rooted in the number seven. The storms passed and breaking clouds brought with them the rainbow. 

The arced spectrum of light contains seven colors. In the 17th century AD, Isaac Newton identified the seven colors of the rainbow as the hues most distinguishable by the human eye. 

Seven’s history spans back thousands of years and depending on the specific belief system, it can be defined as “spirituality.”

Thousands of years have brought us to 2023, to the time of James Harden. His seventh signature sneaker is the best silhouette of the 2022-23 NBA season. It’s the best pair of his Hall of Fame career. 

Aesthetically unique, Three Stripes lead designer Jalal Enayah meant to make a sneaker that nobody had seen before. He wanted to make an extension of Harden, a ballplayer that nobody has seen before. The quilted panel on the upper can be traced back to puffer jackets that the former MVP likes to rock. And materials on the toebox vary from colorway to colorway. There have been flooded versions of red, purple, black, silver, white, yellow, orange, pink and green. A tribute to his college has been seen, while white marble and gold-heeled versions have also popped up. Every color of the rainbow has shown up at least once during the HV7’s run. 

Functionally proficient, Enayah went hard with the tech inside the 7. There’s cushioning that combines BOOST in the heel and LIGHTSTRIKE in the forefoot and it sits on top of a podular rubber outsole with dual herringbone and radial patterns. The X-shaped torsional support plate underfoot is joined by the TPU heel counter that houses the internal bootie.

Harden has gotten busy with the 7 on his foot. His 10.7 assists per game led the entire League and he still averaged 21 points a night on 44 percent shooting. After some injury-hit and drama-filled couple of years, he returned to form as one of the game’s most exceptional talents. No rush in his pace, unmovable, entirely confident in scoring whenever he chose to, the 2022-23 campaign was a reminder of who James Harden really is—a rule-breaking offensive machine. He’s one of the 2010s’ authors of change, right next to the other point guards in Golden State and Portland. Basketball wouldn’t be where it is today without his contributions to the art form. 

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Now he and Enayah have submitted another piece of art to the game. The 7 is work of science and beauty. With all these years of natural wonder and human knowledge surrounding the silhouette, the incredible performances it’s been part of, the adidas Harden Vol. 7 is the best sneaker of 2022-23. 

Sketches via Jalal Enayah

The post Here’s Why The adidas Harden Vol. 7 is the Best Basketball Sneaker of 2022-23 appeared first on SLAM.

LeBron James has been around, though. It’s now been over 20 years since he’s been occupying his throne. There’s an insatiable appetite for everything the King does, as has been the case for the entirety of these past two decades. His sneakers are still on the feet of many. Whether they’re OG pairs from all the way back in the day, retros or new versions of the Nike LeBron 20, people in both the digital and physical world rock his kicks, comment about them, and most importantly, care about them.    

The Nike LeBron 20 NXXT Gen is an example of how far we’ve come on this specific wave of internet info. What started in the realm of esports has extended its way into the real world. A special collaboration between FaZe Clan and Nike is ending in the “FaZe” LeBron 20 NXXT Gen colorway. 

The NXXT Gen edition of the 20 is less expensive than the version that dropped back in Autumn 2022, with a slightly different build as well. 

Either tongue of this black and red edition features FaZe’s iconic “F” logo. As for the tech specs of this updated LeBron 20, it has an engineered mesh upper, Air Zoom cushioning, hits of leather on the tongue, the heel, the medial panel and the toebox and there’s a double-layered Swoosh in contrasting materials.

The King’s oldest son, Bronny, joined FaZe back in August of 2020 to be a content creator. FaZe Clan is the world’s best esports team, with a social media reach that is counted in the hundreds of millions. Bronny loves to play FPS games for the millions of people that also follow him. Both generations of the James have worn the “FaZe” LeBron 20 NXXT Gen on the court already. 

Like FaZe, and millions of people around the world, both generations of the James understand that life is starting to swing more fluidly between digital and physical. LeBron has the highest follower count of any basketball player on the planet and Bronny’s social media presence is calculated, thought out with great intention and an appreciation for documenting the art in his life. Because more and more, these invisible lines are blending, melding together so tightly and strongly that the “FaZe” Nike LeBron 20 NXXT Gen will go down in history as the first collab of its kind. But not the last. 

The post How The ‘FaZe Clan’ Nike LeBron 20 NXXT Gen Became a Reality appeared first on SLAM.

To witness a real genius these days is to stand out so much from the crowd that platitudes suddenly become relevant again. The only part of the definition that might not apply to the case of Luka Doncic is the “natural” aspect. That implies he didn’t work to be able to play genius-level basketball. 

He did. He worked hard. 

He became a pro at the age of 13. He was required to leave his hometown of Ljubljana, Slovenia, for Madrid, Spain. There the work commenced, and it continues now, a decade later, on a grand scale, in Dallas, TX. 

He looks like a genius because of the way he plays basketball. He seems to see the unseen. Whether his passes come from predicting or reacting, can’t really be said for certain. And whether or not he feels the usual chest-tightening sensation that clutch end-of-game situations carry with them is something only he can tell the world. But from the outside, we view the spectacle of his game as genius, as prophetic, and as his nickname suggests, magic. 

Of course, these praises could be considered more hollow platitudes. There are plenty of great performances every single night in the NBA. Doncic has separated himself through two factors: youth and consistency. 

Ever since Luka entered the NBA as a 19-year-old, he’s regularly dominated, with career averages of 27/8/8. This year’s 34/9/9 has been accomplished in the Jordan Luka 1. The silhouette challenged the Brand’s designers enough to make the IsoPlate and Formula 23, two new technologies, just for him. 

They respect his genius that much.

Photos via Getty Images.

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Here’s a nice and simple number, though: 

Five. 

Jayson Tatum has had five 50-plus-point games in his career. That’s more than Larry Bird, more than Paul Pierce, more than John Havlicek, more than Isaiah Thomas, more than Sam Jones, more than Bob Cousy, more than Kevin McHale and more than Ray Allen. 

Tatum has scored at least 50 more times than any other Celtic. He and Bird are the only players to ever score 60 for the League’s most storied club. 

Here’s one more easy number to put all of that into perspective: 

24. 

As in, he’s only 24 years old. 

The above is special regardless of age. The skill level is magnified under the intensity of the attention that the Cs have always received. Last season’s run to the Finals has heightened the attention around Tatum even more. He’s delivered, making expectations seem more like invitations to demonstrate his dominance. A few more numbers, true as we go to press, to illustrate the evolution super clearly: 

—Career-best 31 points per game

—Career-best 8.6 rebounds per game 

—Career-best-tying 4.4 assists per game 

—Six 40-plus-point games

—10 30-plus-point games 

The eye test is a resounding pass. He scores a 100 on that, an A+, gets five gold stars and one round of applause. 

Tatum scores in every single way imaginable on the floor. Single coverage is pretty much no coverage for him. Going up against a double team is like a fun challenge that he can solve most of the time. These days, it looks like triple teams are becoming a necessity. 

He’s been surpassing the ghosts of Celtics past in mostly the Air Jordan 37 Low. Jordan’s signature foam, Formula 23, is stacked in the heel for landing, while an Air Strobel unit and a Zoom Air unit are double-stacked in the forefoot. Tatum’s shown off a variety of PEs while he’s been in the 37. 

But things are about to change…

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Jayson Tatum’s Game is Already Otherworldly, but He’s Just Getting Started appeared first on SLAM.

He can shoot. 

He can pass. 

He doesn’t back down. 

The Jordan Brand seems to have found another youngster with a transcendent physical ability and a high level of skill. Already at 20 points a game and 70 percent shooting near the rim, he’s going for an average of 8 free throws a game—11th in the entire League, as we head to press. That left shoulder is doing its job. 

Don’t get it twisted because Paolo can also shoot. The Celtics found that out when he went 6-7 from distance against them in December. 

Yeah, the 20-year-old can go. For real, for real. 

He’s done most of his damage in the Jordan Zion 2, the sneaker his fellow powerful Duke Blue Devil brother uses for all of his own physicality. Banchero has worn multiple colorways of the 2, as well as the Air Jordan 37 and the Air Jordan 37 Low. His (so far) career-high of 33 points was scored against the Kings while in the 37 Low. 

It was Howard “H” White’s job to publicly welcome Banchero to the Brand. The Vice President of Jordan Brand took Banchero to the same exact restaurant in Hillsboro, OR, that made him late to a meeting with No. 23 all the way back in 1984. 

This time, in 2023, almost 40 years later, he made sure that he was there for Banchero. 

Photo via Getty Images.

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He’s shown us new aerial possibilities. Ruthless left-handed spikes on the heads of poor souls just trying to rotate over from the weak side. But they just can’t hover above in the way that he can. 

He’s shown us new layers of fandom. Most old heads don’t think that a superstar athlete would love anime in the way that Z does. But they just can’t see how much Naruto translates to real life in the way that he can. 

He’s shown us new sides of vulnerability. He’s a screamer, a high-level emoter during games, especially after those aforementioned atmospheric forays. Even as the No. 1 overall pick, a young millionaire with “the life” at the ready for him, he’s been real enough to share that he feels isolation in the success. 

All these pieces that seemingly shouldn’t fit together add up to make Williamson the rarity that he is. Insanely capable of superhuman feats and ordinary humanity at the very same time. 

Yo, also, somehow he’s only 22 years old. Already an All-Star, already a historically accomplished player for his field-goal percentage, already two signature sneakers deep with Jordan Brand, already real enough to be real. 

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The Jordan Zion 2 has a decoupled outsole with a larger Air Strobel unit in the heel and Zoom Air (20 percent more than the standard Air bag) in the forefoot. That’s a lot of cushioning, because duh. The support was tripled-down with a high-wrapping cup sole. And varying materials across the upper lead to a forefoot strap for even more support. 

The many panels and materials and technologies within the Zion 2 reflect the man who wears them. Multidimensional and unique, with what’s hidden eventually revealing itself through new layers and sides and, of course, a bunch of dunks. 

Photos via Getty Images. Portrait by Atiba Jefferson.

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Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

And… 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience.

Still there?

We’re on Lauri Markkanen time right here. 

His story is one of patience. Like, one where nothing, like, nothing really, um, even kinda, sorta happens at first. Or at second. Enough doesn’t happen that what has happened gets forgotten. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening. Stuff is happening. 

Patience is a test. It’s illusions and confusions. What’s real isn’t revealed for a long time. How strong is will? Patience will be the great unveil. Patience is lonely. Patience is a marathon. It’s stamina unending. How long will the run be? How far is the distance? Can the sprint continue all the way into the unknown? What if the running isn’t worth the work?

What if it is?

So…

Patience.

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience.

This test isn’t pass or fail. Pass or fail is a destination. Markkanen’s story is not about arriving.

It’s about becoming. He knows perseverance. 

Because even what he’s done with the Utah Jazz this season, a season where it looks like he has arrived, isn’t complete yet. Though it does look like the fury of the patient man has become a fire. The 7-foot Markkanen is looking more like the potential has been realized. He’s looking like an offensive cornerstone, a stone that had to survive unforgiving rushing rapids, a stone that’s lasted to become fully polished and shiny.

Shiny like 25 points and 9 boards a game. He’s had a 49-point outburst and he’s had six games of at least 13 rebounds. He’s had gamewinners and he’s had the firepower to ignite complete blowouts. There’s some new confidence to him out there. But it might not even be new. Patience is a test of illusions and confusions. Maybe he’s always been this all along? Has he always been this good? Statistically, no. This is his best and most impactful campaign since the Bulls selected him with the seventh pick in 2017. There’s some type of spirit in him this season, something entirely different from everything we saw during his time in Chicago and Cleveland. It just might’ve been restrained, which can be attributed to any number of reasons, from more famous names demanding more shots to less nuanced leadership not realizing how much Markkanen is capable of. So he’s been let off the leash and all of that marathon sprinting he’s been doing has led him to rove ’round the floor without any restrictions. It’s credit to first year head coach Will Hardy and even more credit to Markkanen for continuing to work in the silence of patience, when absolutely nothing was even promised. 

And with nothing promised, Markkanen improved on everything. He’s gotten better at creating his own shot and at finishing around the rim. He can roll, pop or slip from any ball-screen situation. He can post or face, dunk or shoot, draw fouls and make free throws. He’s the Jazz’s closing option because of the matchup problem that comes with a mobile and aggressive 7-footer. 

The skill set varies from moment to moment. Markkanen acts as a slasher, with his foot pressed all the way down on the accelerator to meet a lob at the rim. He goes off the bounce by himself, finishing through contact. He spots up in the corner, waiting for a pass to drill a three.

More waiting. 

More patience. Many a mind has valued patience to the utmost. 

“Genius is eternal patience,” Michelangelo, who crafted the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, once said. 

“I get you all you can eat, just have some patience with me,” Aubrey Graham, who is the voice of a generation, once said. 

Markkanen’s whole team is eating because of his patience. Behind resurgent performances from Jordan Clarkson, Mike Conley, Malik Beasley, Kelly Olynyk and Collin Sexton, the Jazz are right back in the playoff hunt during a season in which the bottom was outside the world’s expectations. Their best player has them just 1.5 games from fifth in the West, as we go to press. 

In fact, he and Conley have created a pick-and-roll duo that follows in the tradition of John Stockton and Karl Malone and Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. Markkanen is in the 80th percentile in the League as a finisher out of PNR. Other numbers tell a similar story as he inches close to a 50-40-90 season. Right now he’s 52-42-87. It’s striking efficiency considering how a ton of the offense relies on him. 

Does high-level basketball like that only come through patience? Could he have done that at stop No. 1 or stop No. 2? Could he have been mature enough to handle so many different looks on the offensive side? 

Do any of these questions even matter? 

No, they don’t. Because we’re here now, in this moment where Lauri Markkanen should represent the Utah Jazz at the ’23 All-Star Game in Salt Lake City. He’s taken the leap out of ever-waiting patience up into a consistent scoring threat from each of the three necessary levels. In a year where nobody expected anything to happen, a lot has happened. If he doesn’t make it, there will be more time for him to get there, no matter which city it’s being held in. He’s just 25 years old. We know that he has patience.

His head coach Will Hardy knows it, too. 

“I thought it was another game where Lauri seemed to kinda do a little bit of everything, made threes, got to the basket with force early in the game,” he said just a few days before we went to press. “He’s just continuing to grow before our eyes every night in terms of understanding there’s a lot of different ways to be effective on the offensive end in this League, especially when you have his combination of size, skill, and athleticism.” 

Just a little patience. 

Photos via Getty Images

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He and Nethongkome started making the 1 by just talking. And then there was more talking. And a ton more talking. Morant was hype to get this going, emphasizing yet again what he’s said a few times in the past—he always wanted to sign with the Swoosh and get his own signature. So he and the design squad talked and talked and talked, about his wishes about his game, about previous Nike Basketball silhouettes that they’ve all loved to hoop in. 

Nethongkome went back with all of that information, studied Morant’s movements with the famous Nike Sports Research Lab to get a silhouette in the works, and then something started to take hold around the one-of-a-kind athleticism that #12 possesses. 

“Obviously, [this is] something I dreamed for, something I’ve wanted all along and finally, I got it,” Morant said post-griddy. “The process is a pretty long process. You just be ready for the shoe to come out, ready for the shoe to be done, ready for the world to know. It definitely was tough for me to keep quiet, but once they laid out that first pair, I tell them every time I see them that, ‘Y’all did it again.’ They just made my shoe come to life.”

The trio laughed at the story of Morant wearing the first prototype for the majority of a middle-of-the-process meeting, to which the former Rookie of the Year later admitted that he got “a little emotional” when he finally saw them for the first time. 

“When we met with him to unveil the shoe for the very first sample, that rough sample, he wore it the entire time,” Nethongkome told SLAM after the panel. “He was like a kid in a candy store. It must have been six hours… We were there for six, I think he had it on his feet for five.”

“A day I’d been waiting on for a long time,” Morant said. “Actually being able to finally get on the court, move, run around in them, dunk, which everybody likes that I do, it felt good.”

There are three areas of focus that had Morant so enthralled. Nethongkome calls them out as dynamic lockdown (showing up in the midfoot), a responsive forefoot and support for landing. That forefoot mudguard on the 1 helps with stability for the shiftiest player in the League. Also showing up in the forefoot is a Zoom bag. The midsole is elevated slightly in comparison to more recent Swoosh pairs, aided by a padded and plush collar. And because Morant is a two-foot jumper as he engages his personal thrusters, the sidewall guardrail was raised for when he decides to come down and join the rest of us who are gravity-bound.  

No. 12’s first sneaker also features the appearance of a brand new element. With the tunnel walk in mind (SHOUT OUT TO @LEAGUEFITS!!!), Nethongkome lifted the Swoosh up off the heel so that Morant could hold his sneakers while getting his pregame fits photographed. 

“I want him to be able to hold the shoe in a different way than other athletes when they walk in the tunnel,” Nethongkome said. “It’s integrated as a pull tab and also as a hold that encourages him to bring it into the tunnel.” He calls it a “protruding Swoosh,” holding up the 1 in exactly the way he imagined it during the 18-month creative process. 

It takes a long time to make this all happen. Over the last year and a half, Nethongkome and the Swoosh squad got to know Morant and his family pretty well. 

“I would just say he was involved and always accessible and open,” Munson told us. 

“Ja has been in the weeds with us, which is nice to have,” Nethongkome added. “He’s only a text away to get feedback.”

Samples and weartesting and colorway ideas and material resourcing and the science of how thick or slim to make the Zoom bag requires precision. All that and more is why Morant had to keep the 1 a secret for so long. And within everything that’s happened since the decision was made and this launch moment, there was enough space for a log to be kept of what Morant hoped to see realized with the 1.  

“There was a checklist of things he wanted an update on and the first thing he saw was Khairi’s name,” Nethongkome said. “So that, to me, nothing else mattered in that moment. He just was so in love with that.”

As of right now, Morant hasn’t played in too many different colorways. 

But that’s all about to change. 

“You only saw a sliver of what we’ve been working on the past 18 months and I just wish you could see what’s behind the other closets we have hidden. But just keep it locked,” Nethongkome said. “There are a lot of cool things coming out.”

True to that, Munson said during the panel that the 1 is among the richest number of drops they’ve had. He later told us about how they love to watch Morant be incredibly supportive of young kids coming up. The obvious example of that support is how he’s established a new tradition of giving away game-worn 1s to courtside fans. More than that, though, it’s what he does for his team, for people from Memphis to Dalzell, bringing so much hope and inspiration each and every time he jumps into the stratosphere and comes down to griddy. 

The post Inside the Design of the Nike Ja 1 appeared first on SLAM.

Unheard. 

Felt. 

Seen. 

The bright beam reverberates through all of Sacramento as a visual sign that the Kings have won again. 

The glow reveals. 

It’s been accompanied by a surprising surge from the League’s most dormant franchise. On the day that the Kings opened the doors of Golden 1 Center to us, the squad had climbed to fourth place in the Western Conference. More winning has been joined by flow ideals, an offense ever in motion. 

In this new tradition of the beam, De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis have shined brightest for the revamped Kings. 

SLAM 242 is available now featuring De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.

But there had been much darkness before the duo helped bring about this newfound purple illumination. The Kings haven’t made the playoffs since 2006. An ownership change, countless player transactions and nine different head coaches have been part of the last loss-filled 17 years. The days of Chris Webber’s stellar squads were followed by 20-point-guarantee Kevin Martin and then the promise of DeMarcus Cousins. Time and time again, though, nothing happened. Just losing. Almost forgotten up in northern California over these long years, this year’s Kings team came out from all of that darkness with a bright signal sent up into the NBA’s atmosphere—the beam.

“I think we were in L.A.,” Fox says about his first memory of the beam. “I think that was, like, what, three, four games in this season? Yeah,” he checks with Sabonis sitting on his right. “So this is early on, this season. I want to say we were in L.A. when the beam came out and they kept it up for when we came home.”

From the imagination of Tim Anderson, owner and founder of Nu-Salt Laser International, the beam is officially called the Laser Space Cannon. Anderson lives in Folsom, CA, which is about 30 minutes from Golden 1. He’s been operating Nu-Salt for 28 years and has gotten to play a major role in the Kings’ journey from the dark to the light. Somehow, neither Anderson nor anyone on the Kings’ staff told the players about the beam before the season began. 

“Oh, we had no idea,” Sabonis tells us. “Even when it started, like, the first couple of games, we didn’t really pay attention to it. It was only until Kev[in Huerter] hashtagged #BeamTeam and then after that it blew up.” 

Fox jumps in to tell the story of when he first caught it with his own eyes. “I think my first time seeing it was after a home game. I was leaving and, right here on Fifth Street, there’s a light. And if you’re in the driver’s seat, you can’t see it. So I literally got outta the car to see it.”

He says it was too late in the night for any fans to notice him. But that’s pretty much been the only time he’s gone unnoticed this year. Fox has been impossible to miss for fans, opposing players, scouts and coaches. Still possessing all of the untamed speed that made him famous coming out of Cypress Lakes (Katy, TX) High School in 2016, the lefty point guard has totally harnessed his floor general skills, repeatedly capitalizing on drop coverage out of pick-and-roll with mid-range pull-ups or hitting waiting shooters on the wings and in the corners. Most importantly, he’s been unflinching in the clutch, whether those final moments have called for him to shoot or run the offense. 

Over many, many years, the really, very, actually legitimately smartest doctors and scientists around have studied the hippocampus, the part of the human mind that is the center of memory. Those really, very, actually legitimately smart doctors and scientists have found that strenuous physical activity done with peers can form incredibly strong and lasting memories. 

Under the glare of the incredibly strong bulbs of the Golden 1 Center, where Fox and Sabonis have been forging memory after memory, we ask them to share which moment so far has created the most enduring memory. A countdown of 3, 2, 1 produces: 

“Fox’s buzzer-beater,” Sabonis says. 

“You know what’s funny? I was gonna say that one at first,” Fox says giddily. “The one in Orlando, right? Dang. I was gonna say that, too. I also didn’t wanna sound selfish.”

“That shot changed, I feel like, everything, the vibes in the locker room,” Sabonis follows. “Because it was early in the season, too.”

Just the eighth game of the year for the guys in purple, they were knotted at 123 with the Magic in overtime. The crowd was going crazy after the home squad got a steal and tied the game with a dunk. There were 6.6 seconds left on the clock. Sharpshooting big Trey Lyles inbounded the rock to vet Harrison Barnes. Fox was visibly calling for the ball, holding out both of his hands at Barnes. He wanted to take the shot. Four right-handed dribbles got him across the timeline and he transferred the ball into his left hand. 

They weren’t stopping the ball? 

They really weren’t stopping the ball. 

The official NBA box score lists that game-winner as a 31-footer. But he was barely inside of the halfcourt stripe, just above the star in the Magic’s logo. The shot cashed right as the red lights flashed and the horn sounded. They were all seeing him in the light now. It was a clutch moment where Fox had to lead his guys, an extremely important memory that was crafted together. Sabonis was under the hoop, motioning for his point guard to put it up. When the shot dropped, Sabonis ran all the way across the court with both of his arms raised high. 

“I was like, Shoot! Is he gonna shoot? Because he slowed down and I’m like, Wait, what’s he doing?” Sabonis says. “In my mind, he’s so fast. He’s gonna lay it up, and then he slows down and I’m like, There’s two seconds left. What’s he doing?”

“And what I saw was, they started loading up, so I’m like, There’s nowhere to go,” Fox joins in. “So I just kind of started lining up a shot and I was gonna do the, I told you,” he says with a look to Sabonis, “the ‘Gilbert Arenas,’ where you shoot it, turn around. I was starting to turn around because it felt good. I told Malik [Monk], I was like, It felt good when it left my hands, but I didn’t want to turn around and then you miss, now you look like Swaggy P. It felt good. Like you said, it was great vibes for the team after that.”

Team being the key word. In addition to these two, Huerter, Monk, Lyles, Barnes, Keegan Murray, Terence Davis, Davion Mitchell and Chimezie Metu have each had multiple moments in the spotlight. The Kings have a top-five offense because of Fox, for sure. Also because Sabonis can score and pass like very few other centers in the League. He’s a real-ass seven-footer, standing sturdy and immovable. Head coach Mike Brown has fully utilized his playmaking ability. Top of the key, elbow-extended or from the post, that flow ideal movement revolves around him like he’s the sun. There are very few who convert better than him, with more frequency, as the roll man. Huerter leads the League in points off dribble handoffs because Sabonis is the one doing the setups. He’s a two-time All-Star who somehow only shoots 11 times a game and still averages 18 points with ultra efficiency. Predictably, Sabonis downplays his role in establishing this year’s squad as a scoring machine. 

“We have these couple plays that we run,” he says. “[I’m] always looking for the backdoor. We have a lot of shooters, you know, [defenders] try and load up, so [I’m] always looking for that. And then, I don’t know, I see a shooter—I mean, it’s pretty easy on this team. Everyone can shoot. So there’s not much I have to do. I just gotta set a solid screen without getting an offensive foul. And then they take care of everything.”

That’s a rudimentary explanation of an offense only possible with the rare big man capable of spotting cutters on the backline, reading coverages in real-time and being able to go get a bucket by himself when necessary. Fox attributes it all to a feel and knowledge of the game that can’t be quantified.

When pressed just a little harder about his shine this season, Sabonis goes more in-depth. 

“I feel like they did a great job this summer of putting a plan together on the offensive end where it really shows that I can playmake more,” he says of Coach Brown and his staff. “There’s a lot of elbow-catching where I’ve wanted to do in the past, so they’ve really let me be myself. And then the team with the shooters, with Fox, the speed, everything, like, it just makes it so much easier. I don’t even think they knew we could do all this, to be honest, you know?

“And, like Fox said, our chemistry and relationships with different players, that’s what’s making, I think, the offense click so good,” he continues. “Everybody knows each other, and we’re basically reading or making up things as we go on in the game. Very freelance. We’re not playing selfishly, we’re just playing the right way, so it looks good, and coaches agree, and then they just let us do our game.”

The other aspect of this special offense is that the Kings’ best players are both lefties. Because the world’s population is only made up of about 10-15 percent left-handed people, being lefty in any sport is a special advantage. It’s even more specialized in the NBA, where only 5-10 percent of players are left-handed. Nearly every hooper grows up learning to defend righties. Basketball neurogenesis is established early to react to the hand that about 90 percent of players favor. It’s an important distinction that Fox’s speed and Sabonis’ strength result in left-handed baskets. 

Because it’s so rare to be left-handed, most lefties don’t grow up with similarly-handed teammates. Playing with other lefties requires adjustment and discussion in order to fully optimize the uniqueness of the anomaly. 

The majority of lefties favor the right side of the floor so that when they come downhill, their momentum is leaning back to that left side. The February 2022 trade that sent Sabonis to Sac resulted in an early conversation between the Lithuanian star and Fox. 

“Everybody guards me to go right,” Fox says. “And whenever we would play against [Sabonis], we would send the ballhandler left so that he would roll right. So when he first got here, I told him, I was like, Yo, I’ll go right so that you can get back left. And most teams are gonna force me right anyways. It’s worked out.”

How much it works out into April and May remains to be seen. Sabonis is 26 years old and Fox is 25. By the time this issue ships to our printers, they will have just played 50 games with each other, meaning that even if it doesn’t work out in April and May, the darkness that the Kings have gone through is about to be a faded memory, replaced by new stories physically written under the gleam of increasingly glaring lights.

The night is always darkest before dawn. Look to the west for the rising of this new light, a purple among the haze of night, brighter still with hope that had long been missing from Sacramento. 

SLAM 242 is out now in this exclusive Gold Metal Edition and Cover Tee.

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson.

The post De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and the Beam Team are Lighting up the NBA appeared first on SLAM.

Today’s breakfast isn’t about taste. It’s about the other senses. It’s a gourmet meal of aromas and of sights and of sounds. Hoop heaven is in here, made by high level basketball artisans. That familiar smell of the hardwood bombards the nose. Memories of early childhood morning practices are both comforting and jarring at the same time, when touching the hardwood’s baseline on countless suicides was a necessity. But unlike those dusty gyms most of us had to play in, this is the premium hardwood. Manically maintained, painted in blue and red, it’s of the highest quality. 

Extra rims are stacked in a corner close to the entrance. They must go through rims quickly around here with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George punching dunks. A long-stretching dresser constructed for giants covers an entire wall, holding well-worn official NBA balls. Staccato dribbles randomly echo through the still relatively empty gym. They’re being bounced by staff members getting the rocks ready for Leonard, George, John Wall, Reggie Jackson, Nicolas Batum, Norm Powell, Marcus Morris, Robert Covington and Terance Mann. A big cubby system that houses the squad’s practice sneakers comes right after that dresser. A few PG6 boxes sit on the floor underneath pairs ranging from Kawhi’s signature New Balances to standard issue flagships from the Swoosh and the Stripes. The ensuing weights and advanced ellipticals have been left untouched by the Clips’ staff. They’ve transformed the rest of the main area into a circuit of photography and videography opportunities. Green screens, towering lighting rigs, microphones and an army of camera lenses can be found all over the place. 

But the valid NBA rims and backboard that Leonard and George have spent the previous three seasons shooting on can’t be hidden, not even by this arsenal of documentary equipment. Under the facility’s mighty ceiling, those hanging rims and backboards have gotten the chance to see more of Leonard and George than most of us have ever seen since the ridiculously talented duo first teamed up in the summer of 2019. Injuries and the pandemic have cut our viewing time and their playing time drastically short. 

It’s a big deal that both Leonard and George are finally healthy. In the 226 regular season games that the Clippers have played since the start of the 2019-20 season, George has played in 133 of them, while Leonard has only played in 109. In the 32 playoff games they’ve participated in, it’s been George who has played in all of them, while Leonard has only laced up for 24. And unfortunately, they’ve only been on the court together in 80 of those tilts. Predictably, they’ve won over 70 percent of those battles when they’ve both been available. 

Leonard, a two-time Finals MVP, missed all of last season, though. He went under the knife on July 13, 2021 to fix up a partially torn right ACL. George, a seven-time All-Star, only got to play 31 times in 2021-22 because of a torn UCL in his right elbow. 

So a few hours after we had the breakfast of aromas and of sights and of sounds, we feast on our lunch, a visual treat that has proven to be way more rare than expected: an opportunity to finally see Kawhi and PG back together again. 

SLAM 240 featuring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George is out now.

Everything goes down fast. Numero dos has been floating around the gym for a little bit. All of the players have to sign balls, hats, jerseys and photos that will get auctioned off for charity. Leonard has been taking his time with the signings. Reggie Jackson, who was selected nine picks after Leonard in 2011, loudly announces that he’s lapped numero dos in the signing line. It makes Leonard laugh. He actually does more laughing than anticipated, a welcomed sight that breaks the stale and corny reputation internet trolls assigned to him many years ago. 

Somehow, Leonard was never given a fair shot by the fairweather fans. The casuals saw him lead the Spurs to the 2014 championship as a much more reserved 22-year-old. His 23rd birthday was just two weeks after he raised his first Finals MVP trophy, but they’d already made up their minds. He was, to them, always going to be the quiet and robotic type. Why they couldn’t understand that the youngster was still maturing has always said more about them than about him. Though his game didn’t need much time to adjust to the glaring spotlight, he did. Today, the truth is closer to him being a mixture between calm, peaceful and confident that mostly doesn’t feel the need to always be the center of attention. Leonard has grown up. And though he’s not bombastic, he’s also not what people assume of him. 

That’s why PG’s young daughters greet him with hugs upon first sight. While Kawhi was finishing his way through the end of the autograph station, the ever-smooth 32-year-old was making his grand entrance as one of the final Clips to appear. His kids ran out ahead of him and found their way over to Uncle K.

George, now fittingly playing in L.A., has always thrived with the spotlight shining on him. From his dribble combos into stepbacks to his coolness in front of a mic, he always seems comfortable. He’s been a warrior who’s had to stare down some horrific injuries and some disgusting words from the court of public opinion. Most of the loudest members of the basketball viewing fandom are incapable of looking at his larger body of work, at the truth that he is damn close to being the ideal basketball player. They hold on and hold on and hold on to what they count as failure. But their definition of failure isn’t shared by George. Those moments they continue to bring up are just steps forward. 

Though they’ve each had their individual journeys, our cover stars have now hit yet another crossroads, arriving at the signs together. They could follow one of them back to safety, which would be a season of mediocrity and a first or second-round exit. Or they could tread the dangerous and long trail to basketball’s promised land. 

They’re not gonna turn around. They want to walk the path to the championship. 

The similarities that they share with each other are abundant. 

Defensively, they’re nearly identical as on-ball stoppers. They sit and they sit and they sit. They’re both about containment. They’re both able to force turnovers. Their defensive discipline comes from their preparation. They study and they retain who likes to pump fake, who likes to attack their chests and who won’t dare dribble against them. They each share a desire to lock people the fuck down. That’s an unteachable want. 

Their appetite for defensive destruction is part of why they’ve seen such great success in the 80 times they’ve played together. 

Another part of it is that their offensive efficiency is all but a guarantee whenever they lace up. They’re both able to and qualified enough to go out and shoot 25-30 times. But they don’t. George rains down threes, Leonard dials in from the midrange. Off the bounce, off the catch, stationary or on the move, their jumpshot forms should be taught to the youth. Leonard went to the Chip Engelland School of the Two-Handed Follow-Through and George sets his feet with great elegance and speed. Bigs at the rim have historically been in trouble when either one of them parades down the lane. They can each set up their other teammates at will, and they’re knockdown free-throw shooters. 

And lastly, the way they complement each other, illustrated in George’s willingness to step up to the media and in Leonard’s willingness to step up to the most difficult clutch moments, is the final piece of what could end in the ultimate success. 

After PG’s kids greet Kawhi, the duo pops over to flick it up. The entirety of the gym closes in on us. Now it’s really a big deal that they’re back together. Showtime. Other cameras go off while our photographer, Alex Woodhouse, details what we want to capture. 

Boom, boom. Snap, snap. Alex takes a few shots. 

Solid enough. 

Then the good stuff happens. Alex has Leonard and George pose back-to-back for just a split second. It’s enough time for us to get a glimpse at a joke that must stretch back several years. 

Kawhi, all of a sudden, stands up on his tippy-toes. He says that he’s taller than PG and then he repeats it. It doesn’t look to be true. Sorry, Kawhi. PG shakes his head with a laugh. Alex, who stands at 6-8, like PG, also seems to be taller than Kawhi. 

Alex gives the pair direction on the last flick we want to get, which is when he cracks a joke about Kawhi making up for that one inch difference by being way more brolic than either himself or PG. 

They both erupt with laughter. Alex captures the photo of them, joyously smiling, standing at the precipice of what could be a historic season for the Clippers. 

SLAM 240 is OUT NOW!

Though we hadn’t eaten anything all morning long, the moment is food for the soul. 

They’re off after that, responsible for taking even more photos and signing even more autographs. 

About 20 minutes later, Leonard sits in front of the media and says, of his time with George, with the deep bass in his voice, “It seems like it went by so fast. Obviously, the first year was the COVID year, which nobody knew was going to happen. Going into the next season, we made it to the semifinals, I think. Then I tore my ACL, and then last year I didn’t play. So, now it’s our fourth year. Me missing last year and then that COVID year probably made time go by quick. I felt like over the years, with us first being here, you see the gradual improvement of the team. Hopefully we can take another step.”

Another 20 or so minutes pass before PG takes the same stage and talks about his All-Star teammate. 

“I’m more excited, honestly, of him being healthy,” George says. “That’s first and foremost. I’ve seen his whole work, [from] the second he got injured to the work he put into this offseason going into this season. I’ve been in that position of being out and having to rehab a whole season. I got to watch, from the outside, to see how much work he put into this year. Really excited for him to get a chance to do what he loves to do and get back on the court. 

“Obviously, after that, it’s [the] excitement of getting to play with the best two-way player in the game. It’s 
just excitement, stepping back on the floor, being full strength, both of us healthy again.”

There’s a focus that George talks about. He wants his squad to “honor” their shot at winning a chip, to “embrace” the pressure that comes with walking that long, long, long road to the end of the path. 

“I think both of us, kinda internally, had a promise,” George says to the media about himself and Kawhi. “I know I did, for myself, to bring a championship here. When you look at how close we were two years back, the year Kawhi got hurt, how close we were, I didn’t want to leave anything on the table that I could’ve done more. I thought it was very important this summer to keep guys connected, stay together, get workouts together. It was more just off-the-court stuff. I didn’t really care about the on-court stuff. We’ll get to that when camp starts.” 

SLAM 240 is available now in this exclusive Gold Metal Edition and Cover Tee. Shop now.

Portraits by Alex Woodhouse. Action photo via Getty Images.

The post Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are Back and Healthy—A Scary Sight For The Rest of the NBA appeared first on SLAM.

Lord of the skies. 

Gifted with divine vision, with supernatural recollection. 

Physically unparalleled. 

Mentally unprecedented. 

The lion’s pride, with bark and bite of equal might. 

The doubted, the hated. 

But ultimately, the respected. 

He made his line into royalty. We witnessed it.

The conqueror. 

The ruler. 

Two decades. 

He was the believed Chosen One. 

Then he actually became the Chosen One. 

King James.

LeBron’s basketball conquests have touched every part of the map over these years, where scribes like this one have recorded his victories and his defeats in vivid detail. 

The triumphs and the failures are vital in the tales of the King whose reign began when he was just a boy. They don’t, however, share all that has happened to him, or necessary chronicle how the boy became the man. 

Not just a man—the man. Maybe the best ever.

The steps he took up in the air solidified him as the rightful Chosen One in this dance of jumpshots and passes, steals and blocks, dunks and layups. 

The legend of King James is summed up by just a single word: evolution. 

He hasn’t stayed stagnant. Once only capable of climbing ladders, he can now lace from distance. The post was foreign to him. It’s now home to him. Lefty finishes, righty finishes, hooks, fades, up-and-unders; all easy to him. Defensively, we saw him guard every single type of player, individually closing the sturdy iron gates of his kingdom when the opposing attack was most pressing. Most of all, his mind sharpened. He found some stronghold, some forge where the weapon makers were strongest. He seems to have poured their knowledge into himself, giving the fires a place to reside inside his intellect. 

His royal footwear evolved alongside his skillset. Nineteen different iterations, ranging in height, in weight, in foundational support, in material and in theory joined him along the road to his seat atop the throne. 

The 20th version is the physical manifestation of all his learnings from the past. Low, light, somehow proportionally new yet familiar, it will perhaps be registered by those same scribes as his greatest sneaker. 

Its infrastructure begins with Air Zoom built for nobility. The forefoot Zoom is top-loaded, while the heel’s 13 millimeter Zoom bag is support juiced all the way up. There’s Cushlon in the midsole, as well as a carbon fiber midfoot shank. Its woven upper and double-elongated Swooshes will allow for all those in the King’s court to craft extra regal editions throughout the year to come. There has been room left on the 20 for even more sharing of the legend. The left and right sneakers vary on the 20 with visual storytelling of LeBron’s journey, right up there on the forefoot, where steps are planted firmly in history. 

Most importantly, House James’ sigil returns in the 20. Right underneath that huge Zoom bag in the heel, the Dunkman is finally back. 

The James’ reign is looking to be dynastic. If the promise of the two princes is true, those scribes won’t be done writing for decades to come. 

The first of his name won’t be the last. 

To celebrate LeBron’s nearly 20 years of domination, here’s a collection of exclusive film photos of the Bron 20.

The post The Nike LeBron 20 Continues LeBron James’ Sneaker Dynasty appeared first on SLAM.

First Team

PJ TUCKER

Julius Caesar reigned over the mighty Roman Empire with the famous words of “veni, vidi, vici.” Those words translate to “I came, I saw, I conquered,” which Jay-Z used in a song during his mighty reign over music. Hov is PJ Tucker’s favorite musician. This season was yet another encore of conquering for the NBA’s mighty, unbeatable, unrelenting, reigning Sneaker King.

DEMAR DEROZAN

By now it’s common knowledge that DeMar DeRozan has played in every single pair of Nike Kobes throughout his career. The amount of variety, from the lows to the mids to the highs, lands him on this list yet again. What gets him second billing, though, is his “WNBA” Kobe 6 PEs. Bean’s relationship with the W needs no explanation, so please watch the WNBA and please support the WNBA in the same way DeMar DeRozan does.

STEPHEN CURRY

Stephen Curry came out the gates with an entire pack of Curry 9 colorways done in collaboration with Sesame Street. But the 9 wasn’t just another silhouette. It’s the second one in his line to obsolete rubber midsoles in favor of the Flow tech that is pioneering different construction in basketball sneakers. Many more fire colorways followed after Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch got their shine.

TRAE YOUNG

Trae Young and adidas handled their business for this introductory silhouette. The Trae 1 was treated with numerous colorways, some of which matched the Hawks’ uniforms and some of which stood out as singular statements. “I think this shoe is going to bring out a lot of the creative ideas in my mind,” Trae told us in last year’s issue of KICKS. He was right.

JA MORANT

Sheer volume of high-level Kobes, KDs and Kyries would’ve been enough 
to land Ja Morant a spot on here. His intention on creating separation became crystal clear when he started to mix in outrageously loud customized Kobe 6s. The only part of Ja’s sneaker season that was as rare as the actual pairs was him repeating sneakers; almost every game came with something different. 

Second Team

JAYSON TATUM

Jayson Tatum has great chemistry with Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown and Al Horford and he’s just as in sync with Jordan Brand’s Senior Promo Colorway Designer Kelsey Amy. Together, the duo made dozens of Air Jordan 36 PEs that told Tatum’s story, illustrated his interests and paid homage to the legendary Kobe Bryant.

DEVIN BOOKER

Back again with his now-familiar rotation of Kobe 4, Kobe 5 and Kobe 6 PEs, Devin Booker introduced us to a couple of new 6 colorways that were adorned with, of course, “Be Legendary,” the pair of words that Kobe left him with back in 2016.

LAMELO BALL

For someone who isn’t even from this planet, LaMelo Ball did a damn good job of introducing the world to his first signature sneaker. The lead colorway’s all-red makeup contrasted crazy against Charlotte’s uniforms, while the mismatched “Rick and Morty” drop proved that traditional rules were of no concern to the 1-of-1 hooper.

DONOVAN MITCHELL

A ton of colorways, a few more colorways and then a couple of extra colorways define the D.O.N. #3’s run this past season. Spida has proven time and time again that he’s going to use his signature line to express himself, be it his love of Marvel, Monster’s, Inc. or the University of Louisville.

LEBRON JAMES

Nothing new here. Well, that’s technically not true. The King did play in the LeBron 19 this past season. And some retros in new colorways. The nothing  new here is that we’ve seen this man display an arsenal of ridiculous sneakers for almost two decades, so when he pulled out a golden version of the Nike LeBron 20-5-5 in his home region of Northeast Ohio, it was a reminder of just how long King James has been at the top.

MVP

PJ TUCKER

There’s grandeur in PJ Tucker’s consistency and his intentionality in this sneaker game. Sure as Alexander the Great rising each morning to examine how he could extend his rule across lands far away from Macedon, PJ’s extensive knowledge of history has furthered his dynastic rule as the Sneaker King. He’s the one pulling out samples that were made for Ray Allen and Gary Payton, playing in Kobe 6 PEs inspired by Kanye West’s original run of Nikes. He even played in those OG Yeezys this past season. The throne is being watched, meticulously.

Rookie of the Year

JALEN GREEN

In addition to several in-line adidas models, Jalen Green (bigggggg SLAM Fam) spent his rookie season in D.O.N.s, Dames, Hardens and Traes. But to keep it a Bucky Barnes, the real reason that our guy Jalen is getting this award is he wore the adidas Gil Zero twice. For the uninitiated, the Gil Zero is the actual silhouette that reintroduced the low top back to modern basketball over 15 years ago (absolute all due respect to Bean and his fourth sneaker). The young fella showing love to Gilbert Arenas made him the easiest pick of this entire awards section.

Most Improved

Stephen Curry

You’re for sure saying to yourself that Stephen Curry has had almost a decade of signature sneakers and that KICKS just put him on the first team from this past season a few pages back. You’re asking how it’s possible that he’s also being awarded with the Most Improved title. But never before have we’ve seen someone with such a technologically advanced main silhouette mix in old models like the Curry 1 (in new and old flavors) and the Curry 6. He also debuted the Curry 4 Flotro, an update of his iconic model from five years ago that now makes use of his groundbreaking Flow tech in the midsole. Those three factors are how this seasoned sneaker vet was a lock for Most Improved.

LeagueFits Tunnel Look of the Year

Jayson Tatum

So long ago that it almost feels like a myth here in 2022, Jordan Brand used to lace their players with amazingly beautiful colorways of retros. Seeing the old Jordans, as well as pairs in the late teens and early ’20s, in colorways that didn’t have red or black was a thrill, and those pioneering players and their PEs became legendary, lore-like figures in the annals of basketball sneaker history. Jayson Tatum pulling up to the NBA playoffs in a brand-new Air Jordan XIV PE was a brief return to the glorious days of yesteryear.

Best of the Best

Jordan

PJ Tucker

Eminem x Carhartt x 

Air Jordan VI

adidas

Jalen Green

adidas Gil Zero 

Restomod

PUMA

LaMelo Ball

PUMA MB.01

Nike

PJ Tucker

Nike Air Yeezy 2

Reebok

Montrezl Harrell

Reebok Kamikaze II Low

Under Armour

Stephen Curry

Under Armour Curry 1

The post The 2021-22 KICKS Awards appeared first on SLAM.

This story appears in KICKS 25. Shop now.

Way up in Oregon, raindrops fall through big branches of cedars, maples and firs, blanketing their vivid green leaves in layers of water. See, the Gulf of Alaska brings in low pressure systems to the Oregon coast, mixing it along with moist air from the Pacific Ocean. By the time it all hits Oregon’s mountain ranges, it settles as big, gray clouds and heavy showers. 

Storms as the main character of an entire region can be gloomy for the uninitiated. The flip side, though, is rain’s renewal. After all other audio distractions fade, the landscape provides alternating tempos, sometimes emphatically pounding against car roofs, sometimes gently tapping the sidewalks. But no matter the natural soundtrack, the water washes away the old and leaves room for the new. 

Away from the blistering noise of Portland, among the rain’s starring role, there’s been another sound. Pencils have been moving ferociously against stacks and stacks of paper for more than 30 years. Tinker Hatfield has been up here for all this time, sketching, sketching, sketching. 

Thinking. Dreaming. Trying. Failing. Thinking. Trying. Trying. Trying. 

Succeeding.

Hatfield has been the designer who has made the basketball world spin since the late 1980s. His ideas have traveled from the rain-ridden Pacific Northwest to the Windy City to Tokyo. His triumphant career can of course be credited to, in part, working with Michael Jordan on the Air Jordan III-XV and a smattering of others later in the line, the Air Jordan XX probably among the most notable. But to write off Hatfield’s legacy as only being connected to Mike is a disservice to the tinkerer. 

A pair of other factors are at play here. His mind and his eyes work together uniquely. What he sees when looking at a building is completely different than what an everyday human would see when looking at the same structure. He sees dimensions that those on the ground can’t comprehend. His capacity for observation, and then processing, functions at a higher level. And he has no interest in staying stagnant. He is the renewal. 

The Nike Air Max 1 and the Air Jordan III, his first two projects as a footwear designer in Beaverton, scared his coworkers so much that people wanted him fired. Exposed Nike Air bubbles and elephant print were too radical. 

Phil Knight didn’t fire him, though, and Hatfield has been observing, processing and creating ever since. 

So the obvious question to the man who has found solace in the scary for coming up on 40 years is: 

How has he trained his mind to break beyond the limitations that most people can’t let go of? 

Hatfield, in general, is modest. Conversations with him would give no clues to the fact that the entirety of modern basketball footwear can be traced back to his notebooks. The reservation in his answer says just as much as the actual words.

“Yeah, that’s a great question,” he begins, measuring what’s to follow. “I’m not sure there’s a point to point to point to point process,” he continues, with more measuring. “But I do believe that you have to think about, well, what’s really happening when you’re designing something?” 

Now he’s found it. 

“I think that it’s a culmination. I think to design or to do art, it’s kind of a culmination. It’s a culmination of everything that you’ve seen and done and experienced in your life up to that point. That’s really what really good design and really good art is, an expression coming from someone. And hopefully in the case of Nike products, there’s a performance about the whole thing which helps somebody achieve their goals. So that’s kind of how I think about, you know, where my heart lives and how I’ve used kind of that sense about product performance and also even fashion and style. Just sort of have a fairly smooth connection to all of those things.”

He uses the word “culmination” three times. Referencing a building in the example of how Hatfield’s mind works differently wasn’t random. The Air Max 1, one of the most legendary sneakers ever, was directly inspired by a building. A mid-’80s trip to the Centre Pompidou in Paris gave Hatfield the spark to expose the Nike Air bubble on the AM1. The idea clicked when he saw how the Centre Pompidou’s lead architects, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, exposed the interior piping of the building. The AM1 was the culmination of everything that Hatfield had seen up to that point. 

As was the Air Jordan XI, the Air Tech Challenge, the Air Mowabb, the Air Huarache, the Air Max 180, the Air Trainer SC, the Air Trainer 1, the Nike MAG and so many other silhouettes that Hatfield has crafted over the years. 

Included in those pairs are kicks made for hoops, running, training, tennis, hiking and walking around. Hatfield says that even among all of those different fields of function, there’s a similar sensation he begins to feel when he knows he’s on the right path. 

“I’m really critical when I draw something,” he says. “But I know within a few minutes if it’s the right direction. I mean, it’s very, maybe, bombastic of me to talk about it like that. But I guess I had the right kind of background to kind of do this job.”

He laughs almost nervously at the end, right after saying it’s bombastic to speak about himself like that. There goes that modesty again, like he doesn’t want the world to know how many rainy days and nights he’s spent in the studio, listening to the water coming down, both calmly and forcefully. 

The background he mentions is very well known by now. Hatfield was a high-level athlete in his younger days, a star in track and field and a monster in pole vaulting. During his time at the University of Oregon, his coach (though he hated to be called coach) was Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman. Bill would have young Tinker test track spikes and report his findings. 

“I learned a lot from those experiences because I was a wear-tester,” Hatfield says. “I was always trying some crazy new shoes that he had come up with. And I was one of the preferred wear-testers because I could draw some suggestions. But anyway, that was all good, good training for me. Just basically not just do the work, but also just have a natural feel. And I think that natural feel maybe comes from just being curious and out and about a lot.”

When he was effectively told by Nike brass that they were converting his role from corporate architect to sneaker designer, all that time and all of his natural feel caught up to his opportunity. His output was machine-like, but his designs were extraordinary, something only a special human could create. 

The more he did, the more he learned. And even though the feeling he got when he knew he had something was consistent, the actual physical motions his right hand made while drawing varied from project to project, whether the moment called for footwear, apparel, architecture or something else. The studying he’s done of his own process is another window into the distance he created long ago from any other peers. Even with modesty in his voice, he answers the question about how his hands move differently without any hesitation. An observation he’s already made. 

“Depending on the nature of the design and possibly the performance of a shoe, it could be a bit thicker and blockier,” Hatfield says. “And it could be maybe more mechanical, but not necessarily in a bad way. But it’s just different than, say, the very simple flowing lines that we do a lot. And so some understanding of the performance has to sort of fit in. But the reality is, once you have established this direction in your brain about whether or not it’s going to be kind of chunky and more masculine and powerful, or maybe it’s going to be sleek, slender, beautiful, you can draw differently to it to help sell that idea. So I can be real loose and just, you know, kind of, like, tail it off and it looks like it’s blowing in the wind, or I can make something look more mechanical and more, like, [robotic], if you will. So that’s a part of, I guess, a communication strategy, you know, to try to get across what was in your brain all along.”

Hatfield used to be in the public eye with regularity. His relationship with Mike and many other world-class athletes meant that he was Nike’s voice for the biggest moments in sports. Recent years have seen him take a step back into the storms of Oregon. He’s still active up there, even at 70 years old, surfing or skating when the weather allows it. 

He’s become a sneakerized Yoda, keeping secrets of the craft earned through decades up there in the silence of his solitude. But he’s not holding on to those secrets. He hands them out to the seekers, to those who understand that without his brilliant combination of art, science, engineering and dreaming, a magazine like KICKS wouldn’t exist and neither would the current fascination with athletic footwear. 

He’s not done yet, either. The showers will continue to fall way up there in Oregon, continue to wash away the old and make room for the new, for the kind of new that scares people. There will be more coming from his pencils among the pouring rain. 

“You know, I find that there’s just no limit to how easy it is to scare people,” he says with a big laugh. He says that because he’s noticed people becoming more nervous in general, the artistic process can add to those feelings. 

Before he goes back to the silence of the storms, he offers one last thought. 

“A lot of what we do in general, maybe [SLAM does] it with a written word and I do it with a picture, but we’re telling stories in very nuanced ways or very large and impactful ways.” 

Photos via Getty Images and courtesy of Nike.

The post Inside the Mind of Legendary Designer Tinker Hatfield and His Artistic Vision appeared first on SLAM.

Thought exercise time: Jordan Brand doesn’t exist. Trippy, right? Saturday mornings would be less invigorating and probably way less frustrating. Bank accounts would be fuller. Closet space would be more robust. Outfits would be more wack. Connections with other sneakerheads wouldn’t be as strong. Memories would be unknowingly incomplete. The entire game would be entirely different. 

Appreciation exercise time: Stop for just a moment and commemorate Jordan Brand’s 25th anniversary. 

Flip the calendar back to September 9, 1997, on a 62-degree day in New York City. Michael Jordan held a press conference to unveil Brand Jordan. Yeah, Brand Jordan. Not Jordan Brand. Brand Jordan. 

Flanked by Ahmad Rashad, Vin Baker, Ray Allen, Eddie Jones, Michael Finley and Derek Anderson, MJ wore an oversized beige suit and stood on stage to share with the world that he was embarking on a new adventure. He was leaving the house that Nike built, ready to live on his own with his own gear. 

He was five titles deep at that point, 12 signatures in, with three kicks already retro’d and the Air Jordan XIII unveiled at that very same press conference. His commercials were all hits and he was just a year removed from the acclaim of Space Jam. Nike’s goal for Brand Jordan was just $250 million. With all of that winning he had already done, it was a layup. And a layup it has been. But not a layup on a regulation hoop with a 29.5 inch ball. It’s been a layup on a 4-foot kiddie hoop with a marble as the ball. That’s how successful it’s been.  

Michael Jordan has made over $1 billion from Jordan Brand in the last 25 years. 

Here we go again for emphasis: Michael Jordan has made over $1 billion from Jordan Brand in the last 25 years. 

That’s numeric proof that the adventure has been stupidly fruitful. 

The other proof isn’t as tidily quantifiable. It’s more of a knowing. The Jumpman is every-damn-where. Pole to pole, from Hong Kong to Beaverton, this quarter century has affirmed that Jordan’s sneakers are still the most sought-after, most worn and most popular in all of basketball footwear. 

What started in 1984 with the Air Ship (hop on back to page 9) has evolved into a titan. Michael has become the soul of our soles. His longtime agent David Falk loves to tell the story of how Nike’s goal for the first three years of Jordan’s initial five-year contract was to get up to $3 million in sales. 

The Air Jordan I made $126 million in the first year of that deal. 

The II wasn’t as monetarily successful, but it was still impactful (hop on forward to page 90). The III broke the door off the hinges with striking force. The IV-VIII kept the hits rolling until the XI came through as the ultimate masterpiece. 

Money was always extremely involved with Nike and with Tinker Hatfield. He was articulate, rapidly understanding sneaker technology so he knew what he wanted from the III and beyond. With his fingerprints all over the blueprints, the XIII’s arrival coincided with this quote from Mike Wise’s New York Times profile that released on Brand Jordan’s launch day: 

“It’s a part of me; it’s a part of the creative personality I have,” Jordan said to Wise back in ’97 about his burgeoning sneaker empire. “When I walk away from the game, this is my means of staying in tune with the game. Not coaching, not commentary. Those are things that I chose not to do and I don’t want to do.”

Numero 23 stuck to his words. Now that the Air Jordan 37 has landed (hop on forward to page 70), he hasn’t done any coaching and he rarely appears on TV talking about hoops. But he’s still active with the Brand. He still gets final approval on what the Brand’s designers call the “game shoe.” This colossal turn in the sneaker business has kept his legend alive in the almost 20 years since he last played. The youth know him as the sneaker leviathan just as much as they know him as the GOAT. On the low, it seems like that’s what he wanted, as evidenced by another quote from Wise’s piece in the Times: 

“I got away from the game, I got away from the city a little bit, I got more into things like this,” he said, surveying his own line of sneakers in front of him. “I did a lot of basketball camps this summer, staying in tune with the kids who love the game. I think that’s fun.”

The players who joined him on stage that day became sneaker legends in their own right. Anderson helped to pioneer the Air Jordan XI Low. Finley played in numerous retros that paired perfectly with his Mavericks and Spurs jerseys. Jones and Baker respectively spearheaded the Jumpman Pro Quick and the Jumpman Pro Strong. And Allen…that two-time champion has a tier 0 Jordan sneaker collection. Seen it, can confirm it. 

The Brand continued to link up with exemplary players in the NBA, the WNBA, the MLB and the NFL after that first five. It’s been the best of the best, as well as the best of the coolest, that have rocked the Jumpman. 

The current roster, led by Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson and Jayson Tatum, holds the future of the League in their hands. 

These last 25 years have been characterized by flight. Gravity has been determined to be optional and, ultimately, unnecessary. With just a few steps in his Air Jordans, MJ took off long ago. There’s no return date for this soaring and all we really know about what the future holds for Doncic, Williamson and Tatum is that the Jordan Brand most definitely exists, and that higher and higher is the only way to go. 

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Looking Back at Jordan Brand’s Monumental Impact on the Game over the Past 25 Years appeared first on SLAM.

Looking right down the barrel of the lens, Kevin Durant had a big smile across his face while filming an episode of his podcast. 

“The 15 is the best in the line,” he said with his smile still widening. “I ain’t just saying that because they’re new and I want you to buy ’em and I’m gonna shamelessly plug to buy my KD15s, but these are the best ones.”

That’s a big statement. That’s saying they’re better than the 4s, a pair that started off with the dramatically beautiful “Nerf” colorway back in 2011 and has now become the consensus top pair of Slims. And that’s now overlooking the 7, the 8 and the 9, all of which were incredible performance silhouettes, joints that felt damn near perfectly tuned for on-court action. And he’s also saying that the 12, 13 and 14, models that became wildly popular in both the NBA and the WNBA, can’t hold up to this newest silhouette. Big statement, indeed, KD. 

If there’s one who can make a claim to the best pair of KDs ever, it’s the namesake. He’s been there the entire time, and the man now only trails Mike and Bron for the most Nike Basketball signature sneakers. He knows what he’s talking about. 

The word “nerd” has had a bad reputation for a long time. But a through line can be drawn from “nerd” to “passionate.” We’re all nerds for what we love, obsessively daydreaming about any way to access the devotion at all times. Durant loves basketball. He’s one of the biggest basketball nerds on the planet. He studies it, he looks for ways to improve and he applies his findings. Man’s a hoops scientist, a nerd so passionate that he became one of the best basketball players ever. His nerdy tendencies have bled over to his footwear with the Swoosh. He’s tried a whole lot of experiments in these 15 years. Highs, lows, mids, forefoot straps, Flywire uppers, Flyknit uppers, leathers, suedes, Zoom, Cushlon, Air bubbles. All that data has led him to this milestone sneaker, the 15th in his line and his favorite out of all of them. 

He went on to say in that podcast that the 15 isn’t too big, it isn’t too small. It’s just the perfect mix of everything he’s learned during all of this time. 

“Inspiration was pulled from KD personally,” Risa Beck, Footwear Creative Designer at Nike, says about the 15. “He wanted to emulate the serenity that you feel when you’re next to the ocean and the ocean waves. You can start to see how that influenced the form language. And the other aspect of it was of course referencing old Nike Basketball retro models and modernizing them for KD and his line.”

Along with the KD4, Durant, Beck and Ben Nethongkome, the lead designer on the 15, looked at the Nike Air Jet Flight, a sneaker from 2001 that, among other NBA guards, Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash used to play in. Durant told Nethongkome that he wanted to get lighter and lower. He’d spent the last four years in highs and mids. But the complicated part for Nethongkome is how much the Nets rely on KD. Not only does he play mad minutes, but they need him to create for others, clog the paint on defensive rotations and also hit for 25-plus a night. That’s asking a lot out of a low. 

With the foundational idea set, and with clues picked up from the Jet Flight and the KD4, Nethongkome and his team knew what they needed. They accomplished their task by starting with a full-length Air Zoom Strobel unit that they stitched right to the upper, which is made with a lightweight mesh, an evolution from the 14, but with reduced layers. The exterior heel counter was 3D-molded, the midfoot cage was injected with TPU, a common plastic material used on basketball kicks, and the traction pattern was created from scratch. It all had to work together perfectly because Durant has standards that are equaled by almost nobody. 

“He was really engaged and involved throughout the whole process,” Beck says. “We were especially working with him to make sure that the heel containment system and the underfoot feel was tuned for him.” 

“KD is very involved in the creation of his footwear, really making sure that he’s able to perform from beginning to the end of a game,” Kreig Hozalski, a Footwear Tech Developer at Nike, adds. “We saw in his [playoffs] performance last year that he played every second, from beginning to end of [Game 7 against the Bucks] and into overtime. We really wanted to make sure that he could stay fresh throughout. We really took that inspiration to the 15 to make sure that he has that ride and performance underfoot that he’s able to stay contained and very efficient to last.”

The 15 absolutely has got to last because Durant’s now 33, with more than 40,000 minutes played in his NBA career. No matter what team he suits up for during Year 16, he’ll continue to be tasked with doing damn near everything on the floor. These later stages of his Hall of Fame journey have revealed his willingness and capability to dish, his improved ballhandling and his commitment to rebounding. And all of the unfair scoring abilities he’s always had have hit some type of new plane. That right arm of his is a stainless steel sword, forged sharply through his scientific expeditions. He knows every angle of the floor and can attack from anywhere, wielding his weapon with efficiency that the League has almost never seen. His peers have described him as unfazed, as a cheat code. He’s really just one of the biggest basketball nerds on the planet. 

Photos via Getty Images.

The post The Inspiration Behind Kevin Durant’s Milestone Sneaker, the KD15s appeared first on SLAM.

The greatest point guard to ever do it is finally hanging them up this year. Here are some of the best Sue Bird wore during her hall-of-fame career.

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Memory Lane: The Best Kicks Sue Bird Has Worn During Her Legendary Career appeared first on SLAM.

On peacefully sunny days 

When it’s left to flow in its ways

Gently swaying,

spraying droplets from ceaseless motion 

Undisturbed, it drifts with serenity

Giving life as nature’s true environmental necessity,

its blue divinity   

But

Invaded 

By an enemy 

The blue’s intensity 

Surges 

and 

Surges 

Until the water’s invincible strength ultimately emerges 

Angered, complete destruction submerges 

those that entered the deep 

Covering the invaders for their final sleep 

Night, night do they weep 

The greatest splash, up it did leap 

The lore of it crashing down on the shore will last forever and forever more 

And once its annihilation is done 

Back it goes to being peaceful in the sun

The myths vary from culture to culture. Poseidon is not necessarily the same as Neptune, just like Mazu differs from Lord Varuna. But, no matter what, each society always has a lord of the water. 

In the religion of hoops, in our basketball bible, Stephen Curry rules the seas. 

His old title of “Splash Brother” no longer fits. “Splash” is too small. 

He is the ocean now.

KICKS 25 featuring Stephen Curry is available now.

Curry has consumed the NBA yet again, so fluidly, so forcefully, that almost nobody saw his tidal wave rising until it was totally unstoppable. The momentum was too great, the water too strong. His flow was uncontainable. 

He’d been comparatively quiet for the last few years, especially contrasted against the context of 2015-19. He was listening, though, hearing all the doubts that the sun had set on his sea. But that’s the thing about the deep, deep blue…A little commotion can bring forth a monstrous explosion. And it absolutely did. 

We’ve watched his evolution from a single droplet to the all-mighty ocean for these last 13 years. The tide climbed and climbed, the same way he’s continually been searching for personal expansion. 

“Something that my younger self would be surprised that I know now is…the fact that you are never going to stop evolving,” Curry tells KICKS. “That’s the one thing that maybe when you’re younger you think maybe you will reach a point where you’re gonna feel like each year kind of becomes the same or, like, you’ve mastered something. Even though I feel like there’s times I’ve hit my peak, I still know there’s another level to get to, and I also know that I haven’t really mastered anything. There’s more potential to realize. So the journey of evolving and continuing to reiterate what you are doing never stops, no matter how much success you really have.”

Success in the NBA is often measured by titles, limiting as that barometer truly is. Title number four was secured after massive flood-inducing showers rained down by No. 30. He consistently rocked the Curry 4 Flotro throughout his return to the top, mostly in the “Lilac” colorway. 

“Flotro is dope,” Curry says. “Flotro, for me, is combining the old with the new. That’s what the name is, but bringing the best parts of the Flow [tech] to the old uppers and the old silhouettes that were a part of my journey and giving a fresh take on them. So building that innovation and performance into the blasts from the past. Everyone who has rocked with me from day one gets to experience this, and even people that are just finding out what I’m about and my story can appreciate it as well.”

The Flow tech that the recently-crowned champ brings up is Under Armour’s proprietary cushioning system that has obsoleted rubber from their footwear. Rather than rely on the squeakiness of a rubber, their developers, engineers and designers cracked the code on how to craft an entirely foam compound midsole. It’s been a groundbreaking journey for Tom Luedecke, Under Armour Innovation’s Director of Design, and the rest of his peers, based in both Baltimore and overseas in China. Since Flow was introduced to the world at the end of 2020, it debuted in the Curry 8 and was featured in the Curry 9. Those are the two silhouettes that have helped Stephen launch Curry Brand. Flow will also be used in the upcoming Curry 10. 

Who better than the Lord of the Water to tell us everything there is to know about his 10th signature sneaker: 

“The Curry 10 is expressing consistency and continuing to level up your game. The fact that you can have 10 signature shoes and, coming off a championship, being at this level, like, you want people to be a part of that journey with you. We’re also bringing back classic colorways from throughout my career that meant a lot to me. A special moment. It’s a celebration of success, the journey, the process, the work, the memories, everything. The Curry 10, ballplayers should know that it’s gonna help them be better, help them perform better, give them all the advantage they can have on the court when they lace up, but it’s also going to give them joy, hopefully. That’s what I’m trying to express through the shoes. They get to embody it as well.

“The 10s continue to push the envelope with innovation in terms of going back to the Flow and traction and comfort that I need and love on the court. And also elevating the upper and the stability and the fit and the ride that you have. We want the best of the best in terms of the on-court feel and cushion and stability, and all of those things lead to great things happening on the court. So we’re always trying to move to that next level. 

“I think the storylines, the stories that we’re bringing back with the 10, you can think about ‘Iron Sharpens Iron,’ you can think about the ‘Northern Lights,’ you can think about the ‘Sour Patch Kids,’ all those stories that are from other signature shoes that I dropped. They’re just moments. I can think back to certain games that I wore those shoes. I can think about what the inspiration was then and how it still applies and relates to now. Even with the ‘Sour Patch Kids,’ not just the joy and high energy that we’re trying to bring to my shoes, but also, like, the sour and sweet—killer instinct behind the smile. That’s something I have always resonated with, and it’s cool to bring that back.”

The killer behind the smile. It really, really, really isn’t sweet with Curry. It never has been. He’s just done a good job of hiding his carnal competitiveness from TV cameras and social media. Until this year, that is. This year, he was decidedly more demonstrative, in the far fewer moments that didn’t go his way and in the many more moments that did. There had just been too many people disturbing his calm waters. Everyone knows about the now-famous “night, night” celebration, but there were also several moments against the Celtics where he let his emotions out. We saw him express the pain, the frustration, the anger, the aggression, the joy and, finally, the tears. 

The vulnerability of a deity. 

For several years now, he’s used the word “expression” when speaking about the game in interviews. That word choice consistently gets glossed over by those conducting the interviews. But just that one word offers an illuminating insight into how he’s been so wildly prosperous. Basketball isn’t just basketball for Stephen Curry. 

“Basketball was kind of always an expression, but that was the natural part of how the game came to me,” he says. “I didn’t think I really realized the impact it could have, or the unique way that I play the game and how much joy you have, the flair for the dramatic, the creativity, and all that, I didn’t realize that until probably Davidson, during the tournament run my sophomore year. Not only were we winning, but you found ways that people resonated with your style and kind of became a part of the narrative a little bit. You can show your killer instinct, you can show your competitiveness, you can show your level of care. You can show gratitude, selflessness. All those things can be demonstrated without saying words with how you play. But that killer is probably the biggest thing you can say with how you approach every game.”

The borders of normal life start to transcend amid years of pursuit. Try to quantify the number of jumpshots that Wardell Stephen Curry II has taken in his 34 years on this planet. The exorbitant digits that immediately accompanied that thought probably isn’t close to how many he has actually put up. There has been more work, more thought, more peaks and more valleys than anyone else could ever know. All of that dedication, everything that has been sacrificed, physically and mentally, it has to be joined by something greater than just the game. Under the magnitude of all that commitment, the adventure begins to have deeper meaning. The game’s scope increases without intention. It happens almost subconsciously. The more time spent playing, the more grand it grows on its own, until the stark realization one day that it has passed through to a different realm of meaning for the player, one where the lessons learned are enlightening. The game is a door to one’s self. Everything Curry said he can say through the game, his “killer instinct,” his “competitiveness,” his “level of care,” his “gratitude,” his “selflessness,” is on the other side of that door. And as the greatest explorer the game has known in the modern era, Curry has used the game to venture out to what lies much farther than the three-point line.

In return for his exploring, the game has given him back a key to creativity, a key to fearlessness and a key to expansion. 

He wasn’t afraid of obsoleting rubber on his sneakers. He wasn’t afraid of shooting 30-footers in the NBA Finals. He wasn’t afraid of crying on national television. 

He’s been expressing himself. 

“The look-away three is something that when I do it, is the utmost self-expression of confidence, of the work that I have put into it,” Curry says. “All the reps and just the idea that I am my biggest fan in that moment because I feel like all the work that you put in is paying off, where I can’t do any wrong and I’m not missing the shot. And it feels so good that I gotta turn away. It’s not really about anyone else or showing anyone up. It’s about me and the expression of self-confidence to a whole other level.”

It’s about him. There is no competition left. There is only one Lord of the Water. 

But it’s not just about him at this point. What he has perhaps unintentionally done is bring more and more people to the coast. More and more people want to leave the beach because he’s shown them the power of the natural element that covers more than 70 percent of Earth. His style of play has become some type of collective, near spiritual agent that gathers divers, other explorers not skilled enough to be him. But they can appreciate him. 

To be able to inspire is a huge gift. To show people that limits are just perceptions is something sacred. Where does the inspirer find his inspiration, though? In the same game that he rules over. 

“There is room in my mind and spirit for more imagination,” Curry says. “More self-expression, more moments where people see a different side of you because every year is so different. The challenges are different. It requires more of you, and that brings out the different reactions, different forms of self-expression and presence on the court. But the mystery of what that is and the unknown is what makes it so dope and so much fun. I have no idea what that’s gonna look like, but I’m going to keep living it. You know, what happened this year and our journey to win a championship, all the accolades that I got, the night, night stuff, all that stuff I had no idea was going to be happening, but I fell in love with the journey and all that stuff takes care of itself. So now the challenge is to maintain that energy, maintain that perspective, go back to the drawing board and try to continue to be the best version of yourself. Because you’re never, ever complete.”

Brooks and streams, rivers, lakes and bays find their way to the ocean, where under the surface, out of the deepest, darkest, coldest trenches, come the most ruthless killers. The real rulers. 

KICKS 25 is available now in this exclusive gold metal edition. Shop now.

Photos via Getty Images and courtesy of Under Armour.

The post With the Curry 10 on the Horizon, Stephen Curry Has Left His Indisputable Mark on the Game appeared first on SLAM.

Right after the butterfly finds its way back outside, the conversation with Lillard switches. We’re on to intention leading to instinct, training leading to reacting. Lillard’s a multi-disciplinary expressionist. He uses basketball, sneakers, music and boxing, all to express himself. Every single one of those methods requires practice. Now at 32, with eight adidas signature sneakers, four albums (he confirmed the fifth is on the way) and an NBA career plentiful in the absurd, he’s as experienced as he’s ever been. The work has worked. 

KICKS 25 featuring Damian Lillard is out now.

“When I’m in a workout, in a game, that’s when I’m lasered in,” he says. “Like, it’s intentional. Or when I’m in the studio, the beat is looping and it’s just playing over and over and over. And I’m focused on it. When it comes to boxing, sometimes I’ll just be sitting there and I’ll just be shadow boxing to myself. But, like, I’m not thinking about training, you know what I’m saying? It’s still instinctual, you know what I’m saying? The twitch of when I’m training and being able to pay attention and being alert, it’s instinctual. Like, somebody over there just moved and I can see it out of my peripheral.”

He motions to his left side, where a group of his people are watching us. They’re sitting by the same strength training equipment that has helped, in part, to develop the very ability he’s currently talking about. They too have caught his eye. 

“That’s boxing,” he goes on. “That’s the instinct to me. So it’s stuff like that. Or when I just come home from training and I’m in the shower and I’m playing my music off my phone, but as the beat is happening, I just randomly start thinking of my own stuff to whatever I’m hearing, you know? I’m not consciously saying shut it off, but when I’m not on, it’s still instinctually happening.”

It all exists at the same time. The thoughtfully-penned lyrics come from the same mind that now knows how to throw a knockout punch. The multicolor variations of his signature sneakers are worn at the same time as when he only sees red on the court. And each version of himself says things that the other versions can’t necessarily get across. He says that words really don’t convey the emotions he feels on a basketball court when he’s in the middle of proving again and again that he’s a Hall of Famer. But, he then says, his face conveys those emotions, as does his body language. The feelings that come with the snap of a sharp punch can’t be described with words either, but he says that hearing contact made from the perfect hit does justice to how incredible and empowering it is. 

As an audio artist, he’s become acutely aware of the world’s acoustics. 

He brings up his two legendary buzzer-beating, series-ending three-pointers, the first against the Houston Rockets and the second against the Oklahoma City Thunder as examples of the emotion-conveying sounds he’s talking about. 

“As the game goes on, sometimes people cheer. You’ll hear the crowd roar a little bit. But when you hit a game-winner, it’s just different,” he says. “It’s like something coming down on you. So I would say that was, like, a perfect moment when you hear it. So against the Rockets and against OKC, I had hit other big shots, but that was, like, the perfect moment.”

And what does he mean by coming down?

“Typically on the court, you hit a buzzer beater in the second quarter, everybody cheers, or you get an and-1,” he says. “But those two specific shots, it felt like the crowd was on top of us. It wasn’t like an everybody’s-in-their-seat type of feeling. It felt like everybody was all up in my space. That’s what it seemed like, because everybody’s standing up and everybody’s jumping up and down and yelling. So it looked different because usually in the game, half the crowd stands up and some people are walking around and a lot of people just sit, you know, throughout the entire game. But in those moments, it’s like everybodys standing up, everybody screaming to the top of their lungs and you can feel it.”

Lillard was wearing the Crazyquick 2 for the Rockets shot and the Dame 5 for the Thunder shot. This season, when he returns after playing only 29 games during the 2021-22 season to recover from abdominal surgery, he’ll be wearing the Dame 8. He’ll have it on his feet while he reminds the far too many people who seem to have forgotten that he’s rightfully earned his way to the NBA’s Top 75 anniversary team, to the $122 million extension he just signed to bring his deal with the Blazers to $225 million overall, to all of his signature sneakers. 

The 8 is here in Dame’s weight room. He plays around with the two colorways we have a few times in between the photo setups that are now blocking his row of dumbbells. The 8 is home to a dual-density cushioning system made out of a Bounce Pro (the Dame line has long used Bounce) midsole. The foam used in Bounce is made out of elastic-like EVA (ethel vinyl acetate), providing lots of support and a high return in energy with each step. In this dual-density version, there’s a firm version of Bounce on top of a soft version of Bounce. The Stripes are on the road to sustainability, so the 8 is one of their many silhouettes being made with recycled materials. Those materials include textiles and synthetic overlays on the upper and mesh on the tongue. The medial quarter is carved out for space to let the namesake express himself. The variation he’s holding on the cover of this magazine has a fluffy pull tab inspired by boxing. 

The real star of the 8, though, is the outsole. A unique traction pattern gives a peek at the Bounce Pro in action. From colorway to colorway, too, the traction has gotten the chance to look extra spicy. 

“The 8 is a shoe that I feel, like, I can wear it straight out the box,” Lillard says. “You know, I’ve had some foot issues over my career, so some shoes feel a little more stiff. And sometimes it’s like, Man, I can’t wear this tonight, I got to break them in. But this is the first one where, like, every time I put these on, even when I wear a brand-new pair, it’s like I can play in them right away. So the comfort is there, the padding and cushion inside the shoe. The grip is really good. I’ve never lost traction with this shoe. Usually, shoes, as you wear them and wear them, you lose traction. This one hasn’t done that. So the way the shoe looks means something to me because it’s one of the best performing shoes that I’ve had, if not the best, and it looks good. A lot of basketball players like to wear shoes that look good or, you know, they flashy colors or loud or whatever, you’re seeing it more and more. And I’m having a lot more colorways like that. But it’s a shoe that’s not just a look-good type of shoe, but then it’s a terrible performance shoe. This shoe is hitting on all cylinders.”

Speaking of those colorways, Lillard cracks the door just a little bit on an upcoming story to be told by a colorway of the 8.

“I just literally came up with this idea,” he begins. “It’s called ‘Damn Gina.’ And it’s a ’90s pack, like, a ’90s theme. I had a bunch of ’90s-themed ideas and it’s called ‘Damn Gina’ because I was a huge fan of the show Martin. I was born in the ’90s and I’ve always done a shoe that was, like, a nod to my mom. My mom’s name is Gina, and it’s kind of, like, how I was saying people are wearing more and more just wild colors? You know, just a mix of different colors. And the Martintheme, when you think of Martin, you think of that old school ’90s, you know, triangles and squiggles, all these different shapes and patterns, but with all these different colors, too. So it’s a shoe theme like that. I thought that was pretty cool, with a bunch of other ones, too. But there’s one that I will mention.”

More expression from Dame. 

He’s also learned to, as he said, listen to how his body expresses itself through injuries. After fighting through it for what was probably too long, he had that aforementioned surgery in January. The foot issues he mentions have led him to co-founding Move, a company that makes scientifically-researched insoles for athletics. They have the Game Day Pro model, which Dame uses for his matchups in the League, and they have the Game Day model, which can be substituted into any pair that gets worn while walking around. 

“The fact that these kids are constantly training, constantly playing on different teams and travel and doing all these different things, the game is much harder on their feet than it was on ours,” Lillard says. “So that should just tell you how important something like [Move] is for these kids, because the lack of knowledge or even the thought of my foot health led to a foot injury for me. I broke my foot when I got to college because I got flat feet and I never had support in my shoes. I wore flip-flops all the time. And then a couple of years into the League, I had tears in my plantar fasciitis under my feet because I needed some type of support in my shoe and I never had it.”

He’s helped the company to develop the research they started about a decade ago. Their Pulsion Energyfoam combines with the X-Frame torsional support and Active Heel tech to offer as much protection as possible.

Lillard wore the Game Day Pro in last summer’s Olympics, when he and the squad brought back the Gold from Tokyo. He again stresses the importance of foot health, saying “that’s what we live on as athletes, is our feet.” 

For as much as he takes care of his feet, through both Move and his signature adi line, he also takes care of his mind, which he’s referred to as a “lethal weapon” in his song “GOAT Spirit.”

It’s easy for us as the public to see all the reps he’s put into his body, into his shot. He’s a marvel in conditioning, able to consistently hit from 35-plus feet out. That takes a ridiculous amount of time in the gym, time that we can physically comprehend through minutes planked and jumpers swished. 

Calmly, seated in a chair that came from the back room of his weightlifting gym on our red seamless backdrop, his mind starts to unfurl. It doesn’t take much. As deep a thinker as he is, as willing an expresser as he is, it’s all right there. 

“It would be a long timeline, because the way I train now, I didn’t train this way in high school,” he says about being able to visualize his mental journey. “I needed somebody to push me. I got pushed in high school by Raymond Young, but when I got to college, Phil [Beckner] pushed me a little bit more. And he still pushes me now. When I got to the NBA, David Vanterpool pushed me a little bit more. And my dad had been pushing me all the time, just in mental ways. When something would happen in the neighborhood, he’d be like, Man, ain’t nobody worried about them. It was almost like there should never be fear. Why? Why would you be scared? What are they going to do? You know, it was always that type of mentality in my life. So it’s not now, where I’m like a lethal weapon. My whole life has been just developing and people pushing me to develop that way to where, like, in my head, I feel like I got full control mentally, regardless of what the environment is or if it’s going good or it’s going bad. And I also know that a lot of people don’t have that. So that makes it more lethal to me. It’s like I can see that it’s not there.”

Fear isn’t gone. It’s just a different type of fear. 

“No, I have fear,” he says. “But my fear is more, like, I’ve got three kids now. So I fear stuff for my kids or my parents getting older or my grandparents getting older and, you know, my cousins being in Oakland, you know, being around stuff. I fear that kind of stuff. But I don’t fear not winning the championship. I don’t fear missing shots or people talking about me on Twitter or a confrontation breaking out. I don’t fear that kind of stuff.”

Because he’s constantly paying attention to his surroundings (a black-winged butterfly, for example), he can see when other people don’t have that type of mental fortitude. He notices body language and picks up on slight cues. He’s barely shifted in his chair throughout this entire answer. Completely relaxed, resolute in all his words, not breaking eye contact. It’s for real. It’s all really for real. 

He’s been in enough situations where he chose fight instead of flight to notice when somebody makes the other choice. He decided long ago that he’d remain militant in those moments because confronting was more comfortable than retreating. 

“I could fail three times or four times, and I’m just going to keep walking toward it, where you have people that will try to try their best to not be in that situation again, because it’s hard,” Lillard says. “It’s a hard situation to be in. But in my head I’m just, like, I’ve made my mind up that I’m willing to deal with whatever the outcome is and whatever it comes with, good or bad. They don’t have that, you know? They can’t do it. And to me, that’s what I mean by I can see that people don’t have that mentality. And that makes me feel even more dangerous mentally. I feel even more sure about the way I see it.”

Lillard has been showing the nation that he’s a person capable of seeing the unseen ever since he made it to Rip City back in 2012. But there’s a problem; people don’t understand what they can’t see. So he’s still not properly appreciated. 

In these pages, that skylight in his gym is a spotlight to properly regard him as an all-time top-five three-point shooter, as one of a small handful to have eight signature sneakers, as an expanded mind, as one of the 75 best players in NBA history, as a multi-disciplinary expressionist, as a man who will stop to watch a butterfly. 

“I think through all of those things. I would want people to know who I truly am,” he says about expressing himself. “You know, not just a rapper that’s just saying random stuff. I’m telling my real story and my real thoughts and feelings. As an athlete, I’m really doing what I love, I’m not trying to be another player. I’m not trying to join any other team. I’m just being me. So everything that I’m doing, I’m just trying to get people to see the different layers of me, but not a different me. Just the same, the same person, all around.” 

KICKS 25 is available now in this exclusive gold metal edition. Shop now.

Portraits by Alex Woodhouse.

The post Damian Lillard on the Art of Self-Expression and the Originality of the Dame 8 appeared first on SLAM.

Here comes a chorus of applause from the crowd at Quai 54 in Paris. These passionate people call France home and they call Slovenia home and they call America home and they call other countries unknown home. They’re loud enough, animated enough and forceful enough for the makeshift court that Jordan Brand has constructed just under the Eiffel Tower to quiver slightly. The collective love echoes high above the red and blue of the 94×50, beyond the Tower and out to the rest of the world, where eager eyes await updates through the internet. The rhythm of clapping and the melody of cheers is for the arrival of Luka Doncic. 

Doncic strolls in, entering stage right, with his very first signature sneaker, the Jordan Luka 1, on his feet. He’s wearing the “Quai 54” colorway while a village of people trail him to center court. He smiles nice and big with the Tower framed in the background. He then pops a pair of shades on, cops a seat and gets ready to watch a squad from his homeland of Slovenia play a 20-minute exhibition against a local French team. 

The midday sun wants attention in the worst way, trying to outshine Doncic. It’s an unrelenting type of scorching with no cloud cover and dry winds. The only silver lining to be found in the weather is that the cerulean canopy is wondrously gorgeous. The Parisian architecture was built with stunning purpose. Very few structures obscure the sky’s grandeur. 

The blistering July sun doesn’t slow down the adoring masses. Some of them have learned about Doncic by watching the Dallas Mavericks. Others learned about him by watching Real Madrid. Some of the very few lucky ones learned about him by seeing him on the streets and at the courts of Ljubljana, Slovenia. We’ve all come to expect that expectations carry no weight with him. He inhabits the unexpected. Two seconds of his reactive decision-making with the ball have started to last much longer than just two seconds. The packs of Luka fans both here in Paris and around the globe have come to hold on to those fleeting moments where magic is proving to be real. Whether the spectators are French, Slovenian, American or from somewhere else, the many perceived differences of their lives are simplified by the connection shared through a language they can all see—brilliance on the basketball court, translated for all the planet by Luka Doncic. 

KICKS 25 featuring Luka Doncic is out now.

All roads have started to lead to Luka these days. More and more of his peers talk about how unstoppable he is. His fan base continues to stretch, both geographically and age-wise. Opposing coaches are losing sleep over him. The NBA résumé is getting bolstered in the same way his EuroLeague accomplishments caught attention from shining sea to shining sea. A particularly important set of eyes started watching him at some point along the way. Michael Jordan noticed the world’s player. He and Jordan Brand scooped Luka up and have set him down the path of being a signature athlete. 

But this tale doesn’t begin in Paris. 

Ljubljana, Slovenia, Luka’s hometown and Slovenia’s capital, is the City of Dragons. Old stories say that the great Greek hero Jason slayed the dragon that lived in the waters of the Ljubljanica River before the city was founded. Time and oral traditions have changed the dragon’s role from monster to hero in Slovenian mythology. The mythic beast was a part of Doncic’s upbringing. Now Ljubljana holds a Dragon Carnival every winter, and there is a dragon on the city’s coat of arms, as well as its flag, its river walls, its manhole covers, and even on the logo of NK Olimpija Ljubljana, the local football team. The city’s Dragon Bridge, home to four copper dragon statues, has become famous across the globe.

“Really nice,” Doncic says about the Dragon Bridge. “And you have restaurants all over the river.”

The bridge lies underneath the grand hill where the city’s ancient castle, which held an exhibition in 2018 called “The Dragon of All Dragons,” was built long ago. Wings and fangs are everywhere throughout the capital. 

The fire that Doncic plays with has been boiling in his veins, passed down from the blaze of the dragons that dot his city. But he’s not all consumed by flames. He can spot the beauty.  

“Just how nice it is,” he says about what would be the biggest surprise for a tourist visiting Ljubljana. “Almost everything is green. I think you guys would be surprised how nice it is. You have mountains, you can go to the sea, you can do anything, and it’s still all green. It’s really nice.”

One of the launch colorways of the 1, the “Natural Habitat,” is dedicated to Ljubljana. 

“This colorway of my home country Slovenia, it represents its colors,” he says. “It means a lot to me because it is my hometown. This is a special shoe. The green with the logo. The insole is green. It represents all the green stuff in Slovenia.”

But this tale doesn’t end in Ljubljana. 

Doncic says that the biggest moment that has propelled him to where he is now—coming off a Western Conference Finals appearance, posing for this cover with his signature sneaker, all of the other success he’s already enjoyed—was the decision he made when he was just 13 years old. 

“I think that time I moved from Slovenia to Madrid, it was really tough,” he says. “I left all my friends, my family and school there. I think that moment prepared me for what I am now.”

“Now” is the version of Luka who is a seasoned world traveler who’s capable of speaking four languages (Slovenian, Spanish, English and Serbian). He was bred in environments that grown men can’t handle. He’s played in dozens of championship-level matchups. He had to learn how to care for himself without any family. Then there’s the game. The list of what he racked up between 2015-18 is silly: 

EuroLeague champion in 2018; EuroLeague MVP in 2018; EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 2018; Liga ACB MVP in 2018; 3x Liga ACB champion; EuroLeague 2010-20 All-Decade Team. 

Totally dominating Europe’s best competition well before he celebrated his 20th birthday. 

“I think Luka is equal parts a phenomenal basketball—one of the world’s best basketball players—and probably one of the world’s most joyous people,” Craig Williams, President at Jordan Brand, tells KICKS. “He’s a humble, good human being. And it’s nice to see both of those combinations intact. It’s nice to be able to recognize that you can be fearless on the basketball court while at the same time just being a wonderful person, a friend, you know, for us, a partner. It’s just…it’s fabulous seeing both sides of him at the same time, all the time.”

Williams brings up the joy that Doncic displays after he catches a big on a switch in the pick-and-roll. Double between-the-legs, stepback to the left, cash out. Then a huge grin when he backpedals down the court. It happens at least once a game. But there’s no special secret to it, as confirmed by No. 77. 

“I just have fun with the game,” Doncic says. 

The game sure is fun when there’s as much winning as he’s experienced. He played with legendary figures over in Madrid, lofty names like Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Andres Nocioni, Felipe Reyes and one of his favorites ever, Sergio Llull. They are all battle-tested vets who hold the secrets to the game in their minds. Together, all of that knowledge and experience equaled up to a whole lot of winning. 

“In Europe, it was different rules, their court is a little smaller, and there is no three-second rule on defense,” Doncic says. “So I think from there comes my reading the game, all the passing skills. It’s a tough league to play in. EuroLeague is super tough to play.”

It was tough, but he made it through the middle and up to the top, learning an entirely new language and culture in between teaching the world who he was and giving a glimpse at who he’d become. His basketball journey had already spread out nearly 2,065.0 kilometers (1,283.1 miles) and he proved himself against grown men when he was still a teenager. 

But this tale doesn’t end in Madrid. 

Luka has been a sneakerhead for a long time. Scroll back through his Instagram page for a trip down memory lane of the early 2010s releases from the Swoosh and the Jumpman. He was a NikeiD fanatic. His oldest shots on Getty Images show him in Jordan XIs, Kobes and KDs. He’s known that footwear is a huge part of hoops since forever. And even though Llull, Vassilis Spanoulis, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant hold a place in his heart, MJ is MJ. Doncic is well aware of the weight that comes with being a Jordan Brand signature sneaker athlete. 

“I wouldn’t say all my life, but everyone in my country was MJ! MJ! It was unbelievable the first time I met him, and I was really nervous,” Doncic remembers. “I didn’t know what to say. His legacy is unbelievable, since I was 1 year old.”

Doncic finally got to meet the GOAT at his second trip to All-Star Weekend. His response to Mike running up at him during this year’s ASW is hilariously endearing. 

“It was amazing,” he says. “I was asking people to give me that video so I could post it. If MJ knows you, like, that’s unbelievable.”

The table was properly set for his first sneaker. He had the enthusiasm and he knew the history. Jordan Brand’s lengthy team of designers, engineers and artists were ready. They crafted the IsoPlate and Formula 23, two new technologies, just for him. 

Chad Troyer, Senior Product Line Manager at Jordan Brand, says that the new tech “acts as a team” to help Luka move and play better. 

“If you think about the way that Luka plays on the court, he’s really focused on creating separation and creating space,” Troyer tells KICKS. “He’s hunting for space. He’s trying to create separation for himself in tight spaces. Obviously, we all know his step-back jumper is his go-to move. When he plants and he goes into his step-back jumper, his foot can slide off the footbed. So we really started there around, like, OK, how can we help him create separation on his step-back jumper? How can we also keep him contained in a low-top? So that brought us to Formula 23, which is a really exciting technology for Jordan Brand. It’s a very soft, responsive foam. Think Nike React for Jordan, essentially. It’s a little softer. It’s also a little bit more sustainable. So we’re really pushing to make Luka’s product as sustainable as possible, and that’s a big focus for us. So basically what Formula 23 does, it gives him a really soft, even ride. It keeps him balanced, it keeps him cushioned and he gets to feel the ground.”

The soft and smooth full-length ride from Formula 23 leads to the IsoPlate in the lateral forefoot section. 

“So the IsoPlate, the way that it’s designed and crafted in the forefoot, it protects him on the lateral side,” Troyer goes on. “So when he’s stepping back, it helps him stay on the footbed. But then as he’s engaging his forefoot, it also helps propel him. It’s a little bit of a Luka-only kind of system that’s almost like an extra weapon under his foot for the way that he plays. The IsoPlate and the Formula 23 is a little system underfoot that really helps players make those moves better.”

Doncic does spend a ton of time on his forefoot. Break down any of his jumpshots for just a minute and that’s an extremely obvious takeaway. Troyer says that he and the team noticed that the way No. 77 plants and pushes off his forefoot is a way for him to find his balance, even when it seems like the defense has him bottled up. (But they never actually have him bottled up, do they?) 

The upper of the 1 is another separate part of the project. There are embroidered Flightwire cables on the lateral side of the upper. 

“That is strategic, to be lightweight, but to be very strong to help him when he plants specifically for his step back,” Troyer says about the upper. “But that embroidery cable system helps keep him, in conjunction with the IsoPlate, it keeps him on the shoe. Secondly, what that does for us, is it’s also very sustainable. It’s a pretty complicated science project to create footwear that hits sustainability scoring.”

Watching over the “science project” was Martin Lotti, Vice President and Chief Design Officer at Jordan Brand. Lotti has worked at both Nike and Jordan for a combined 25 years. He refers to himself and his team members as sponges, tasked with going out and soaking up as much information as possible to find a single droplet that can be distilled into something that makes sense for their work. They found it on the Luka 1. 

“I think maybe it’s an appropriate analogy because we are in Paris,” Lotti says from a conference room in Nike’s Champs-Élysées location. “If you look at the Mona Lisa…if you look at it from a distance, you can see her. But then you get closer and there is the background, and then you get closer and there’s so much dimension within this one painting. That’s the same approach we have with good footwear. If we can then marry not just the visual but then the actual function, that the main icon is actually attached to specifically a new innovation for Luka—the IsoPlate—that’s why it’s amazing working with athletes. We would have never come up with an IsoPlate without Luka and without his push and his new insights and him coming, obviously, with a totally new perspective, coming from this European and/or this global view. He’s the first homegrown European signature athlete in our lineup. Having our first one that comes from Europe is special for us.”

Lotti says that the IsoPlate turned out to be the single droplet that they squeezed. He talks about the wisdom that Doncic has earned through all of his travels that will give them not only a fun mathematical playground to frolic through, but also a rich narrative backdrop to pull from. 

That’s where another member of the “science project” comes in. It’s Kelsey Amy’s job to design promo and player edition colorways that Jordan athletes wear in games. She and her team have to pull stories from everyone and then translate them visually. Her designs have already made waves in the WNBA and the NBA. In fact, she’s so nice with it that she had already known about Ljubljana’s relationship with dragons and she put us on to the famous Postojna Cave back in Slovenia that Luka has visited before. “Yeah, it’s like a little train and it goes around the cave,” Doncic says. “It’s awesome.”

Amy conceived of the Luka 1 colorways as more of a thought-out album than a random playlist. She says we’ll be taken on an already mapped journey of Luka’s life throughout the launch cycle of the 1. 

“I think with every single colorway that we had, there’s a purpose in telling that story of Luka, the basketball player, and then Luka, the person,” Amy tells KICKS. “So, upbringing, roots, what are the things he loves? What are the things he’s inspired by?”

She also looks at her job as an educational platform. Doncic has made it to Dallas, where they don’t praise dragons, but they do praise cowboys. She has a chance to help him explain his background to those people. 

But this tale doesn’t end in Dallas.

The majority of the Luka 1 was designed over Zoom. Doncic didn’t find any similarities in being in front of the computer screen for his signature and being in front of the computer screen for his NikeiD silhouettes. 

“I think it’s very different, because now you are designing your own shoe,” he says. “I had a lot to say about the colorway and how the shoe looks. Jordan gave me an opportunity to be involved. Fifty-fifty, we chose the colors together. It’s a long process. It’s not easy, but for me, it was easy. The guys on the Jordan side, it was more tough on them deciding on the shoe.”

He says that the pressure was alleviated because if he wasn’t feeling a new development, the Brand team moved on from it. They listened to him throughout the whole process, which started all the way back when he was in the bubble during the 2020 playoffs. 

Joël Greenspan, Jordan Sport Footwear Designer and lead designer of the Luka 1, remembers the design process really clicking after a trip to Dallas. 

“While the majority of meetings with Luka happened over Zoom, a true unlock came in November of 2021 when our team was able to visit Dallas and meet with Luka in person,” Greenspan tells KICKS. “This was our first interaction with Luka in person, which was huge for us. It’s one thing to show a bunch of decks over Zoom and get a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, but to be able to show him the shoe in person, get his reaction and see him appreciate how he thought it would fit his style of play is what makes the process so rewarding. We spent the entire day with him, went out to dinner together and learned more about him, which inspired us to finish the shoe with renewed energy looking forward to future iterations. The next night, we were all at the game with his team, and he hit that game-winning three against Boston. That was truly galvanizing. It all felt like Luka Magic to me, and I hope people feel that magic when they lace up this shoe.”

“Not many people can say they have their own shoes, especially with a brand like Jordan,” Luka says. “It’s unbelievable.”

Finally, after working through the design virtually and getting to hold his first pair—but not wear it because it wasn’t in his size in the initial shipment—Doncic laced up the Luka 1 against the Utah Jazz in this past summer’s playoffs. 

“It was an amazing feeling,” he beams. “It was playoffs, an important game, I had just come back from injury. I was so excited to show my shoe. It was unbelievable.”

The roads have finally converged. Dragons have guided him, winning has followed him and magic has swirled around him for so many years that the wizardry might actually, somehow, be real. The way he plays ball, ruthlessly destroying while gleefully smiling, discovering small pockets of previously uncharted excellence, has made the world stop and watch him. No matter what he’s worn, every time he’s laced up, he’s brought with him a promise of the astonishing. On-court miracles don’t feel that far away when he’s playing. His personal map is expansive, and it’s only growing more. That’s why he can’t pick just a single moment that has felt the most cinematic. It’s all been a mythic quest.  

“I would say the whole journey. I was dreaming of just playing in the NBA, and now here with my signature shoe, it’s an unbelievable journey. I could only dream of it as a kid to be like that. It’s unbelievable. I am only 23. It’s a hopefully long journey to go,” Doncic says.

He’s taken the road that no one has traveled. And it’s made all the difference. 

But this tale is just getting started. 

KICKS 25 is also available in this exclusive gold metal edition. Shop now.

Portraits by Alex Woodhouse.

The post Luka Doncic on His First Signature Sneaker, the Jordan Luka 1 appeared first on SLAM.

Today’s Texas sun is becoming increasingly unobstructed on the trip to Mac’s spot. On the roll, with the wind blowing through and the rental car’s engine roaring, the Texas sun is most definitely keeping the warmth. Early January doesn’t feel like early January. 

Cerulean and cloudless above.

Slow and steady pace.

More ease than worry.

Not late.

Not early.

Right…on…time.

Then it appears, a huge spot where one of the game’s most unstoppable individual talents lays his head. 

Black gates keep Mac’s home safe. There’s no answer to the exterior intercom’s inquiry, but the gates open sesame. They don’t reveal 40 thieves like in the famous tale. Instead, Mac suddenly appears just to the left of the front door of the main house. Calm as always. His pace is slow and steady, with more ease than worry. His hands are in the pockets of his personalized black adidas sweatpants, which he’s styled to rest stationary above his white adidas socks, which then lead down to a pair of adidas Forum Lows that shine and sparkle with their first wear. 

He introduces himself with all the reserved yet knowing energy of the coolest kid in high school. 

He was that. Still is. 

An entire special issue dedicated to T-Mac’s unmatched creativity.

It takes just a beat for Mac to turn and saunter over off to the side of the main house. The Texas sun that was coming out to play during the drive is dropping out of sight behind the tall building that we’re being led to. Sturdy double doors open, Mac hits a light switch and it all comes to life. An NBA-sized court is the star, flanked by a weight room to the right and a kitchen, along with a hallway that leads to an office and a separate room with a barber’s chair, to the left. Moving at this slow and steady pace allows for more to be seen. So when the light flicks on, it’s cinematic, and all that’s missing is a rising orchestral piece to accentuate the grandeur of the one and only T-Mac Arena. 

But, if that music were to be playing, it’d make it more difficult to hear all the late-night swishes that have rang out in here, or all the weights that have clanked together, or all the times that his signature adidas sneakers have squeaked against the hardwood. There are ghosts in this building. Not bad, scary ghosts, but rather the ghosts of T-Mac’s greatness as an NBA player. Ghosts of T-Mac helping the local youth who get to come into this gym and learn from one of the coldest to ever play. To see everything that’s here, but not here at the same time, is an exercise in thinking like Mac, in imagining like Mac. He’s one of the few whose claim of changing the game isn’t just a claim—he did things on the court that nobody had seen before. As a ballplayer, he was a mind-opening inspiration, someone who laughed at previously-perceived boundaries on his way to breaking new ground, or, most often, soaring to new heights. 

The rims in the Arena are soft and forgiving, and their nets offer a serenade when swishes sustain enough to stick in the soul. Treasures, both physical and otherwise, wait here. 

Some of those treasures sit just to the right of the main entrance in the form of a duffle bag overflowing with T-Macs made just for T-Mac. They’re all adorned with the “sample” tag, in his size 16, and they range from 1s to 2s to 3s to Millenniums. Black paint runs the length of the baseline underneath the duffy. “T-Mac Arena” is stenciled in big italics, joined by solid black italics on both sides of the floor, near the half court line, that read “HOF17.” Self-explanatory. The court itself is bouncy under-foot and accented by all the goodies that any ballplayer could ever want. Shooting guns, d-fenders and medicine balls dot the sidelines. A giant T-Mac logo is at halfcourt, directly underneath the highest point of the A-framed building, where the white ceiling slopes all the way up before coming back down again. 

Mac gets the music going on the loudspeakers and we hear Hov, Jada and a bunch of others while he poses with his kicks in celebration of being Striped out for 25 years.    

Before time feels like time, it turns out that nearly four hours have passed us by. We got lost in conversation and in photo shoots and in the confirmations of stories that have long been rumored (the game at Rucker Park on August 14, 2003 would have been the best ever, if not for that blackout). See, what happened was we time traveled, melded the past, present and future, and forgot about the Texas sun. It had gone from high in the sky to closer to the earth. Slow and steady pace. 

The first stop we made was high school, back to Mount Zion Christian Academy, back when he did something he would become famous for. 

“I always wanted to be creative,” Mac says. “You know, I’m a creative thinker, and I want to be the first to do something. I want to do something that nobody’s done, especially on the NBA level. And when I was in high school, a team was playing a 2-3 zone, and I just got tired of the two guys [at the top] stopping me from penetrating to the basket. So I got pissed and I said, I’m gonna split these two dudes, I’m gonna throw it off the glass and I’m gonna catch this off the glass and dunk it.”

He pauses for just a moment to grin. 

“So when I get to the NBA, I wanna throw it off the glass against the best players in the world,” he continues. “I would love to do that. I’ve never seen this in an NBA game, right? Never seen this. We’re in Boston, preseason. Score is 2-0, us. Ball coming down. Kenny Anderson, Paul Pierce, right there. Throw it up. I come out of nowhere. Bahhhh.”

He mimics the throwdown with the animation in his voice sounding like he’s wrapped in the moment all over again.

“Preseason,” he goes on. “I see my teammates Troy Hudson, Pat Garrity, all of them going crazy. Man, wouldn’t that be dope to do that at the All-Star Game with all the best players, with all the celebrities? Philadelphia. So to do this, right, you got to have supreme confidence within your ability. At this point in 2003, I feel like nobody can touch me. In 2002 to 2003, feel like nobody can touch me at this time. I’m highly skilled, I’m confident. I feel great. I’m quick, fast, like, I am at my best. We’re at All-Star Weekend. Jermaine O’Neal gives me the ball coming down on the left side. I see Dirk [Nowitzki] standing right there, I see GP [Gary Payton]. Got the ball in the left hand. Left hand coming around. Everybody do this. Just come out of nowhere. Boom. Boom. Go crazy, everybody go crazy, it was legendary. And I’m like, That’s the moment I’ve been waiting on. Because that, what I just did, I know that’s going to be around for years, for decades. Right? So I was the first one to do that. And that was the creative mind that I had. I just wanted to try different stuff, man. Why not? I worked too hard, bro. I put in a lot of work. You know, waking up 5 in the morning, three workouts a day. I put that in, you know what I’m saying? And that gave me the utmost confidence to be able to try anything on the basketball court because I believed in my ability and I wasn’t afraid to do that.” 

There seemed to be two different versions of McGrady on the court. There was the calmer guy, the one who would accept double-teams and snap crisp cross-court passes to the open man. Then there was the superpower version. That version was able to easily traverse the unseen and narrow bridge between knowing and flowing. That’s a bridge where all the conscious years of skills training, physical training and mental training lead to a disconnection from all of that intention and into a state of complete instinctual expression. Off-the-board tosses and 62-point outbursts and the otherworldly 13 points in 33 seconds, for example. 

And while Mac confirms that there were moments where he slowed down as an individual to get touches for his teammates, he says that he was never disconnected from his mind or body. It was the opposite. 

“I’m aware. I’m aware,” he says again for emphasis about those moments that look like unfiltered genius. “When I could tell one of my teammates ahead of time, Yo, I’m about to throw this off the glass, bro. Chris Whitney, when we was playing against Toronto in Orlando, Chris, watch this, I’m about to throw this off the glass. I know how the flow of the game is going, right? I know there’s nobody out here that can touch me on this basketball court, right? And the moment’s going to present itself. I know it, right? I’ve played too many games, I worked too hard to get that feeling, right? To get that feeling and to be that confident. When you got control, when you know you in control, just play ball, man, and the defense will be at your mercy. I think when you are solely confident in your ability and you know the temperature of the game, the Florida game, when you’re highly skilled, you can pull these things off. That’s all it was. I just, I knew I could go behind my back because when you create this persona, guys know us. It’s real. Guys know you’re the shit. They know this is T-Mac they’re guarding. I’m not saying this is everybody, but some of the guys that are guarding you, you can tell they’re a little timid. That’s what I mean, I’ve got control of the situation because I know these guys [and] they know there’s nothing that they can do with me.”

He credits all that to waking up before the daylight would wash over Toronto, Orlando, Houston and everywhere else he played. It looked easy because it wasn’t. He acknowledges that there was a lot of natural ability at his disposal, but he also emphasizes, multiple times, that he worked as hard as he could. 

There’s this thing that keeps happening with Mac during all this time traveling. His body language and the cadence of his voice keep on illustrating how much this all means to him. Those same hands that used to shoot from anywhere or fling passes from his hip are waving throughout the air. He’s using them as instruments to further add to all the life in his spirited speech. Given the space and time to speak and reminisce, he’s an artist sharing the secrets of his craft. And given that we’re in the physical space of T-Mac Arena, his artist studio as it were, he seems to be somewhere in between then and now, physically sitting in a chair at his home while spiritually floating through memories.  

What that craft did was expand the minds of all the kids who watched him. He introduced possibilities, thought to be just fantasies, into reality. There aren’t many who have been able to accomplish that. 

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McGrady even surprised himself. He points out the behind-the-back dribble move against Shaun Livingston (salute to the three-time champ) from the left post. It was 2006. Out of that move came a fadeaway to the baseline. The shot lofted into a net-ringing swish. Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler was on the mic for the broadcast. He used the word “creativity” in his astonished call of the moment. 

It’s just a snapshot of the brilliance. The snapshots add up to make the mosaic that adidas, all the way back in 1997, was aware would one day be painted. 

This marks the 25th year of the Tracy McGrady and adidas relationship. It’s rare air for one player to be with one brand for that amount of time. 

“It’s unheard of,” Mac says of the longevity. “I think Mike [Jordan] and AI [Allen Iverson] are the only ones that are still doing that at this rate. It’s because of that reason, because we built something that is still relevant to today. When you announced some T-Macs are coming out, they’re still selling out. Why go anywhere else? We’re still doing good things. And you got to understand, I’m still one of the only guys that is selling shoes 25 years later. It’s not many. It’s not many. And I’m talking about guys [in] my era that was superstars. I’m one of those guys that are fortunate enough to still be doing it. So you gotta keep going.”

The line has kept going with the recently released T-Mac Millennium 1s and 2s. The Stripes have retroed his line with the Restomod versions of the 1s, 2s and 3s. That’s where it stands today, after 25 long years. But how did the line start?

“I knew in my third season with adidas that I was going to be a signature guy,” Mac remembers. “Through conversations, through my play and how I was making a name for myself. People saw the talent and the skill level and having that coming out party against New York in the playoffs, where, first game I think I had 25, 26 points in my first-ever playoffs [It was 25 at MSG against the Knicks.—Ed]. And I averaged, like, 16 [points per game] that whole playoff series against a tough Knicks team. I knew I was going to get it, it was just a matter of time. And God bless, he did. My brother Kobe turned down adidas. Kobe was about to sign a $200 million deal with adidas. Who was next in line? I was like, Kob, thank you, brother, thank you, brother. I’m glad you turned down that $200 million because you left me a $100 million, bro!”

T-Mac ended up being the sole face of adidas Basketball throughout the early and mid-2000s. The Stripes didn’t push out other designers alongside of him and they made him the star of some amazing and memorable commercials. He says there wasn’t a discussion about that. It was just natural. He was in the moment and that moment called for him to be the Stripes’ star. 

Like everything he did, from his sneakers to his scoring, No. 1 was No. 1. 

But it’s not like Mac is done accomplishing. The Ones Basketball League will be touring the country this summer, bringing his idea of a one-on-one league to life. He also just started a sports agency with six-time All-Star Jermaine O’Neal. And as we start to wrap up our shoot for the day, a team of elementary school-aged kids start to file into T-Mac Arena. They work on form shooting and ballhandling. Even at that young age, they’re learning the fundamentals. They’ll be next in line, at some point, after the current crop of high school sophomores that Mac has been mentoring through his AAU program. That group of 10th graders, Mac says, has been with him for six or seven years.

“I put in a lot of effort, energy, money behind the youth,” he goes on. “I don’t broadcast that, I don’t show that off a lot. But it’s what I do because I want these kids to win. I know how tough it is to make it and what they’re trying to accomplish. But it’s my job to really give them the tools and information so they can be successful and help them understand that if basketball doesn’t work out, it’s OK, you can win at other things. It’s not everything. There is life for us. We would love to make it to the mountaintop, but when you got an AAU program, maybe one or two of those guys make it. What about the other guys? Like, what are you instilling in them to keep them confident? And I think for me that’s what I really thrive on, is building up the confidence of the kids so when they leave my program and leave me, they’re extremely confident and they know where they’re going, they know the journey that they’re on. And if basketball doesn’t work out for them, there’s still this confidence to feel like they could be successful in life because I gave them the tools in life to be successful.”

That’s the last thing Mac says before standing up out of his chair and walking across the bouncy hardwood floor of the Arena. He’s left the treasures of his sneakers behind him. The patent leather of the 2s and the faux croc skin of the 3s are the ghosts of the past in the present. There’s also the treasures of everything he just said and didn’t say. The ghosts of the future for the kids reading this somewhere who got to see the love and care for craft, the pride in passion, even the way that the old can be experienced anew.   

He exits through those sturdy double doors, revealing that the Texas sun has become the Texas moon. It’s glowing high above a sprawling estate hidden away, where deer roam across guarded grass flatlands that lay behind black gates. 

Portraits Jon Lopez, action photo via Getty Images.

The post Tracy McGrady on How His Basketball Imagination Became His Reality appeared first on SLAM.

“Well, I did last year’s bottle, which was kind of like a net draped over the actual net,” Hatfield tells SLAM over a Zoom interview. “The hoop was draped over the bottle. And I thought, well, it was just a quick read from a distance that you could, ‘Oh, that bottle’s got a net on it and oh yeah, the net of course, the cut-down the net. So only the winners get to do that. And so I’m like, well, that one worked out okay. That worked out well because it was very recognizable. And then I was just thinking as they asked me to do the same thing, that another talked about, lusted after, often photographed part of winning a championship is the actual ring that they get made. You know, Michael Jordan has six and there’s a beautiful poster of him with all his rings on his fingers. And I just think that just was a spectacular kind of photoshoot. But really, the rings are really in and of themselves kind of interesting. And obviously they don’t come along very often. So I thought, well, let’s basically print up a ring around the bottle and have the first one be the net bottle, and the second one is now the ring bottle. And [you] only get a ring when you win. I had to design a ring.”

This year’s Finals are coinciding with the NBA’s 75th anniversary season, which is prompting Tinker and Michelob to drop 75 limited-edition Championship Bottles in the winning team’s city. Those 75 winners will also get an NFT cooked up by Tinker.

The legend laughs and tells us that while it was an interesting challenge to design a ring, he’s not planning on giving up his day job at any point.

“I kind of hope that no one calls me up to design their ring for them,” Hatfield laughs. “I have enough stuff to do.”

The post Tinker Hatfield on Designing His Own Interpretation of an NBA Ring appeared first on SLAM.

We’ve got a myth to get out of the way: NBA defense wasn’t better in the ’80s and ’90s. 

Those dudes, for the most part, just hit people. They called that defense. 

There are exceptions, of course. Scottie Pippen, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, Michael Jordan, 
David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Gary Payton, John Stockton, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning were all defenders ahead of their time—mentally, physically, technically and strategically. 

But defense in this era is a different game. This isn’t just about the new glossary of fancy terms that get yelled out on courts today. This is about a total redefinition of defensive responsibilities, an intellectual overhaul that has swept across the League. 

The new standards for guarding have touched down in Cleveland, where Jarrett Allen is an all-encompassing fortress. He doesn’t just lock down the interior. What started as something of a joke has become something closer to a revelation; the 6-10 Allen has been entrusted to switch pick-and-rolls on the perimeter. 

“I don’t really know how it happened, to be honest,” Allen tells us about the decision that he’d be guarding in space this season. “But I know last year, we were joking around, saying, you know, Let’s just switch 1 through 5. Partly just joking. And then this year we ended up adding Evan [Mobley] and Lauri [Markkanen] and Isaac [Okoro], great defenders. And then DG, he’s alright,” he says with a pause to allow his point guard, Darius Garland, the proper time to react to the playful slight on the group Zoom call. 

“And then we decided, Hey, you know, we’ve got all these bigs, why not just switch 3 through 5? Nobody’s gonna be able to really score against us in the paint. You blow by Evan, then you have to go up against me and Lauri. So we decided, Hey, this just might work. We tried it, what, in like the fifth game? And it worked. So don’t change what’s working.”

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“Working” is a humble way for the 23-year-old to talk about his breakout season.  

Allen’s numbers are career-best across the board. The 2017 draftee has never averaged more points, rebounds or assists, played as many minutes per game or had a better shooting percentage. 

If the season ended today (as of early January), Allen would finish with the seventh best single season field goal percentage in the history of the League. That’s seventh ever, throughout 75 years. 

It’s been dunks, lays, jump hooks and extensions out to the middle. And, as confirmed by the history-maker himself, a three-ball is in the works. 

“It’s just a testament to the team and how we’re playing together,” the Texas alum says. “As corny as it sounds, it’s a team game. Everybody sharing the ball, especially my point guard DG getting me open, throwing me lobs. That’s one of the main reasons that I’m doing what I’m doing. And partly to the work I put in this summer. I made a big emphasis to improve my offensive game, whether it’s passing, scoring in the post, just all of it.”

That connection with Garland has proven devastating for opponents, something the old NBA defenses would’ve needed Hakeem or one of the Georgetown boys to contain. 

“DG, he just said he’s shooting seven threes a game and he’s shooting them super efficiently,” Allen continues. “So it’s really one of those pick-your-poison things. Do you want DG to get hot on the pick-and-roll? Shoot this floater? Or do you want to get dunked on by him throwing the lob to me? It’s one of those things. It’s tough to guard because each option usually leads to a bucket.”

Allen, DG and Mobley make up the Cavs’ young core. Hitters like Markkanen, Okoro and Cedi Osman have filled in the gaps. There’s even more talent—losing Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio to unfortunate injuries until the 2022-23 campaign stings, but the rest of the active players, including NBA champion and five-time All-Star Kevin Love, have the Cavs in the hunt for home court advantage in the 2022 playoffs.  

“Kevin’s a kid at heart, to be honest,” Allen says. “He kinda fits into our group, our young guys.”

It’s a group that has started barking together. Yeah, barking. Like dogs. Literally. 

“I didn’t start it,” Allen says. “Lamar [Stevens] started it, but I kinda adopted it. I think it’s perfect for what the team is trying to achieve. And it was fun. People look at us like, Why the hell are they barking? Honestly, I don’t know why, but it gets the team going. It’s funny. It’s one of those scrappy mentalities that I think works well with us. We’re a young team, but we have the talent to back up the scrap. I think that’s a perfect mentality for this team right now.”

Team, indeed. Excluding Sexton and Rubio, who would be part of this statistical crew, there are six Cavs averaging at least 11 points per game, as we head to press. Allen, Mobley and Love combine to pull down around 26 boards a night. Over 60 percent of their buckets come from assists. And thanks to Allen, the team has the third best defensive rating in the NBA, behind just the Warriors and the Suns. 

“It’s not a fluke,” Allen says. “That’s what people need to start realizing. You see people saying, Oh, man, they got the three bigs. Oh, this was just a lucky game for them. Oh, it’s not the new Cavs. It’s just a lucky game for them.

“But I’m just gonna keep asking: How many lucky games are we gonna have in a row? How many times are we gonna have to show that we’re a tough team, [that] you’re gonna have to play us hard, before they realize that we’re actually one of the top teams now?” 

Portrait Jimmy Longo/Cleveland Cavaliers and Getty Images.

The post How Jarrett Allen Established Himself as One of the Best Defenders in the League appeared first on SLAM.

But, then again, we should’ve known that there was a storm brewing. It’s what Thomas has always done. As cliché and tried as that sounds, it’s not another trained media line for the lefty. It’s what we spoke to him about—his true, unyielding love for the game. 

A love so consuming that even when the storm of his personal basketball fury got swept up by a bigger storm of injuries and external doubt, he refused to waver. He refused to let the passion leave him. He stood in the middle of that rain and wind and got stronger, the foundation of his love growing even more fortified by what was going on around him. 

“Before I loved anything, basketball was one of the first things I loved other than my parents and my family,” Thomas told us on that Zoom call. “As a kid, that was really the only thing that got me excited, like, in life.”

“And it’s just the same exact feeling that I had, when I was a kid, that I have now,” he continued. “It’s just something that’s difficult to explain. So that feeling hasn’t went anywhere, even as I got older, as I accomplished, you know, so many things in the game of basketball, especially in my career in the NBA, college. The love never changed.”

It’s not just talk. It’s in his walk, in his sprints, in his jumper, in his lionhearted downhill attacks at taller defenders. 

The difference in how much more he loves it than most others is still clear. The desire pouring out of him in his first G League outing hasn’t changed since the sixth grade, which is when he realized that other ballplayers couldn’t match the level of his love. Because, as Thomas broke down for us, his love is about loving all of it. Storms and sunshine. Storms and sunshine. Storms and sunshine.

Before that understanding came to him in the sixth grade, he had already made up his mind. He knew, as a fourth grader, that he truly wanted to make the League. But, as he would continually find out, the weight of his dreams were far too heavy for others to pick up. 

“I remember that was the first time I told a teacher, you know, at the beginning of the school year, what do you want to be when you grow up,” he said about that moment as a fourth grader. “And that was the first thing I said to the teacher. And it was, like, a no-brainer. And I remember a few kids kind of giggling. That hurt my feelings. And I always remembered that feeling.”

Storm. 

Pac-10 Tournament Champion, MOP and game-winning shot-maker in 2011. 

Sunshine. 

Two-time NBA All-Star. 

Sunshine. 

All-NBA Second Team in 2017. 

Sunshine. 

Career-threatening hip injury, surgery and rehab. 

Storm. 

Years out of the spotlight, facing what would be soul-crushing uncertainty for most others. 

Storm.

Basketball-world alerting 42 points in his first game in the G League. 

Sunshine. 

“More so earlier in my career it was, like, ‘Man, they’re saying this… I’m gonna prove ‘em wrong.’ Now, it’s like everything I really do is for the love of it,” Thomas told us. “So, I’m not motivated by anything else but the love of the game. And, you know, I think that’s the difference between me and a lot of other players and how people always ask how do you keep going? I really love it.”

Sunshine. 

Because we spoke to Thomas before he sent out an alarm clock to NBA general managers, we didn’t get the chance to ask about this next step in his journey of physical, mental and emotional strength. But he did leave us with two golden nuggets. He said that if we all really paid attention, that if we could see life through his eyes, we’d “see the definition of hard work each and every day.” 

“I tell kids, like, if you don’t love it, shit, loving it is half the battle,” he starts his other nugget of wisdom with. “I love it so much, it doesn’t matter how much work I gotta put in, or how early I gotta get up, or how late I gotta stay. Because it’s not work to me. It’s just something I love. [Basketball is] the best thing that really ever happened to my life, you know, other than my family and my kids. Basketball is that important to me.”

So through the storms and through the sunshine, be it a G League court or someday soon at an NBA arena, Isaiah Thomas won’t stop. Love knows no quit. 

The post We Talked To Isaiah Thomas About Why He Loves Basketball So Damn Much appeared first on SLAM.

The fluidity of a jumpshot whose current has been raging for years tells more of the Bradley Beal story. The artistry of his jumper is pure expression of him. Balanced, disciplined, learned and earned. 

Beal is a communicator and his language of choice isn’t always language. At different points, it’s been basketball and it’s been activism and it’s also been art. 

“I was a big sketch guy when I was younger, but I love abstract art now and mixed art,” Beal tells SLAM. “I’m huge on it. I love the fact, especially mixed art, with the use of different materials, whether [it’s] paint or different, just fabrics or whatever they may be using to express their art. And then just abstract art, I love the wave of it. I think it’s just more modern. There’s so many expressions into the story they’re trying to tell. And it draws my eye a lot.”

He’s still picking up the pencil and the paper and he’s the one who initially got the production of his brand new personal logo on the move. 

“It really started off with me kind of sketching,” Beal says. “Obviously, you want your logo to tell a story, you know, you want it to stick out and stand out. You want it to be able to be recognizable, people to know it’s yours and then it has to be able to tell a story. Me, naturally, I’m a silent assassin. That’s what people kind of call me. I consider myself humble and quiet and shy and reserved in some ways. But on the floor, I’m an assassin. I go attack hard, I’m aggressive and I get to it.

“And just kind of how do I intertwine those and what are some symbolic things of life, nature to implement into the design as well? So, one, my biggest representation of me is my family,” Beal continues. “I’m family-oriented and so what represents family? A family crest. So you have the protection part of it. So the logo looks like a big shield in a way. It’s a huge ‘B,’ but it’s very modern-esque in some ways. But it’s a big ‘B’ and then intertwines all in one stroke of a pen into a little ‘B,’ which is my name for Brad. So big ‘B’ represents the big family and little ‘B’ is me.  And then intertwined in that is, like, a lightning bolt off the little ‘B.’ And so silent assassin, you know, lightning and thunder. What do you hear first? And then lightning strikes. That was kind of a dope concept that we threw in and then the intertwined ‘Bs’ formulate a three naturally, which is my number inside of the logo. 

“As soon as I [saw] it, it was the perfect representation of me,” Beal concludes a few moments later. “It told my story.”

With today’s official launch of the new logo, it’s not just going to be a digital piece. It will eventually be seen in real life, on hats, clothing and, of course, on his Air Jordans. 

Beal’s grown most comfortable in the Air Jordan 36 and the Jordan React Elevation. Both of those silhouettes have Nike’s famous Zoom tech in their forefoots. Beal launches up for his flowing jumpshot off his forefoot. He says that he gets nerdy about his footwear and their performance benefits. He’s aware of those pairs’ construction and he likes them because they automatically keep him on his toes a little bit more. 

Beal, in addition to showing off his new personal logo, also is making it official that he’s re-upped with Jordan Brand for a multiyear contract extension.

“It’s an elite group,” Beal says about the JB family. “It’s invite only, that’s what’s so unique about it. And then to understand his story and how he’s taken the Brand from where he was as a player to where he is now. It’s just crazy to think that he wanted me to be a part of his Brand. That speaks volumes. Like I said before, he was who I watched growing up, watching his footwork, watching his killer instinct, watching how he dominated the game and how he worked. And he didn’t fear anything because he trusted his work. That was one of his greatest quotes. Now that I can be a part of a Brand, like, I grew up wearing his shoes.”

He grew up with them and he’s glowing up with them now. The plan is for Beal’s expression to extend to the Air Jordan 37, when his logo will touch the hardwood of NBA arenas. In all of his successes and all of his messages to the public, that specific moment won’t be lost on him. 

“It’s what every player dreams of and every player wants and every player should have, in a way,” he says about being able visually inform people. “It’s just dope. It’s kind of surreal in a way. But I’m definitely excited about it, now it’s kind of finally happening and coming into fruition. It won’t hit me until I actually see it. I’ve seen it actually a few times, like on some clothing pieces and things like that and it hits me every now and then too.”

The moment’s weight will continue to increase because this is the realization of a whole lot of years, of his love for hoops, art and fashion melding together. In all of his trips around the sun, with the surging water of his jumpshot causing downpours from St. Louis to Gainesville to Washington DC, and with the calm reliability of his sketchbook, there’s always been one constant—the sneakers. 

“My mom wouldn’t let us wear anything but Js or Nikes,” the 28 year old says. “That’s our household rule. So I haven’t owned another pair of sneakers, another brand besides Nike and Jordan. My mom has a Nike tattoo logo on her ankles. And that was the actual first tattoo she got. She got it when I got my first tattoo. I probably had some XIs on at the time.”

That incredible story about Mrs. Beal is just another part of Bradley’s story, a story that’s not just about basketball. 

The post Bradley Beal Talks About His New Personal Logo and Staying with Jordan Brand appeared first on SLAM.

Perfect morning in Los Angeles. A calm and balanced sun-soaked Tuesday. Traffic is actually skipping along nicely. Smiles blanket faces that pass by. Conversations run their course without any rush. “Voice of the Heroes” blasts out of a car window on Cahuenga Boulevard. Clearly all is right. 

Right? Wrong. 

Let’s have some thunderous notes surge in the blue sky. 

There’s a problem. 

What is it?

The absolutely insanely rare “Kentucky” Air Jordan 1s from 1985 that Devin Booker is supposed to bless us with aren’t in L.A. 

OK, that’s fine. Let’s adjust. We can let some time go by. It’s a nice enough day in CA. 

Jump to Phoenix. The kicks got sent to the desert from Tokyo, Japan. The sneakers, a physical time machine that lead with footprints to the moments well before SLAM was around or Booker was born or the public’s general love for footwear, are getting on a plane. Their journey is a mirror to Booker’s. 

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Book was in Tokyo for the 2020 (’21?) Olympics. He and the squad captured the Gold medal after a two-week odyssey filled with highs and lows. The lows included a panic that struck American fans and media following a first game loss to France. But the men wearing the red, white and blue were never worried. Gold was always theirs. The highs obviously include the numero uno world ranking. But that still leaves room for the details. It still leaves room for Book strapping up on defense, sliding his feet, laced in his blue and red Kobe 5 PEs, on-ball and in his weakside rotation requirements. It leaves room for the snapping ball movement that he would sometimes get to cap off or sometimes get to contribute to. Those were the highs that not many will clock; basketball being played correctly at a supreme level on a global stage.  

Just as rare as the ’85 “Kentuckys” is the man who will be wearing them when they get off the plane at Hollywood Burbank Airport. He’s one of the few who appreciates good hoops like that, one of the even fewer who yearns for real and true competition, in all of its pain, ugliness and ultimate glory. He’s been co-signed by the best. LeBron James and Kevin Durant, two HoFers, have long been saying how nice he is. He’s been recognized by the realest. Jrue Holiday and Draymond Green, two basketball geniuses, have praised him. And then there’s Chris Paul, one of the best point guards and basketball historians the game has ever known. 

“Devin Booker had everything to do with why I came to Phoenix,” Paul told ESPN months before the Suns made the ’21 Finals. 

CP knew that Book is Book. He’s a blend of the years gone by, even the years that he wasn’t alive to see. He’s not a Kobe clone, but rather a disciple of Kobe and his footwork, of Rip Hamilton and his midrange shot, of Michael Jordan and his drive, of his father Melvin and his refusal to take it easy, and of countless others who have made the 24-year-old an unparalleled player and person. 

Middie’s auto, a product of fluttering feet out of the triple threat that instantly create space to get clean looks. Then off the bounce, with the rock in his right hand, he can fade to his strong-side shoulder and easily command a shot that sweetly scrapes the sky. Teammates have noted how much time he’s spent in the weight room adding muscle to get more power on his head-down drives to the rim. But that’s just a new layer of a skill he’s always had. (Please type “Devin Booker and Kyle Wiltjer” into YouTube. Thank you. And you’re welcome.) With deadeye three-point accuracy and the capability to run pick and roll as the ballhandler or the screener, it’s just refinement for Book now. Just more work. 

Just more moments of him jumping out of his vintage cars, trading out his Jordans and his Chuck Taylors for his Kobes, and dominating the NBA with a style that’s closer to Alex English and Mark Aguirre than to the kids coming up today. He’s a modern throwback, a young man who respects the past and lets it inform his own future. That’s why the best players in the League mess with him so heavy. They know an all-time great when they see one. 

But we’re still not seeing 1s. So when Book peacefully rolls up to the studio with his dog Haven, he parks it on a couch, digs in to some lunch and starts talking about the 1s he wanted as a kid at Moss Point HS in Moss Point, MS.

“I always wanted a ‘Banned’ 1,” he says. That would’ve been around the time he was playing in some Huarache 2K4s, flying under the national radar. Haven, a 150-pound Cane Corso, is hilariously running around the studio with the kind of joy only a very good boy can bring.

“I have ‘Banned’ 1s currently, after I made it to the League,” Book continues. “I think it might’ve been Draymond the first time I’d seen him, we just had a conversation about it over the Olympics. I knew the story behind the ‘Banned’ 1s and from then I had to get them right when I got to the League.”

That’s the big thing with Book. He studies. Hoops, kicks, cars, clothing, art, dogs. He wants to learn. He wants the pieces that laid the foundation. 

“I chased another 1,” he says. “I was just trying to build my 1 collection. The ‘Royals,’ I had to chase the ‘Royals’ down for a minute. I could find a lot of things in a [size] 13, but it was always hard for me to get the 14. I was just trying to get the OG 1s for the most part.”

OG 1s are one thing. His now-booming collection of classic whips has proven to be his next chase. 

“I’m out there on the black market, man,” he jokes with Haven now chilling by his side. “Just finding them, man. Especially the vehicles, you’re all over the place. We’re out in Pittsburgh, just trying to find the right ones. My ’71 Impala, I’m going and looking for a Donk. So that’s South Florida, that’s Miami, that’s how they’re riding over there. With my ’59 Impala, I have it sitting west coast with the 20 inch Dayton’s on ’em. You gotta find somebody from Cali to do that.

“I’m doing my research,” he goes on. “It runs in my family. My grandpa’s a collector, he has a couple. My dad has a couple classics. It’s kind of like a conversation starter between us, even me learning more. Something’s going to go wrong, you’re going to learn something new about a car that day. And I missed all that. I was always traveling at AAU events, so I was never in the garage as much as I was in the gym. That’s the beauty of it, the process of learning more every day. But all my cars, I know every story on them.”

And speaking of stories, Book shares a real good one.

“I have a ’96 Impala,” he begins. “It’s the same car my uncle was driving before he got locked up. He got locked up, he tried to sell it to my dad and I didn’t even know this. And then I get a ’96. My dad was like, You know that’s the same car your uncle tried to give to me when he went to jail? I knew I should have bought it then, I knew it,” he laughs. “Same color, black cherry, everything.”

“It was really my closest cousin (who was like an uncle to him) that had the same ’96 Impala,” Melvin says. “When he got locked up he was trying to sell everything. I told Dev he had that exact car. Me and my pops always said we should have bought it from him. He sold it to one of his friends and I think they trashed the car.”

It all matters to Book. Every story, every color, every detail. All those yesterdays are his tomorrows. For as much of a throwback as he is, he’s also the present and the future. The two words that everyone associates with him don’t represent the past. “Be Legendary” is something to live up to. 

KICKS 24 featuring Devin Booker is available NOW!

It was Bean that wrote those words on a pair of Kobe 11s that he then gifted to Booker. That tale is mythical now. Just as KD and Bron pinpointed Book’s potential, it was crystal clear for No. 24, too. In the moments after a game in his last season, Bryant took about 15 minutes to chop it up with Booker, who was in his rookie campaign and had led the Suns to a win over the Lakers with 28 points and 7 assists. Besides the everlasting “Be Legendary” written out on the 11s, more guidance was shared. It doesn’t matter what exactly the Hall of Famer told young Book in that locker room meetup. It’s evident in his play. The Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers and Bucks got to see that advice come to life just a few months ago. “Suns in four” is a lifestyle because of Book. The midrange game is safe because of Book. The Kobe 4, 5 and 6 got to return to the NBA’s brightest lights because of Book. 

The purple stardust 4s, with the ultra buttery leather, got to shine the brightest. He wore them throughout the Finals. 

“I always said the Kobe 6 was my favorite to play in until this year,” Book begins. “I fell in love with the Kobe 4 again. I fell in love with it. Like high school, I always said if I could build a shoe or model the shoe after any comfort-wise, it’d be the Kobe 6. I don’t know why I kind of went away from that this year. I think my Kobe 4, especially the one I was wearing during the playoffs, the purple one, like, it was made out of the right material.”

He’s written “Be Legendary” on his sneakers for a minute now. An active reminder.  

“You have to live up unto it,” he says about the pair of words. “Breaking a fresh pair every time, that’s the first thing I remember when I’m going to it. I’m often reminded of it, not looking at my tattoo. Writing it out re-puts me in that moment, re-puts me in that story every time. It’s definitely the greatest motivation that I can get. It’s a constant reminder of the pursuit of everything.”

Save for early in his career, like when he scored 70 in the Nike Hyperdunk Low X, Book has been Team Bean thoroughly. His sneakers and his thinking are Kobe-influenced. He says that every fable about No. 8 is all facts, that everything we think might be fiction about No. 24 is actually accurate. Bryant’s career has served as a how-to manual for Booker and the conversations that he was able to share with the legend have left such a deep impact that there are brief moments where he talks about him in the present tense. 

He says that Kobe would just list things out that he wanted to accomplish. Then he would go do them. 

No fear. 

Book brings up going from the Finals to the Olympics as his own version of that mindset. Nobody would have predicted that but Book made it happen. 

There’s more on his list. An NBA championship is at the top. A signature sneaker isn’t far behind. He’s got a reserve of Kobe PEs that doesn’t seem to end, an Air Force 1 created for him and a Bean 1 colorway done up in Suns colors. 

“I’ve only been in Kobes,” he says. “Even Nike wanted to push me into a different model. I stick with what I know. I wish I could be more hands on and tell stories through it, that comes with a signature and my own type of stories. And it started, it was me, [Isaiah Thomas] and DeMar [DeRozan]. To be one of the first ones that got the protro or the 1s, it’s cool to be loyal to the Kobe brand.”

Even still, the taste he got with his AF1 colorway has left him wanting more. 

“I think that kind of opened my mind to, like, anything signature, honestly, and even just the short conversation of making those shoes came alive,” Book says. “Like, obviously I wasn’t hands-on as much as I wanted to be. But I’m glad I at least got to get the story across and represent my high school and be able to tell a story. A lot of people don’t understand with the ‘yes, sir, no, ma’am.’ Doing stuff in the future, I’d like to tell those stories more from myself. Yeah, but I think it’s sick to be able to do that through footwear and even just people that don’t know me telling them what it means when I give them the shoes…you know the conversation.” 

See, Book stays in his imagination. When he and his pops work out, he does the same “three…two…one!” scenarios that kids all around the country do. He carries notebooks to jot down his ideas. His mind trails from signature kicks to impactful real life changes that he now has the power to make. There’s three generations of Bookers who have played ball at Moss Point. In a joint effort with Mr. Cartoon, Devin will refurbish two courts, in honor of his father, his grandfather and his city’s youth who will follow in his footsteps. He’s got stories to tell and he hopes that one day, 35 years from now, someone will be talking about his kicks in the same way he’s talking about the “Kentucky” 1s. 

They’ve finally arrived. 

No more thunderous notes surging in the blue sky. Just shine. 

Lunch is about to be over. Haven’s about to roam again. Book’s about to lace up a priceless work of art. 

“Wearing the ’85 Jordans, like, I wasn’t born in 1985,” Book says. “But I know there’s history behind it. And I know the meaning behind it, and how meaningful it was in that moment.”

They’re still meaningful in this moment, on this perfectly calm and sun-soaked Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles. 

Closing. 

KICKS 24 featuring Devin Booker is available now in gold and black metal editions, as well as these exclusive Cover Tees. Shop here.

Portraits by Zamar Velez. Follow Zamar on Instagram, @zamarvelez.

Action photos via Getty Images.

The post Devin Booker on His “Kentucky” Air Jordan 1s From 1985, His Cars and Becoming Legendary appeared first on SLAM.

The most influential player of a generation was a three-star recruit as a high school senior. 

The best shooter ever was a three-star recruit as a high school senior.

A two-time MVP was a three-star recruit as a high school senior.

A three-time NBA champion was a three-star recruit as a high school senior.

That’s exactly why Curry started the Underrated Tour Powered by Rakuten. He knows just as well as any high school ballplayer in the nation that rankings don’t tell the whole story. Underrated gives current three-star high school basketball players a national platform and gifts them with the same skills training that #30 does on a daily basis. 

The tour started in 2019 and was halted by the pandemic in 2020, so Curry and his team are extremely excited to get things going again for 2021. 

“It’s all about the toolkit that you can take from the Tour, take it to your school or your AAU teams, your travel teams or your school teams and and hopefully they’ll be like, ‘Yo, where’d you learn that from?’ Be like, ‘Yo, I got it from the Underrated Tour. We stay underrated around here,’” Curry tells SLAM. 

The 2021 Underrated Tour starts in Washington, DC on July 31 and August 1. It then moves on to Chicago for August 7 and August 8, Dallas for August 13 and August 14 and Los Angeles for August 21 and August 22. It wraps up in April of 2022 for the championship event in Oakland. Each stop of the tour will have the first day as a showcase for up to 75 boys and 75 girls and the second day as an invite-only setup for the top 30 boys and 30 girls based on day one performance. Curry’s longtime personal trainer, Brandon Payne, will lead the training. But the two-time MVP says that the mental side of the game is just as important as the physical side. 

“I think going into the summer of junior year, I went to a team camp at UNC Charlotte,” Curry says. “Going to that team camp, you got to see some other coaches that came out to watch. Coach K, Roy Williams, all the ACC schools were there. I thought I played well. And then I’m like, ‘Alright, cool, I’m gonna get some recruiting letters in the mail in, like, the next week. I’m gonna take that next step towards realizing the dream of playing ACC basketball, high Division I basketball.’ And… nothing. Crickets. I got some, like, Colgate, or somebody that sent me my first letter and I thought that was amazing, but I was waiting for the big schools. When it didn’t happen, obviously, you see some competitors I’ve played against and them talking about their offers and all that. I did look at the rankings and knew exactly where I was. To your question about that wasn’t gonna define me, I knew if I continued to work on my game, and kept the confidence in myself, the right opportunity would come.”

The right opportunity came when Davidson head coach Bob McKillop offered him a scholarship. Three seasons with the Wildcats resulted in being the seventh overall pick of the 2009 draft. The decade-plus after that draft will be talked about for the rest of basketball’s future. 

“I think a lot of people fall in love with the end goal,” Curry says. “Obviously, that’s nothing new, but that’s the social media era—you see the polished, finished product. And something I’ve learned over the years, and never really knew I was doing it at the time, was falling in love with the process of the work. And then you’ll wake up and that would be something that you’ll enjoy even more than where you end up. I can look at all the awards and accolades and successes… that’s amazing. And sometimes I don’t even celebrate them because I’ve already celebrated the work that goes in to it and I’ve really appreciated that. That part is much more fulfilling because it protects you from whatever the outcome is that you might not be able to control. Even if we lose every Finals or even if I never make it to the Finals, lose every game, whatever, the work that I put in, if I can enjoy that, then I’m doing something right.”

The work will come for the participants of the 2021 Underrated Tour. In April of 2022, the top eight girls and boys from each region will be flown to the Bay Area Championship, where the 64 finalists will compete for two spots in Curry Camp, according to the Tour’s press release.

But, as Curry says, that end goal isn’t the whole focus. 

“We’ve celebrated double-figure kids now that have created scholarship opportunities out of the Underrated Tour,” Curry says. “Who knows where they would’ve been without it? Part of that is such an amazing experience to see manifest itself and we’re just getting started, so that gratitude of just being able to play basketball and the doors that basketball opens and the opportunity that’s being created is pretty awesome.”

Maybe the next basketball-thought-shifting, championship-winning, all-time great will be a product of the Underrated Tour. 

The post Stephen Curry Talks About the Upcoming 2021 Underrated Tour appeared first on SLAM.

“November 2019, we met up with [Stephen Curry] near Stanford at a restaurant,” Luedecke tells SLAM. “And I remember we had the ‘Flow Like Water’ colorway at that point.”

His colleague, Steve Segears, Senior Merchant, Global Merchandising at Curry Brand, is smiling along with the beginning of Luedecke’s story. 

“Steve did a phenomenal job of just storytelling and digging into all the materials and colors, opportunities along the way,” Luedecke continues. “And [Stephen] puts on the shoes and the moment he has them on his feet, you just see, like, this smile on his face, he’s just smiling, and he goes into the corner, he bounces up and down, he does a couple of things. We’re in a restaurant, in the backroom of a restaurant, so there’s no way for him to take them out on the court, but you can see, he’s like, ‘That’s the shit right here.’”

And then both Luedecke and Segears laugh. That was the moment that they knew years of hard work were going to pay off. 

The two-time MVP confirmed the story a few days later. 

“No doubt,” Curry begins. “That moment was special because it allowed me to kind of see the future and where we could go with product and just that experience for anybody that wears it. For me, like you know, I always get excited for that moment when you try something new but this one was something that kind of took it over the top in terms of the feel, the comfort, obsoleting rubber, and just the whole story behind Flow. From there the excitement around what we were building was kind of cemented. Now that it’s actually on shelves and on fan’s feet all across the world, it means a lot to know that that’s where it all started.”

“I remember that meeting we had with him at Stanford,” Segears adds. “At the time, Steph still had the hand injury, so he had a big cast on his hand, and I remember we actually had to get someone to put his shoe on for him, tie it up. I remember that smile that was on his face. I think on one foot he had, I think, the Curry 7. He puts the prototype of the Curry 8 on. He just gets up, you can just see this smile, almost like this big grin, as if he just hit the game-winning three pointer just coming across. And I will tell you even though he [had] the actual cast on, it was hard getting that shoe off his foot. I think he would’ve went out wearing those shoes that day if we would’ve let him.”

“He kept the shoes,” Luedecke jumps in. “I think that’s one of the first leaks when you were on the Warriors Instagram, some of those leaks were from that specific product because that’s the one he actually was like, ‘Ahhh, I’m taking these.’”

What made that moment so special for Curry was the introduction of Flow. It’s a proprietary technological leap forward that allows for a completely rubberless outsole made of foam. It doesn’t slide, which means it doesn’t squeak. Squeaking and sliding costs time on the court that could result in open looks or in blown defensive assessments. Rubber has been a mainstay of basketball sneakers for a century and it continuously squeaks, echoing throughout every gym and park where there’s a hoop. Flow is the silent antidote.

That was the night that Curry got to finally experience a near-finished version of the all-new system.

Luedecke explains that the idea of Flow first began in 2017. A group of chemists and engineers were just talking one day, trying to imagine something big, “pie in the sky” ideas, as Luedecke puts it. Their discussion led to UA’s signature cushioning platform, HOVR, a development that marked another big moment in their design history. That foam compound was wrapped in what UA called an Energy Web. The Energy Web was a mesh fabric made to protect the foam. When the elements interacted, responsiveness and energy return was engaged. 

Those brainstorming sessions to improve on HOVR continued through 2018 until a note came through from UA’s counterparts in Shanghai. A small shipment of tiny foam fragments showed what could be possible. More work followed until, eventually, Luedecke was able to use the new foam on some prototype running sneakers but didn’t have any specific high-level expectations.  

His counterpart, Fred Dojan, put the protos on one morning at their office. He started running around the in-office basketball court. By the time that Luedecke clocked in to work, Dojan was adamant that he try the product as well. And Luedecke was shocked to find out how well they gripped the hardwood and how light they were. 

Then their lives started moving in fast motion. They knew they wanted to have Stephen be the main driver of this new vehicle. Four prototypes with four different uppers were created. But the foam, the material that would become Flow, stayed consistent. 

Those protos were taken out to Cali to show number 30. After he learned about the biometric details and got to run around in them a little bit, he shared his thoughts. 

“He’s like, ‘Alright, well, I want the 8—that needs to be the 8, that needs to be the next shoe,’” Luedecke remembers.

The VP then makes a sound effect of an explosion. 

Segears adds that the Flow tech was supposed to drop in 2022. 

Monthly meetings with the three-time champ happened for more than a year. He had long been asking about how to make his sneakers better, from an innovation standpoint. He would ask questions throughout all their meetings, continually pushing for the most contemporary platforms and materials. 

“He’s really into technology in his personal life, as well,” Segears says of Curry. “When it comes to innovation, we look at him as the guy that we want to put at the forefront of innovation. When it’s something that makes him better and he can feel it, like Flow does, we want to make sure that we’re getting all those insights. He was very hands-on throughout the process. There were a lot of late-night phone calls. Just him checking in. Like, ‘How are we doing on the process? Are we going to get this for the 8?’ And he was adamant. He was like, ‘I’m not putting anything else on my foot unless it’s that Flow technology.’”

“The way the product is built is the opposite from other basketball shoes and that’s coming from somebody who’s built a lot of basketball shoes,” Luedecke says. “Usually you try to get to stability first and then kind of whittle away a little bit to get to where it’s flexible enough to feel it on the foot. This is the opposite. We started with flexible as a point of departure. When you glue foam and rubber together, by definition, it’s like a plywood. It creates a stiff surface or something that doesn’t want to flex very well. I would say in every other basketball shoe, you’re  fighting that. There’s somewhere to flex a little better or somewhere to take things out. Then you’re wondering whether it’s still going to be stable enough. That process was super interesting, even on our side. ‘I have to take every preconceived notion, everything I know about how to build a basketball shoe…’ That includes our engineers. You’ve got to think that through all the way to the factory. Even the factory guys were like, ‘That’s not how we build a shoe.’ We don’t want to mess with the flex, we don’t want to mess how soft it is, we don’t want to mess with how comfortable it feels. This wants to bend, this wants to work with your foot. That was a really, really fun exercise to go through.”

The all-foam outsole needed to complimented by an upper that was just as powerful, but not something that would overshadow the new tech. They went with a knit that features synthetic overlays where the foot is vulnerable. Luedecke brings up the bi-directional internal fit structure that was included in the 8. 

“There’s two directions of support that are independent of each other. They’re not laminated. Depending on if you stop, or if you cut, there are different elements that come into tension,” he says. 

The external heel counter and the internal heel bootie finish off the 8’s tech specs. But the silhouette is really all about Flow. 

“It’s something,” Curry said after the launch of Flow, “you ain’t never seen before.”

The post The Curry 8 is Changing Basketball Footwear Forever appeared first on SLAM.

Expansion, on any level, scares the standard. Somebody, a while back, said that if it isn’t broke, then it doesn’t need to be fixed. And that sunk in to the deepest roots. Movement, thought and life were fixed. They were stuck in neutral. And whether through blissful ignorance or wishful dominance, it was accepted that change should be fought.

Expansion isn’t easy and if it isn’t easy then people are scared of the work. They’re scared to even acknowledge that work is necessary, that it’s healthy to move forward.

But every now and then the change comes no matter what because uncomfortable as it may be, transformation is essential. It comes as a furious wave that crashes down so violently that everything in its wake is gone.  It’s unavoidable.

Then…expansion. Then…a brand new world where normal is pulling from 40 and turning around before the inevitable splash.

Stephen Curry is expansion. He is change. He is revolution. His footprints are being left in water but they will never fade. He changed the way the game is played, the way it’s theorized and the way it’s consumed.

The shift he’s leading goes beyond the 94×50. Where scowls and anger once lived, a 32-watt smile has replaced them. His dominance is accompanied by joy and by a willingness to leave the door open for everyone behind him. He’s spent years sharing his success with artists and activists and flocks of adoring fans.

His next step, the Curry Brand, is meant to establish even more change.

“It started almost two years ago with the idea that having a purpose-driven brand and having that tied into everything that we create is something that is near and dear to me and who I am,” the three-time champ tells SLAM. “We can really create lasting impact and change in the community through the Brand, through footwear, through apparel and being able to tell these amazing stories and collab with amazing people throughout the process.”

The Brand’s motto is “Change the game for good.” That means changing history, changing sneaker construction and changing negative situations for everyday people into positive ones. The world of Curry Brand is being built on those principles. No. 30, for real, wants to help.

“It’s about being a good listener, first and foremost,” he says. “Being aware of and appreciative of the platform that I have to be able to highlight amazing people and amazing stories and just collab with so much good positivity in the world. There’s so many opportunities to do that across the board. Within the world of sports, for the next generation, and the corporate world and just all across the spectrum. And for me, I think it kind of came naturally with how I play the game, that we have our mantra ‘Change the game for good.’ Just trying to blaze my own trail with how I approach within those 94 feet of the court.

It’s the same kind of mindset with people that are overcoming amazing obstacles and odds, to achieving success at the highest level and being able to amplify those stories and those people to the fullest. It’s rewarding but also how and why I am in this position to be able to turn amazing things on the court into amazing opportunities and lasting change off the court. So I’m gonna continue to do that.”

In addition to all the communities he’s already helped in the Bay Area, the two-time MVP has kicked off his newest sneaker, the Curry 8, with actionable initiatives. Colorways of the new silhouette have been released in partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance, with notable photographer Devin Allen, with an Oakland-based artist named Hueman and in support of youth girls basketball teams. His brother, Seth, his former teammate, Andre Iguodala, and his current teammates, Kent Bazemore and Damion Lee, have all been hooping in the 8s. That’s only two months in. There’s way more to come off the court. Court refurbishments, community events (when it’s safe) and much more will continue to roll in. Curry and his team are committing to taking both short-term and long-term steps to ensure that they leave the game better than they found it.

“The stars kind of aligned in terms of being able to, no pun intended, make a splash on the scene with a brand new innovation and brand new silhouette with Curry 8 and Flow technology but also with Curry Brand and creating new energy around what I stand for and the change that we’re trying to make and how people can experience the brand and the mission and what we say we’re gonna do. So it’s been an amazing two-year run to just get to the launch of the Brand these last two and a half months—it feels like it’s been longer—it’s been two and a half, three months. Off to a great start and we’re gonna continue to double down on doing what we said we’re gonna do.”

But back to on-the-court for a moment. All the philosophical disruption that No. 30 has caused throughout his career has just been equaled by his footwear.

Rubber in basketball sneakers? The company with the one star has been including rubber in their basketball sneakers for 100 years. The Golden Gate Bridge, the same bridge on those Dubs uniforms, is only 84 years old. That’s how damn long rubber has been around in hoops.

The Curry 8 has no rubber. The Curry 8…Has. No. Rubber.

Expansion.

Stephen’s sneakers make use of Flow technology. It’s a completely new advancement that has produced an outsole that nobody has ever seen before. The seven-time All-Star has been getting down in the 8s. As of this writing, the man’s averaging 30 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds a game, on 49 percent from the field, 42 percent from deep and 93 percent from the stripe. He’s done it all in the 8s. Outings with 62 points and with 57 points were accomplished in the 8s. A night where he drilled 11 three-pointers was accomplished in the 8s. Eleven different matchups where he hit for at least 30 points were all accomplished in the 8s.

The Flow tech is lighter and more responsive than anything else that he’s played in before.

“It’s game-changing,” Curry says of Flow. “I think you look at shoes across the board on the market, to be able to obsolete rubber and to have an all-foam outsole that does so many different things…the cushioning, the response is second to none. For me, I’ve always had that balance, and getting real technical, in terms of that core feel and feeling like I’m glued to the floor and I can stop on a dime and change directions. Finding that balance is always kind of a give and take. With the Flow, for me, traction is a huge piece to being at my highest performing abilities on the court. Usually you hear that squeak and it’s always like, that’s the telltale sign of traction but that means the rubber is kind of sliding on the floor a little bit and that’s where that squeak comes from. This is a learning process for me and what Flow does, there’s no squeak at all which allows responses to be a lot faster.

“It’s obviously working on the court right now,” he grins. “We’re enjoying just the different feel of what that kind of looks like on the court, and knowing that we’ve kind of flipped how traditional shoes are made and flipped it on its head, and it’s obviously light but it’s got everything you need for me to be the best basketball player that I can be. And we bring some dope aesthetics and colorways and materials to it.”

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The one-time scoring champ has already debuted a handful of crazy player exclusive colorways in the still early stages, in addition to the joints that have hit the market (peep page 28 for more info on those colorways). There was a beautiful tribute to Gigi and Kobe Bryant and to his own daughters at the end of January, a trio of blazingly shiny “Warriors” options and a mismatched pair that honored the famed “We Believe” Warriors from the ’07 campaign. Curry’s had a hand in cheffing up flavors for nearly a decade now and he shared with us the biggest thing he’s learned in all that time.

“Just being authentic and being consistent with [colorways],” he says about his personal creative mindset. “We’ve had some amazing highs, some lows. Learning lessons when it comes to how you create genuine energy and storytelling around things that make me tick, things that are part of my history and part of my background, people that have poured into me throughout my entire life and my basketball career. That kind of underrated mindset, it’s not necessarily aspirational, but it’s something that is a part of a lot of people’s DNA in terms of being overlooked and underrepresented and finding ways to just look for that opportunity [to show] and know that they belong and have goals. And, like, for me, it’s always about being authentic to who you are and finding clever ways to bring visuals and energy and depth to it. It goes back to the team that you have, and seeing things two steps ahead, and I do love that process.”

Process is work and his work now speaks for itself. It’s not only that he’s completely uprooted the outdated basketball philosophies—it’s that he’s done it with a bravery that is somehow rooted even deeper than what came before him. What the world perceives as unwise doesn’t faze him.

On the court, he’s the person who can completely alter his shooting mechanics from shot to shot and they’ll still drop, whether from 75, 30 or 15 feet. Off the court, he’s the one who took the road less traveled and found out that it made all the difference. The mind of a visionary and the actions of an innovator.

“It’s part of being an athlete, and to your point, it kinda manifests itself on and off the court,” he says of his fearlessness. “But it comes with the work that you put in and the people that you are around, for sure. And so the team that I get to work with and I just understand that we are trying to be great in everything that we do. It’s OK to take chances, take some risks, kind of push the envelope a little bit and be in a situation where you’re driving the conversation as opposed to being followers. And so, for us, for me, that’s always been a part of my DNA, on and off the court.”

Even this story, even writing about Stephen Curry and all his success in this way could scare people. To think about him storming the game with the same force as an uncontrollable wave, as nature unleashed, is uncomfortable. But there’s no growth in being comfortable.

The expanded mind terrifies the unexpanded mind. Stephen Curry is terrifying. His game is terrifying. His way of thinking is terrifying. The world he’s forged is terrifying.

Don’t try to fight it. Just sway with the flow.

The post Stephen Curry is Expanding the Realm of Possibilities appeared first on SLAM.

He’s earthbound on this February morning, taking the very JG photos that line these pages. The poses that dot his IG feed—laid-back grins and confident crouches—are the same ones that made us so excited about his first solo SLAM cover (salute to SLAM 225 with ’Rife and Gup). He then smiles about a few old memories during our talk on Zoom. To really be able to think about where JG’s going, we have to understand where he’s been.

Order your copy of SLAM 231 featuring Jalen Green now.

Cut back to the middle of August 2018. The hardwood floor at Life Time Fitness on the West Side of Manhattan has been feeling a stampede. There’s a bunch of people watching a dunk contest between the nation’s best high school ballplayers. They’ve been jumping with the dunkers, feeding off the energy that their flights bring. Every time Andre Jackson, Jahmi’us Ramsey, Cassius Stanley and Green lift off the ground, the crowd does, too. They’re shaking the room.

Jackson and Ramsey don’t make it to the finals, so it’s left to JG and Stanley. Back and forth they go, the crowd getting more and more hype. Something keeps happening. That pre-dunk hype is giving way to an in-the-moment silence. They watch and freeze, waiting to be given the air back. For just a brief moment, it belongs to Green. He commands it and with it comes command of the room. That control only lasts two seconds at a time. It’s those two seconds that matter here. Everyone goes from anticipation to appreciation in that short span. In between those seconds, though, is where the moment gets its life. Those two seconds are why we’re still bringing it up nearly three years later. Those two seconds are when the stampede stops. It’s when Green is throwing the ball between his legs, with multiple feet separating him from the suddenly-quiet hardwood. Those seconds carry calm. It’s a crazy juxtaposition, isn’t it? The game’s ultimate athletic feat always brings so much intensity and excitement. Here is a 16-year-old kid existing somewhere in the middle of all that calm and excitement. Owning grace and power at the same time.

Our eyes blinked and it was all over. The floor was shaking again. Green came down from his between-the-legs dunk and was swarmed by the rest of the ballplayers in the gym. Everybody was losing their minds. Rod Hampton, father of Denver Nuggets guard RJ Hampton, typed out $50,000 on his phone. Still not sure if that was an evaluation or a promise, but it was definitely a valid reaction. Stanley won the contest but Green won the crowd. And that’s just a single example of Jalen being Jalen.

JG likes up. He likes to dunk on anyone who tries him. He likes to turn the corner slowly, then hit the gas quickly and rise up faster than most defenders are prepared for. He likes to drive the lane, take contact, finish with either hand and smirk on his way back down the floor.

He likes to spring up into his jumpers, either standard or step-back, creating so much space between himself and the defender that defense doesn’t matter at all. He likes to run it up; the scoreboard, that is. He likes to score. A lot. And he can score. A lot. And he likes to pile them up. He had three FIBA Gold medals by the time he was 17.

Cut to right now. Green’s latest stop is the G League Ignite Select Team. He’s the main draw on a first-of-its-kind squad that is giving NBA hopefuls another route to the League. He and five other prospects have linked up with a handful of vets to get a head start on playing pro ball by matching up against other G League squads and international teams. It’s the real deal, though. Coached by 15-year pro and three-time NBA champ Brian Shaw, Green is on the fast track.

Because all of the above is true. The 6-5 guard is pro-ready. His scoring ability, his leaping ability and his competitiveness all prove that. But Green is the first one to say how much work he still needs in the pick-and-roll, on defensive rotations and as a communicator. He’s been proactive in learning as much as he possibly can from Shaw, Amir Johnson, Jarrett Jack and Bobby Brown. The other names on the team include Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix. No matter what happens next, Green and his teammates are making history here.

“I just look at it like, we just hooping, playing basketball, just because we ain’t played in so long,” Green says about Ignite’s eventual legacy. “I mean, I know we creating history. I know we made a change that hasn’t happened for some years because I know Amir was the last high schooler to get drafted, but I don’t even really look at it like that. We all trying to chase the dream and get to where we want to go and accomplish our goals.”

Green’s goal is the League, of course. The weight of the opportunity isn’t lost on him.

“I was so nervous,” Green tells SLAM with a hint of relief in his chill Cali cadence. “The night before our first game, I was just, like, I couldn’t sleep, my stomach was like…like, you could feel the nerves, but as soon as you step on the court, it all goes away. It was fun, me playing on the big stage now. The court is bigger, the lights are shining. You’re there.”

He’s there.

With averages of 17.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists in his first seven games, he’s definitely there. And he’s asking questions to get even better.

“You don’t know everything,” the ever-observant Green says about his work ethic. “Especially as you go up in the level, it’s like you’re restarting basketball all over again. I’ve been telling my mom and them that I feel like I’m restarting high school basketball, just at a different level.”

Green, whom we’ve been covering at SLAM for over three years, is different now. The ease with which he’s always moved has recently been compounded by a maturity. The 19-year-old wants to make it. He’s taking the steps, clocking the hours, watching more film than he ever did before. And while the physical side of the game is always being grown, JG’s focusing on two other aspects of hoops.

“Biggest thing I’ve learned probably is, like, terms, knowing where to be, knowing how to talk, and then probably just pace,” he says. “You gotta have a pace in the game or it’s gonna be so hard for you. In high school, I used to get away with just coming down court, being faster than everybody, being stronger, and now you’re on the court with people who are just as strong as you, or even stronger, or faster than you. So you gotta be smarter about what you’re about to do.

“Just slow down,” he continues. “The game is fast, like, on TV, it may not look fast, but when you’re on that court, it’s super fast and it just happens like that. So it’s just about slowing down. Not even just stopping and going, it’s more like slowing, stopping, seeing what you have, you got 24 seconds, use that 24 seconds. Like, play as a team, make the right passes, find the first open man, take what the defense can give you. It’s a lot that goes into it and it’s just crazy because there’s so much you can learn. It makes you excited.”

And there you go. That’s a glimpse into the basketball future of Jalen Green. The young fella is hungry. He wants more. He doesn’t want to talk about it yet, but whatever’s going to unfold for him will be met by a combination of dynamic athleticism and thoroughly studied basketball theory. The mix of those instincts with those thoughts will make sure his feet, whether in KD4s or something else, won’t stay on the ground for much longer.

As for his future off the court, Green knows a little more about that. He’s part of the eBay x SLAMKICKS Sole Starters, where he’ll get the chance to show off his knowledge of sneakers by taking full advantage of eBay’s extensive infantry of kicks. And he’s going to continue to give back to his hometown, Fresno, CA.

“I donated 50 turkeys on Thanksgiving to families who need them in Fresno, and then for Christmas, I did a little toy drive at the Boys & Girls Club, the Boys & Girls Club I was going to when I was in high school and played basketball and stuff for hours,” he says. “We gave them some Beats [headphones], a backpack and some shoes. We just gave it to all the kids. But, yeah, I’ve always wanted to give back to the community of Fresno just because that’s home.”

The future is coming into focus for JG. Everything’s pointing toward making a real impact, both on the court or off it. And with that in mind, we had him take one more trip down memory lane, to the SLAM Summer Classic Vol. 2. He was part of the group that damn near shut down Dyckman.

“The SLAM Summer Classic was crazy,” he says as the adventure of the day suddenly streams back to him. “On the court, playing at Dyckman was awesome, y’all did that thing. But off the court, just the guys who were there, the atmosphere we were in, who we were around, it was fun. I don’t have any certain memory to say right here but it was real fun. That Dyckman experience was crazy. And then, matter of fact, I do have one. When we got on the bus and everyone that was at the park just started chasing us down the block on the bus, that was crazy. I was in awe. They really chasing us. Like, following us. We were throwing shoes out there and stuff. It was just a lot to love and you could feel it.”

There was nothing calm about that day uptown, no type of grace to be offered. It was pure, beautiful chaos. A neighborhood that revolves around the ball finally got a chance to show its passion to a national audience, an audience that featured Green.

The flicks have been taken and the call is winding down. Because JG is a legitimately nice person, the last thing he does is finally indulge us with a prediction of what he expects for himself.

“The Jalen Green story? Well, hopefully I would have accomplished a lot of accolades in the League. Being known as a GOAT or something. Top-three for sure. And hopefully I’m into business by [that] time. I’m not sure what, but I do want to be successful on and off the court, be able to take care of my family. Yeah, that’s all I got right now.”

Now it’s back to the moment.

—

Order your copy of SLAM 231 featuring Jalen Green now.

Photos by Juan Ocampo and Chris Marion

The post Jalen Green is the Future of Basketball–But He’s Living in the Moment appeared first on SLAM.

Ib Hamad is coming to us live from Dreamville, teeming with positivity. The President of Dreamville has been living in the dream since the very beginning. He’s seen six different number one albums, some Grammy love and a signature sneaker. And he’s smiling about that sneaker, the PUMA RS-Dreamer. 

“One thing with Cole, anybody that knows him, he thinks so far ahead,” Hamad tells SLAM. “I remember years ago when he was like, ‘Man, I’m gonna have my own basketball sneaker.’ And I used to be like, ‘That sounds crazy.’ But I never doubted it because I know that his will—he’s the ultimate dreamer. Out of anyone I’ve ever known, I’ve never seen anyone that can really set his mind to things and get it done, even when it seems ridiculous. From when we went to college and he’s like, ‘I’m gonna get signed.’ And people was like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ The idea was flown around for him for so long that by the time it happened and you see that logo and you hold the sneaker  and you’re looking, like, ‘Damn, this guy really set his mind to it.’ It was more the feeling of— obviously the sneaker’s incredible, it’s a beautiful sneaker—but it’s the feeling of the journey.”

“When we started our work with both Cole and Ib on the RS-Dreamer, we knew that in order for the franchise to be a success, they were going to be intimate partners in every step of the creative process,” Adam Petrick, Global Director of Brand and Marketing at PUMA, tells SLAM. “Their creative vision, connection to culture, and authentic attitudes gave this shoe and launch an unrivaled approach. We wanted to ensure that Cole’s vision and dream was brought to life and we feel pretty confident that it was.”

The RS-Dreamer is packed with all of PUMA’s best tech, including RS foam in the ProFoam midsole and a knitted upper with suede accents. 

It originally dropped during the summer, but it’s back by popular demand in even greater quantities. 

“We are really excited that we can bring the RS-Dreamer back to our consumers and fans after such a successful initial launch,” Petrick says. “This time last year at All-Star Weekend Cole wore the RS-Dreamer for the very first time and so we thought it was a nice moment to bring the model back.”

“When it first came out I don’t think we knew what to expect and it just sold out it in minutes, it went crazy,” Hamad adds. “And people wanted it bad. You want people to have it, you want people to play basketball, you want people to wear it out when they go out with their friends and to rob them of that experience because it sold out so quick didn’t feel right.”

The launch colorway returns with the DREAMER logo on the heel. It’s been the motto from the very jump. And though Cole and Hamad didn’t know it at the time, the word fits in perfectly with them. “Dream” originates from Middle English in the 13th century. Its first meaning can be traced back to “music.”

With a big laugh, Hamad says that he isn’t aware of the etymology of “dream.”

“But I’ll tell you what a ‘dreamer’ means to me because I think everybody’s going to interpret it differently and look at it differently,” he continues. “For me, it’s just someone that doesn’t allow things or people or energies to get in the way of what they want to do or what they want to accomplish, whether small or big. I’ve always had the utmost respect for people that just kinda could put they head down and be like I don’t care what you say, I don’t care what he says or she says, what they believe. I don’t care if it seem ridiculous. I’m gonna get it done. That’s sort of what a dreamer is.”

So live from the state of/in/at Dreams, a pawn became a king with just a dollar and something else…

—

PUMA’s not done yet, though. Check out this chance to win a ride on the PJ to link up with Melo Ball and Chris Brickley.

The post Living Inside J. Cole’s Dream: A Behind-The-Scenes Look at the PUMA RS-Dreamer appeared first on SLAM.

A room, a cavernous room, dome-shaped and dilapidated, blanketed with the dust of the past year, cloaked in a hazy darkness, waits for discovery. It’s familiar. The deep darkness in here has its own layers. Faint outlines of trophies and banners cast shadows on ascending rows of uneven shelves. Mini mountains of faded shirts and frayed shorts sprinkled on the ground add dimension to the darkness. Footsteps on the creaky hardwood ring out with an echo, with an echo, with an echo. Squint. There’s still some light in here, towards the back. It glows overhead, celestially, a break coming from somewhere unseen. Something wants to be found. Something is calling.

Be still. Let the vastness of the space be all-consuming. Be still. Let the background blend with the foreground. Be still. Let the surging storm winds that whip outside become rhythmic. Be still. Let everything get focused. Be still. The darkness won’t last.

Stand and accept that the unknown will be worth it, that the tactile feelings of the surrounding aged relics will bring an awakening that though it can’t be touched, it can, and it will, be experienced. 

Then keep it moving.

There’s a towering canvas against the wall, one side free of its beige tarp, the other still covered.

An imposing painting comes into focus, a work of art that would only be possible after 20 years of devotion. A golden mold with purple specks frames the craft. Tales are told with these strokes. The myths are confirmed, the legends of unrelenting dominance, of genius-level mastery, of a hunger that lived so deep that the only thing that could satisfy it was more work, of a terrifying desire… They’re all true. Scenes from atop sun-soaked hills and under bright lights are right next to moments of beautiful togetherness which are then contrasted by individual glory reserved only for the few, the type of prestige that is lonely by nature, that is thought to be unattainable by those who aren’t ruthless and ravenous and haunted by the pursuit of winning.

Decades of greatness sweeps all across the uncovered side of the painting, accented by stealthily slithering snakes.

The winds outside the dome rage. They build and build right up until the other side of the worn-out tarp falls to the floor, bringing the darkness and the dust and the downpour with it.

Quiet. For a moment.

The storm is passing. More light is coming. Those outlines aren’t so faint anymore.

The entirety of the canvas is revealed. And… it doesn’t make sense…

These brushstrokes are even older and even deeper. They’re raised. They don’t tell a story of athleticism or of malicious competitiveness. These images have been left with a vulnerable sincerity. These images are more true.

A happiness, dipped in goofiness and playfulness, shines off the canvas. An unlocked imagination, where the passion formed in childhood was never lost, can be seen. An appreciation of the past, with defining memories clocked in pen, and an awareness of the future, with lofty plans to inspire left in colors, play off each other. This side of the painting spans continents and features scenes that illustrate care and affection. Questions asked aloud, of the self and of family and friends, are joined by play-by-play actions that chronicle true love. Feelings, happy and sad, good and bad, cover the corners. Understanding of the consciousness is clear.

Creativity and expression demand attention here. Sometimes the tool is the mind, sometimes the voice, sometimes a pair of eyes, sometimes a sneaker, sometimes the legs, sometimes the hand, and by extension, a pen. Records written. Every step counted.

Four life-giving doves soar above all else.

And that desire to win at all costs, the theme of one half of the painting, can’t be found on the older half of it. The older side, the honest side, is dedicated to love.

How can this be the same painting? How can it all be true? Whose depiction can this be?

Light is starting to bleed into the dome. It’s not coming from overhead anymore. It’s instead coming from behind the canvas.

Take one more step.

A window, an enormous window, rectangle-shaped and dilapidated, blanketed with the dust of the past year, cloaked in a hazy brightness, waits for discovery. It reveals a rising sun, beaming with red and orange rays, coming in off the Pacific. The dawn rolls in, joined by calm waves.

And, with the new morning setting in, the back of the canvas has one more surprise. There’s an inscription left in sparkling gold. It reads: The Portrait of Kobe Bean Bryant

The post The Full Picture appeared first on SLAM.

“I don’t think it’s been easy,” he says at the beginning of what will unfold into a moment of candor that active NBA players seldom offer. “I think it’s something that I’ve adapted to over time. Certain situations you get put in, or certain roles you get put in, might not necessarily be best fit for you. But you’ve still gotta figure it out.”

And that’s what he’s done multiple times over multiple years. 

Quick refresher on Burke’s career in basketball. 

He and Jared Sullinger eventually dominated high school ball in Ohio together. A family relocation to Atlanta as an eighth grader came back to haunt him as a ninth grader when he moved back to Ohio. His name had fallen out of the OH state rankings so he had to sit and watch his friends play as a freshman. But things got active after that. The point guard reportedly had a 97-5 record during his time at Northland High School in Columbus. His two seasons as a Michigan Wolverine would prove to be legendary. Drafted by the Timberwolves with the ninth pick in 2013, traded that same day to the Jazz. Three years in Utah until a trade to the Wizards in 2016. One campaign in DC and then an agreement with the Knicks came. 

Then he got waived.  

Didn’t matter. 

Burke ended up playing 26 games with the Westchester Knicks because his desire to be in the NBA was that strong. That strong.  

The NY Knicks came calling shortly after the calendar turned to 2018. Buckets were scored and crossovers were distributed and dimes were dropped. A little over a year went by and he was traded again to the Mavericks. Then he linked up with the Sixers to start the 2019-20 season. They let him go in February. 

Pandemic. 

Season postponed. 

Months of uncertainty. Months of testing that desire Burke’s shown again and again. Months of working out without any promises. With just hunger. 

Bubble in Orlando. Call from the Mavericks. Burke has various impressive performances, sometimes with big numbers and sometimes with big cojones. 

And finally, finally, finally, in December of 2020, his patience is rewarded with a three-year contract from the Mavericks. 

That’s a bird’s eye view. Zoom in and check it out year by year and it’s obvious that Burke’s NBA career has been mentally and emotionally trying. But the man has no quit in him. 

Things got tough, Burke says, after his rookie year in Utah. Empty promises about the future and inconsistent playing time cast a shadow over what he thought was a successful rookie campaign. 

“I was going through a phase that second year when they drafted [Dante] Exum,” Burke says. “I had basically came off a first team All-Rookie campaign. And I thought that they wanted to grow and develop with me. They drafted Exum that next year, my second year, and then the head coach, who was [Ty] Corbin at the time, had ended up getting fired. It was a whole new staff. Things went how they went. I started not playing. And I had to figure out, ‘Ok, is it me?’ I had to take an approach as to being the victim or take the approach as to, ‘I don’t care what they do. I don’t care what my environment is presenting me. I’m going to stay the same TB. I’m going to stay the same Trey. That same Trey is going to be getting up every morning, getting his extra work in, going to practice and then getting his late work in after. And still being myself and sticking to my script, my routine regardless of how it’s looking with my minutes.’”

But that clarity he’s speaking with right now didn’t come then. It actually didn’t come until a little bit later. So the rocky ending in Utah was followed by his uneven time as a Wizard. 

“When I got with Washington, those same habits that I was dealing with were coming back,” he says. “And I found myself back in that same situation in Washington. And I kept hearing people say, ‘It ain’t about your talent, it ain’t got nothing to do with your game, Trey.’ And that was what was always confusing to me because now I realize they was basically saying my skill wasn’t the problem. It’s certain things that organizations—it’s a role that they put you in and they want to see if you can do your job in that role.”

Burke was searching for a way to feel like himself again. He began to study his mind and understand why patterns were emerging between Utah and DC. He thought it was just about basketball. But he found out that he had to “re-learn who [he] was as a person.” Then, he believed, he could return to being himself on the 94×50 and being himself off of it. He got some help from Denzel Washington’s performance in The Hurricane. He saw Denzel’s character be put in “unfavorable situations.” But, and this is the part that Burke has taken with him, Denzel’s character didn’t let those situations define him. 

The old Trey, or maybe the new one, was starting to take shape.

Because Burke would soon be met by a valley. The Knicks waived him just three days after they signed him in October of 2017 and he very unexpectedly landed in the G League. Nobody would have thought that the former ninth overall pick would be down there. But just the fact that he was willing to play in the G League is a window into his devotion. 

Burke brings up the G League on his own and says that he will “always emphasize that time.”

“I kind of re-found myself throughout that G League journey,” he says. “I kind of got away from everybody and I was able to come back to being TB, being myself. Sometimes you’ve gotta go through those rebirth situations. I think the G League was a rebirth type of situation. New York ended up calling me back up and I had some huge games that year.”

But after he was included in the trade for Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas, he bounced around again, finding himself in Philly for just 25 games at the beginning of 2019-20. So when he got waived in February, he didn’t get caught up in a mental spiral. 

“Sometimes you don’t necessarily know, for real, what’s going to be threw your way,” Burke says. “It was times where I thought it was going to be sweet coming into shootaround that game. I thought I was going to play 30 minutes. Coach might come up to me like, ‘Yo, I’m going to give him a shot tonight. Boom, boom, let him play this, this and that.’ 

“Like, you don’t know what hand you might get dealt that day,” he continues. “I’ve been learned, through my experience, as long as you don’t let your circumstances define you and you stick to a structure that you done put together for yourself that’s helping you get better everyday, you’ll always be in control of the situation. I feel like we are creators of our reality. We create the reality we experience through our thoughts and our actions. I truly am a believer of that. So I believe I might go through some bullshit. A coach might sit me one game after I done had 21 and 8 and I might sit the next three, four games, which is kind of mind boggling to me but this is a real situation. Over those experiences, I done learned allow that anger to go to that chip. Don’t show it, don’t wear it on your sleeve. Allow that anger to motivate you more to get to the gym before that first bus. I learned how to use the unfavorable situations that I was experiencing as fuel.”

Then the time came, the time where all of his own truths and his battle-earned knowledge came rushing back in to real life. 

Game 4 against the Clippers in the playoffs. Porzingis was a very late scratch and Burke found out he was starting in the playoffs for the first time in his career just moments before the tipoff. 

Let him share the story. 

“Game 4, we was down 2-1 in the playoffs to the Clippers,” he begins. “It wasn’t, like, nervous butterflies but it was butterflies. Sometimes it’s butterflies and it ain’t good and you really are nervous. It was, like, excited butterflies, like, ‘Oh shit.’ Like, I was starting in a matter of seconds. I knew I was going to play a lot of minutes in Game 4 because I was producing at a high level but you’re telling me seconds before tipoff I’m about to be starting on national TV. My first playoff experience, my first real playoff experience. 

“I stood on everything that I just talked about,” he says with the utmost confidence. “I didn’t let my thoughts waver. Those thoughts came though. I want young athletes to know that. They came, those thoughts of doubt, those thoughts of failure, it all came but I always stood on I’m prepared, I’m ready, I done seen this already, I done studied this, I know what I gotta do, I know their weaknesses. I’m ready to play. So every time I would have a thought, I’d deflect it. And that takes time. That really takes time with working on your mind. And not just letting your thoughts run wild. Come game time, it’s easy to let them run wild. Especially when you’re not in a certain role. So I think once Carlisle, Mark and Donnie, once the whole staff saw me perform under that pressure the way I did, I think that’s when I relaxed, not in a sense of I made but relaxed in a sense of, ‘Ok, this is starting to feel like home. This can be a place for me in the future. I can see it now.’

“I learned a lot about myself,” he says of that game. “In some of the most unsure-est situations, stand on who you are, stand on what you know within. You’re going to be fine. I ended up with 25, Luka hit the game-winning shot and that’s going to be one of those playoff games they’re going to always be playing back. I think that’s my favorite game when it comes to the NBA.”

The post Trey Burke Gets Honest About the Mental Side of Playing in the NBA appeared first on SLAM.

Murray starts to sing when it’s time to raise up. The hop into his shot is consistently on-beat and it comes with perfectly squared shoulders like he’s leading an orchestra. The shoulders give way to a dipped-in-honey follow through that he leaves up even after the nylon dances to his music. His whole game is a concert in which his mind and body take turns leading the jam session.

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It’s regular to hear him play different songs. Sometimes he’s calm, providing the backing track for his teammates. That’s when he moves in chords, within structures that keep the timely groove. Sometimes he’s aggressive, living in the solo section of the song, crashing through with long-distance shots that squeal like a bent guitar string and dribble combos that happen so quickly they look like furious scales up and down a keyboard. Sometimes he trades off. He’ll start a song in the background and then take over at the end with his own version of a G#7 note (Hiiiii, Mariah Carey).

His music, of course, swelled to a deafening crescendo during the Orlando bubble. The volume was all the way up to 11 and every single chord or note he played was pitch perfect. His mechanics were all so finely tuned that he created the highlight reel equivalent of a no-skip album. The most incredible part is that he went prime Nas/Drake/J. Cole when it mattered most. He shined brightest when the lights were blinding—in the clutch.

3-1.

Twice.

Twice.

Now that everybody’s listening, it’s an ideal moment in the Ballad of Jamal Murray to remind the world that this is nothing new. Just because it was loud in the bubble doesn’t mean it hasn’t been happening for years and years.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve changed,” Murray calmly tells SLAM. “Nah. I’ve adjusted a little bit, coming from Canada as well, different country, being alone. I just let basketball express myself. Not many people know me or talk to me or I give them the time of day to have a full conversation but when you see me on the court, that’s my way of being myself and just expressing myself and showing what I’ve been practicing and doing for the past 23 years. I’ve been playing since I was a little baby. This is what I want to do. When I’m playing well, that makes me happiest the most.”

The Kitchener, Ontario, native isn’t just another kid coming from Canada. He’s the kid coming from Canada. He could’ve been out to a prestigious American prep school when he was dominating high school ball up north and finished in front of more mixtape videographers. But he made a choice that no one else before him had been brave enough to try and he decided to stay home. And in doing so he was the final piece in opening Canada’s doors to the world of college and pro scouts.

Maybe that’s why his performances in the bubble were so unbelievable to so many. There aren’t many American hoop fans watching Canadian high school basketball.

But that’s not a good enough excuse because that was over five years ago. There was definitely enough time to catch up on a high-volume shotmaker that played collegiately at the University of Kentucky and made it a habit to put up 20-spots while with Big Blue Nation. No? Too many one-and-dones over there to remember?

He had to have been on the national radar when the Nuggets grabbed him with the seventh overall pick in 2016. Or when he took home that season’s first Rookie of the Month trophy in November. Or when he won the MVP of the 2017 Rising Stars Game with nine three-pointers and 36 points. Or even when he made the All-Rookie second team that year. There was that time that he gave Kyrie Irving and the Celtics a 48-point performance in 2018. Devin Booker and the Suns couldn’t stop him from getting 46 a few weeks later. The 2018-19 playoff numbers don’t lie either. Averages of 21 points on 42 percent shooting in 14 contests as a 22 year old should’ve gotten him the proper amount of buzz.

Guess those mountains out in Denver are too high for the national media.

He went supernova in the 2020 playoffs, a thundering roar that people in Denver, Canada and everywhere in between heard. Checks out that’s when everyone would check him out. The 26 points per game on 50 percent shooting is already nasty. But his six games of at least 30 points, with four of those reaching at least 40 and then two of those reaching 50, shouldn’t be all that surprising to those who have been paying attention. His trajectory has always been trending towards ascension.

Murray’s a 6-4 guard that can post, drive to the rim, hit pull-ups off the bounce, laser catch-and-shoot threes and nail free throws with his eyes closed. That last part isn’t hyperbole. YouTube it. He can go from throwing the ball off the backboard to himself to carving up defenses with the pick-and-roll to surveying the floor like prime Steve Nash with that famous wheel dribble. He’s got the handle to create his own shot and the IQ to lead a Nuggets offense that is symphonic in nature. His competitiveness, by far the most fun part about him, borders on threatening. He will rip out the figurative heart of whoever’s standing on the other side. He’s a throwback to all those who had the fearless takeover trait of the no-friends 1990s NBA. He cherishes competition.

Murray uses the word “express” when asked about the game. Life is creativity to him. That’s why it looks like there’s music in him when he’s on the floor.

“I think anything that you try to practice or perfect is just art in general,” Murray says. “When you watch people dance, any type of performance—when you watch them sing—there’s an art to it, there’s a passion that comes with it as well. When I’m fighting, I’m doing kung fu, a fadeaway is like a kick. My shot’s like an arrow. The way I go into a punch is the way I drive. It’s the same kind of mentality in terms of what I’m trying to do on the court. I just always think that everything I do, if I’m running track, football, if there’s any type of competition, I’m always trying to be the best at it, I’m always trying to do my best. There’s no in-between with me. When I watch some highlights and I see myself do a fadeaway, it’s the same form as a kick in kung fu, especially when I jump high. I don’t know,” he laughs. “I have a different brain. I be thinking different.”

Murray says “different” here like it’s a bad thing. But his version of “different” is reflected only in the fact that the things that make him different are the same things that so many people don’t understand about him.

He’s practiced mindfulness and meditation since he was very young, under the guidance of his father, Roger. His pops has studied Bruce Lee for decades and he started showing Jamal the icon’s movies at a very young age. It’s scary how quickly Jamal identified one of Lee’s quotes during our interview. His examining of Lee is how Murray is able to connect the form of his fadeaway to the form of his kick. And Murray’s always been down to expand his mind and his spirit. It’s been that way forever.

“Just repetition, just over and over and him not getting tired of me getting tired of hearing him,” Murray says of the early days of his mindfulness practices. “Greatness doesn’t come easy. It takes being uncomfortable more than you think. And doubting if you’re going the right way. And [my dad] just wanted me to listen. I think that was the biggest thing. He said, ‘Give me your ears and if you listen to what I’m saying, it’ll help and you can actually see what I’m trying to say. As you get older you’ll understand and have a broader perspective of things that are happening and then you start to see the results and then you try to learn as quickly as you can.’ I just try to keep that understanding of my game and how I can score and what’s worked best for me. I just try to build on that. I just try to keep building every single day.”

The next building block for Murray is a contract with New Balance. He famously rocked a custom colorway of Adidas Pro Model 2Gs with Breonna Taylor’s and George Floyd’s portraits all throughout the playoffs. But, as he says, he’s looking to be different.

“I just wanted to do something different,” he says. “I’ve always been a pioneer in that kind of sense. Staying in Canada, sliding in the draft to Denver, coming off the bench and then starting, being into kung fu and all that kind of stuff and now in signing with New Balance. I feel like we’re both similar in that way. We both have creative ideas. We want to see them come to life. 

“As Bruce Lee, as he said, he said kung fu is a way of expressing himself and shoes, for me, is one way I can go either express myself or show what’s important to me or what’s valued to me,” Murray continues. “I’m really excited to get to work with some of these guys and designers on clothes, and shoes, and collaborations that we can come up with. Like I said, bring all these ideas to life. Yeah, it’s going to be fun. Just creating stuff. I’m going to have all different types of colors. You know me, I like to wear the shoes that stand out the most and I also like to be simpler sometimes and just have clean white. Really excited. It’s going to be a lot of fun, like I said, just going through, talking about stuff we like, stuff we don’t like, what we want to see, what we don’t want to see and be able to move on in the future.” 

He predictably stays quiet about the possibility of a signature silhouette.

All he offers is, “We’ll see, fam. We’ll see.” A big smile follows that limited response.

But no matter what New Balance silhouette he’s hooping in, it’s crystal clear that it’ll be part of indelible images in the future while Murray looks to climb throughout the playoffs again. Another deep run is expected so it’s a good time to take one more look back at his remarkable work in the bubble.

“Passion,” he says, is the singular word that comes to mind when he thinks about that chapter in his life.

“Just being in the bubble, being on lockdown, not being able to have any distractions and just focusing on game-to-game and with everything going on, I just felt like I didn’t have to think or do anything but play basketball,” he continues. “And that was where I thrived in. It’s just trying to carry that same energy, that same mindset and doing the same thing here in Denver or wherever we are on the road. But we were there for so long and it was like, ‘Ok, I’m here for basketball. I might as well just give it my all every single night.’”

That’s how he’s approached his whole career so far. It’s just that you finally started watching. He’s increased his points and assists averages in all four seasons he’s played in. He’s gotten to the Western Conference Finals when nobody thought he or the Nuggets could. You honestly should’ve seen this coming.

Jamal Murray hasn’t changed.

“Just playing my game, just part of the free-flowing spirit that I am,” he says. “Different pace, different tempo. I like to find different rhythm.”

Hear that music?

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 230

The post Jamal Murray is an NBA Superstar and You Should’ve Known That By Now appeared first on SLAM.

The Jordan “Why Not?” Zer0.4 starts off with a quintet of flavors that, as Gibson said, have deep connections to the former MVP. There’s the “Upbringing,” an asymmetrical mashup of his childhood in LA.

Then there’s the black and gold “Family” option. Self-explanatory. The blue-based “Trust & Loyalty” joints are a tonal mockup that plays into Russ’ devotion to his loved ones. And then there’s the “FACETASM” collab, a project that was born during Westbrook’s 2019 trip to Tokyo. 

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Hiromichi Ochiai, the founder of Japanese-based design company, linked up with Russ and formed an immediate connection. Then the work started. 

“Super involved,” Gibson says of Westbrook. “He’s a creative himself. He defines himself as a creative on-court, off-court. I wasn’t sure whether to show him sketches or detail drawings or samples. He sort of works across all of that. The really cool thing about Russ is once he sees something, he knows. Very quickly. Very much knows what he likes, knows how he wants things and really brings this personal point of view maybe don’t do. Even though he’s guarded, he does want to tell personal stories and narratives, which I think is really cool and key for the product.”

“Russ always brings a ton of different references and elements every season,” Mackenzie Sam, the lead designer of Westbrook’s apparel collection, adds. “It all goes back to him and his personal connection to everything. It’s taking subtle hits and figuring out ways to maybe make them more overt.”

Gibson and Sam worked with Ochiai and Westbrook to build a world of design connected through footwear and clothing. The sneakers relate to the pieces and the pieces relate to the sneakers. Both Gibson’s and Sam’s teams work with the namesake at the same time, which has led to a bridge between the two sides. Moving forward, motifs from a PE will be subtly found on a jacket. Or a logo originally seen on the back of a shirt will be exported to a new colorway. 

Sam references OG Jordan gear, of course, but he also got his inspiration for this collection from an unexpected source. 

“The collection started with a mashup and a lot of different elements from a lot of areas, whether it be from classic Jordan, a lot of vintage military,” he tells SLAM. “A lot of these elements were pulled and then mashed together to create this collection. It’s always about breaking that expectation. I reference everything. Prior to being in Portland, I lived in New York. So, honestly, a new inspiration reference for me is just getting outside and getting to the outdoors.”

But everything that Westbrook does is rooted in performance. So Gibson techs out the “Why Not?” Zer0.4. 

There’s double-stacked Zoom in the forefoot and it’s got a decoupled outsole because the Air Jordan 28, a favorite of Westbrook’s, also had a decoupled outsole. There’s a TPU plate underfoot and a two-stage traction pattern. A series of thinner and thicker blades, with about 0.25 millimeter of difference in height, make up the outsole. 

“You have this top layer that’s touching the ground and as soon as you put a lateral force, there’s a little bit of deflection and that’s when the secondary ones grip in,” Gibson says about the outsole.

The upper makes use of aggressive lines and layered pieces as a reflection of how unique Westbrook is as a person and as a player. Gibson and his team then shed weight on the 4 by removing the midfoot strap that was featured on the 3. But Gibson emphasizes the 4’s heel lockdown. 

“The importance of locking the heel came from working with some NFL players actually,” he says. “Worked with Odell [Beckham Jr], where his trainer really wanted his heel to be locked down. And thinking about Russ as a similar sort of player, similar energy—Russ is a lot bigger than Odell—but the dynamic moves that they make on the floor, we felt that it was a really interesting match.”

Gibson is clear in saying that Odell didn’t work directly on the 4, just that his influence on it sparked a way to keep Westbrook safe when he’s dunking in DC this season. 

“Russ really likes to see options, iterations of things,” Gibson says. “We had a couple of things in our minds. The lockdown and the cushioning started, the traction came a little bit later, some of these details on the upper came a little bit later. But we just built all these concepts through sketch. I even made a couple of samples that were terrible but just to illustrate a concept. And we would talk about them all and then Russ would talk about the things that he liked about the different things. Then we started to brings those things together. 

“We would send him an email with images, we’d get on the phone, video chat—this all happened pre-COVID,” he continues. “And then we’d meet with him in-person, which is the most valuable because then you really get down to what he likes and what he doesn’t like. He would just take a shoe off the table and just go, ‘I don’t want to see that again.’ Super honest.”

The team eventually landed on the “Why Not?” Zer0.4, which will be part of the former MVP’s new journey. Westbrook is focused on using it as a platform to showcase the talents of storytellers and artists from within the Black community. That’s what’s most important to him. 

The post Inside the Design of the Jordan ‘Why Not?’ Zer0.4 appeared first on SLAM.

“The simplicity of it,” Anthony says about his favorite part of the game. “How 99 percent of the time, the more simple something is, the more effective it is,” he continues. “A lot of times, people get caught up in overcomplicating stuff, doing 100 moves. Shoot, even I can get caught up in that sometimes. I’ll be the first to admit it. But at the end of the day, shoot, the more simple you are, a lot of times it’s more effective. I really appreciate small aspects of the game like that. At the end of the day, it’s a super high-level, super highly talented game, but just how simple it can be sometimes.

“It’s just something from years of playing the game,” he says. “You watch a lot of basketball, you play a lot of basketball, it’s something you learn. Shoot, look, I’m still learning. I even struggled with it a lot this year. I tried to overcomplicate things a lot. That’s why I struggled, realistically. Just getting back to that mode of not overcomplicating the game. I think that’s what’s going to help me ultimately succeed.”

Anthony is, of course, being overly critical. The 6-3 freshman point guard played in 22 contests for the Tar Heels, putting up a strong line of 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4 assists. He had at least 20 points in nine of those contests, led by a 34-point outburst in a win against Notre Dame. There were four games where he hit double-digit rebounds and two outings that saw him grab four steals. Anthony’s skillset is built on raw athleticism, at least to the untrained eye. But the way he finds gaps in the paint with consistent footwork, the high-arching ascension of his follow-through on his jumper and the low-angle pocket passes he throws out of the pick-and-roll all point to an understanding of basketball’s smallest minutiae. And in those moments where it’s all going right, where the fine points of basketball are all in-tune, that’s where Anthony finds his zone, even if he doesn’t show it.

“When everything’s going right, honestly, no emotions,” he says. “I play best and I’m at my best when I’m in a super calm and zen mode. I’ve learned I don’t like to get super hype before a game. I’m not going to listen to Chief Keef or something. I’ve got to be in a super calm mode because when I show no emotion is when I play my best.”

He’s on his way to the League now, with an abundance of those no-emotion modes in his rearview.

“I’ve always been in love with the game of basketball,” he says. “That’s been one thing I’ve never had to question. I’ve always had love, always had passion, always been super competitive. Since I was a child. My mom has this photo of me when I think I was about nine months old of me just throwing a basketball in a hoop. It’s been love ever since then.”

In the nearly 20 years since that photo was taken, Anthony’s basketball journey has twisted and turned from New York to Virginia to North Carolina. It’s even landed him on the cover of SLAM. The dedication to the game, no matter what team name was on the jersey, has been consistent. On a walk down memory lane, two moments stick out to the former McDonald’s All-American.

“My favorite game was my freshman, going into my sophomore year, of high school. AAU. Semifinal game. Peach Jam.”

There’s a rhythm to him. Each declarative part of that introduction brings him closer and closer to entering that game mode even on a cross-country Zoom call.

“It was me, Quade Green, Mo Bamba, Brandon Randolph, Hasahn French,” he continues. “We had a little squad. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t remember all the music, all the shoes, all that. I just remember the game. I just remember us struggling early in the game. We go down 22 at halftime. We ended up, second half, coming back. Quade went crazy. We just ended up somehow winning that game against Team Penny. That was wild. I remember trying to dunk on PJ Washington, getting my dunk blocked. Quade actually posted this picture a few days ago. Quade hit an and-1 three. And I went and rushed on him to pick him up. I’m kinda, like, screaming in his face, he’s screaming in my face. That’s a legendary picture right there. We were all hype. I just remember the gym was electric. And we were all just, like, hype.”

He’s got a big smile across his face even as he finishes that story by noting they lost in the championship to Trae Young and Michael Porter Jr. But as a basketball junkie, which Anthony is, that’s the stuff that he lives for. It’s been that way for years now.

“The first time he told me he wanted to take [basketball] serious, we were in a little league baseball game,” his father, Greg, told SLAM in 2018. “He had just finished fifth grade and was getting ready for sixth grade. He was playing baseball at the time. He had a good game and I’m there, excited and thinking, Well, maybe it’ll be baseball. At the time, he hadn’t really shown an affinity or any real ability in basketball. He came to me after the game and said, ‘Dad, I just want to tell you that I just want to concentrate on basketball. I don’t really want to play any other sports.’ It was a bit of a shock because at that time, he wasn’t really that good at basketball. I said to him that day, ‘Ok, if that’s what you want to do, these are the things that we’re going to have to do for you to get better.’ And I think it was when he took ownership at that moment that he started to get better as a basketball player. He started playing it more and his single-minded focus was just on playing basketball.”

“I think it was sixth grade nationals,” he begins of the moment he knew something big was in the works. “We went to the D1 Nationals. We weren’t really a team that was supposed to do that well. We ended up beating this team, Team Nelson, they were pretty good. I think they were from Jersey. I had 38 that game. And this is back in, like, fifth, sixth grade. Ain’t nobody getting 38 back then. I was like, ‘Woah!’ It’s funny. I didn’t even know. We was in practice the next day and our coach was talking to us. He’s like, ‘This is why Cole had 38.’ I said, ‘Wait.’ I said, ’38?’ I said, ‘What?’ He brings out his phone, starts passing it around to everybody. I’m like, ‘Yo, I had 38! That’s alright.’ So we won that game. Next game I came out and had 28. I was like, ‘Yo, I felt like I could really do something with this.’ So from then I just ran with it. Even now, I’m still uber-confident. The confidence level will never leave me.”

He doesn’t say it with any type of cockiness at all. It’s more like a realization, one that floods back with the story, making him clock how long he’s really been doing this.

“Hopefully whatever team drafts me, I’m going to bring that to them from day one,” he says.

So watch Cole Anthony play when he makes the League. Look out for a two-handed chest pass or a catch-and-shoot three where his mechanics are perfectly moving in concert. Pay closer attention to fully see the big picture.

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @maxresetar.

Photos via Getty Images. 

The post My Time: Cole Anthony is Bringing His Basketball IQ to the League appeared first on SLAM.

An innate feel has been guiding Kyrie Irving in his professional career, both on the 94×50 and within the context of his signature sneaker line. The natural creativity he expresses in both areas was forged in the fire a long time. He would go from layup drills to studying what made MJ’s sneakers and Penny’s marketing campaigns so different. And all those hours and hours built skill and a one-of-a-kind instinct, a reactionary ability that can’t be duplicated. The connection between the two spaces now drive each other. His game informs his sneaker in the same way that his sneaker supports his game.

Time’s skipping along something crazy. Irving got drafted nine years ago and he’s now seven silhouettes deep.

The first six have been historically noteworthy. Basketball-informed real estate and construction have been mixed with imaginative colorways in a way that really hadn’t been seen before. Kyrie’s line isn’t about matching. He’s proven over and over that it’s about taking risks, seeing how colors compliment each other and how they play off each other. It was the line that served as a training ground for makeups that wouldn’t have been able to exist in the eras before him. Colors that the general public and execs at the League office would’ve laughed at in the past are now accepted widely.

With everything he’s already done behind him–the chip, the multiple All-Stars, the six sneakers–Kyrie had a clear vision for the 7.

“In the 7, start this whole new journey of being this high-performance basketball, taking on what Kobe’s identified with his line, I want to have some of that in my line as well,” Ben Nethongkome, lead designer of the 7, said of Irving’s mindset.

Performance. Performance. Performance.

“When Eric Avar designed the Kobes, I don’t think they were thinking about it’s got to look cool off-court,” Nethongkome said. “That’s something we talked about internally. If it performs really well on the court, that’s the move that we’ve got to really pinpoint. If it doesn’t perform then we let the athlete down. We always prioritize the performance feature, the aspect of being a banger on-court.”

The 7 is dedicated to quickness and providing Irving with a vehicle for speed. Nethongkome and his team started the 7 by going back to the 6. They went through the outsole to begin cutting weight. Then they cut the strap that defined the 6, replacing it with forefoot TPU wings on either side of the silhouette. The 6’s leather got replaced by composite mesh with a reinforced layer below. Nethongkome and his team were able to shave 2.5 ounces from the 6 to the 7 when all was said and done.

But that forefoot Air Zoom Turbo unit that’s made his line so comfortable is back in the 7.

“The Zoom Turbo unit that we had before, that was something specifically that Kyrie wanted us to keep,” Nethongkome said.

The rest of the 7 will fall in line as the season gets going again. They’ve got some big plans to link up with Kevin Durant and Sue Bird.

“There’s for sure a conversation being had with our team and the KD team,” Nethongkome said. “We definitely are working on something with Sue Bird and Kyrie. And he’s definitely going to be rocking some of that for sure.” 

“Talking about creativity,” Irving said, “you’re constantly exploring new ways of doing things. I’m always thinking about how we can grow existing silhouettes or try something completely new.”

The post Inside the Design of the Nike Kyrie 7 appeared first on SLAM.

It’s just that, if we’re being honest, most of those stories aren’t even close to reality. The ball never bounced as high as most places throughout this country claim it did at one point. It’s rare to find a spot in the States where the legends are actually true. 

But Marcus Mizelle, director of the documentary short Something in the Water: A Kinston Basketball Story, is from a place where it’s all true, where the tall tales aren’t just tall tales. 

One in 52.7 basketball players that hooped at Kinston High School, a small public school, have played in the NBA. The average in the world is one out of every 10,000 people will make the League, according to Mizelle’s new film. 

“When you start filming—something’s in the water? Ok, what’s in the water? What’s in the water? That’s just a slogan,” Mizelle explains to SLAM. “What’s in the water is this organism, this living, breathing thing where all these people are just participating and helping one another. Kinston is just a support system that keeps going and going and going. It’s this organism that all these people have put so much and energy and time in to and it just keeps cycling.”

Cedric Maxwell, Charles Shackleford, Jerry Stackhouse, Reggie Bullock and Brandon Ingram are among the NBA players from the small town in North Carolina. 

Mizelle went back home, to the town where he lived for the first 23 years of his life, to look at how Kinston became one of those rare places where the romanticized past is the truth. But that’s not the story that ended up driving his film. 

“2016, I reached out to Donald Ingram, Brandon’s dad,” he says. “I was not able to connect with him. We didn’t really know each other yet. I hit him up on Facebook message. That was the only line I had at the time. And then 2017, ESPN dropped a big article on Kinston and the basketball there. I think the title was something like ‘Brandon Ingram’s Hometown Has the Highest NBA Draft Picks Per Capita in the World.’ Something like that. That’s when I was like, ‘Alright, well, I’m going to go ahead and go to town, see what we can get.’  

“I reached out to everybody I ever knew in Kinston,” he continues. “Got in touch with Donald Ingram, kept hearing about a kid named Dontrez Styles. His name kept popping up. He may or may not be the next big thing. He was in ninth grade at the time. And then Curtis Hines, a personal trainer. All these names kept popping up, as far as what’s going on in Kinston right now. I was like, ‘Of course it’s about the past greats. That’s important.’ But I was more interested in what’s going on right now.”

History becomes present and future in Something in the Water. Styles is headed to North Carolina, following Jerry Stackhouse’s path. Hines is a huge part of the doc. And Mizelle even dives into how Kinston’s economy has changed over the years, including the impact of its high crime rate. 

For as much it’s about the game, Something in the Water is about the people that have dedicated so much to Kinston, the people whose stories ring out. Mizelle talks about how Donald Ingram hosts games every Tuesday and Thursday for players of all ages. He details Hines’ commitment to helping the next generation. He gives a special shout out to Jeremy Ingram, the guard who should’ve torn up Wake Forest, if not for injuries (“I know he was going to make the League,” Mizelle says). He mentions the unfortunate passing of Charles Shackleford, a rebounding machine that played throughout the 80s and 90s. 

“I learned I’m lucky as hell to be from Kinston, is what I learned,” Mizelle says about the doc’s creation process. “I’m lucky. There’s a lot of small towns I could’ve been from and there’s a lot of towns that had a high crime rate but at least Kinston also has basketball. It’s a cool thing to be known for. It’s the best thing to be known for. That’s been such a reminder for me. Just being proud, straight up proud for being from a cool spot with good people.”

Mizelle, at the end of his film, asked all of his interviewees to describe Kinston with one word. He’s the director so he decided that he gets two words. He goes with “special” and “hungry.”

Hungry for more special stories to be told. He has plans to extend Something in the Water with more interviews and footage, proving that Kinston isn’t just another one of those places that dreams about how good their ballplayers actually are. 

—

Watch Something in the Water now on Amazon Prime.

The post Filmmaker Marcus Mizelle On Why Kinston, NC is a Basketball Heaven appeared first on SLAM.

“Adam and I were high school basketball players,” he says. “Our high school team won Southern California Championship. We played in college at SC. Our dreams growing up was literally to be in SLAM.”

The brothers didn’t make it to SLAM as ballplayers. They made it as businessmen. They used all the money they had to buy an ad in SLAM to launch APL, their sneaker company. Athletic Propulsion Labs was meant to be the pinnacle of basketball performance footwear. 

That was the only paid advertisement they did. And it worked. 

“You have these NBA players and their agents reaching out to us,” Ryan continues. “We ended up getting invited to the NBA Finals, when the Lakers were playing the Celtics, 2010. We ran into David Stern and Adam Silver. We were talking to them about APL and the shoes and they said, ‘If you  guys want any NBA players to wear it, you have to come meet with the NBA prior to August 1 of the upcoming season to show them the product and make sure you get approvals.’”

The APL Concept 1 was a performance monster, highlighted by the Goldston’s proprietary Load ’N Launch technology. Load ’N Launch is a forefoot spring pad. The “Load” part happens when a player jumps, compressing the springs. Then the “Launch” comes in the form of a release at the moment of liftoff. The kicks, simply speaking, gave wearers stupid bunnies. 

The brothers’ initial idea for APL was to be on the “highest end of the performance spectrum,” according to Ryan. APL ended up flying too high for the League. 

“We’re waiting, waiting,” Ryan says. “It passes August. It passes September. We finally hear back from them. October 19, 2010. The NBA banned the shoes because they said it ‘provides the wearer with an undue competitive advantage.’ That was their exact wording. The greatest wording we could’ve ever hoped for.” 

A decade to the day later, he’s going back through the story with pure joy. He and Adam would spend the next four years consistently selling out of their basketball silhouettes.

And now the brothers are celebrating their decennial anniversary with the release of two new basketball sneakers, the APL SUPERFUTURE and the APL Concept X. 

“It’s a 26-piece upper with a new type of Exolock material that we created,” Adam says with the Concept X in his hand. “It’s super stretch but it also locks your foot down with this material. The cool thing about the Concept X is we took the original technology that was banned by the  NBA. Now it’s much bigger and performs insane as a full carbon plate that runs from the heel to the forefoot. 

“Cars are a huge inspiration for us,” he continues. “Cars have gotten faster but the main thing that they’ve done is they’ve gotten lighter. We tried to use inspiration from the way that they invent vacuum-wrapped cars and the fastest cars and the most exciting cars are the ones where there is real motion in it but it looks like it’s shrink-wrapped. That’s what we tried to do with these shoes.

“This is the SUPERFUTURE,” he says with their newest model in front of the Zoom camera. “It’s a laceless basketball shoe. This has the original Load ’N Launch technology that was banned by the NBA. We really wanted to try to push the limit, specifically with these shoes, in terms of what’s possible with design and then also innovation.”

The brothers have been pushing everything about APL for the last ten years, continually referencing “world building.” What started as a basketball sneaker company has transformed into an international brand where everything from visual aesthetics to written world is carefully calculated. The brothers take a trip down memory lane and share stories about being in Monaco for the 2016 Grand Prix and in Hong Kong for the start of their deal with the Lane Crawford department store franchise. Those are two moments that stand out to them along the journey and that helped them to refocus the vision they first started out with. 

“A lot of times you’re looking at stuff and you’re thinking about it from a financial standpoint,” Ryan says. “But that’s not truly the stuff that brings you the happiness. It’s not the thing that characterizes success for you. It’s the happiness and success of getting to do what you love, the process that goes into it. That was a fundamental shift in thinking that came from the love of creating.”

They both call out specific memories from the time they spent in Monaco and in Hong Kong. Adam says it was “surreal” to see 400 people wear their kicks after they inked a partnership with Renault to be the Formula One Team’s official footwear provider for the Grand Prix. And reminiscing on the pop-up shop and three-on-three basketball game that Lane Crawford hosted for them in Hong Kong has them both giddy. 

SLAM asked the Goldstons about what music inspires them at the top of this interview. Nipsey Hussle, Adam said without hesitation. He remembers hearing “Hussle in the House” back in 2009 and immediately identifying with the late great. 

“He talked about how he took the stairs, not the elevator,” Adam says. “That’s been the whole thing for us. We felt like we took the stairs. We had a huge advantage when we got banned by the NBA but we did it our way. We’re in year ten now. We’ve been grinding for a very long time. We have a lot of success now. But it definitely didn’t happen overnight, even though we had that overnight moment. I’ve always related to the mentality that [Nipsey] has in terms of building.

“I know it sounds fucking cliche, and again, not to go back to Nipsey Hussle but Nipsey literally said ‘If you don’t enjoy the journey then you’re just a hardworking failure,’” Adam says. “If you’re looking for one specific thing at the end of the road, and you get there, you’re not going to be happy. What we try to do as a company, what inspires us, we want to be excited about the things we’re doing day in and day out.”

They say that they have big plans waiting in the wings for 2021. Those’ll come to life in due time. But on this day, the ten year anniversary of getting banned by the NBA, with their newest basketball sneakers dropping, the APL SUPERFUTURE and the APL Concept X, it’s a full-circle moment that Ryan and Adam will be talking about another ten years from now. 

The post APL Founders Ryan and Adam Goldston Celebrate Ten Years of Success appeared first on SLAM.

Through all the valleys and peaks, Jack Ryan is just a kid from Brooklyn that’s never stopped playing the game, even though he’s 59 years old now. And the movie that’s coming out on October 30, Blackjack: The Jackie Ryan Story, shares a look at what he’s gone through, on and off the court.

“With the movie, it’s about finding your purpose in life,” Ryan tells SLAM. “Redemption through failure. Becoming a leader.”

Without giving too much away, Ryan details how the new movie chronicles the summer in his life that he had a tryout with the New Jersey Nets. He was a neck-breaking, shit-talking, hell-raising destroyer with the ball in his hands. His jumper was laser-made, able to scope out a swish from 30-plus feet out. His handles were AND1-like, but 15 or so years before that famous tour got going. He would embarrass his opponents, merging deadeye accuracy with ingenious yo-yo dribble moves. And he was the little white boy that could fly. He started dunking when he was just 14. 

“In high school, we played Boys High and won the city championship,” the former John Jay HS graduate remembers. “I’m the only white guy in the gym. The coach is downstairs and he told me no more dunking because I would get technical fouls all the time. The place is packed. I’m the only white boy. Steam is coming out of my ears. I’m looking around, like, ‘Oh shit, I’m going to turn this shit up.’ I just started dunking the shit outta the basketball. There was a guy on the mic. Not every high school had a guy on the mic. There was a guy on the mic at Boys High that was yelling: ‘JackJack, please stay off the rims!’ Nobody else called me JackJack in my life.”

They mostly call him Blackjack and they know him for dominating the five boroughs for the last handful of decades, riding all around the city on his bike with a ball tucked by his side. He was the first white Harlem Wizard, he’s set three Guinness Records, he led the West 4th Street league in scoring at 50 years old and he’s performed all over the world as the Hoop Wizard, alongside his daughter, Morgan, for the last 16 years, entertaining kids with a ridiculous series of tricks. 

“We’ve performed at so many NBA and college arenas,” he beams about his daughter. “She did her first halftime show when she was one. She waddled out, I taught her to squeeze the pen, I spun the ball off the pen. The place went crazy.

“The Mecca,” he continues about his favorite performance moment with Morgan. “Madison Square Garden. For the Knicks. Standing ovation. In the all the halftime shows that we did, she never jumped up into my arms. The place erupted and she just flew right into my arms and we walked off the floor. I had a fist up in the air and she had number one up in the air. That’s the greatest fucking picture. That was awesome. Just so happy, so proud.”

Those are the highs. 

The movie shows the lows. 

Before Jack got it all together he was falling apart. He was drinking a ton and being abusive to women, while also not taking advantage of the college scholarships he was able to earn. He stays honest and says that it was difficult for him to watch the movie because of how well Greg Finley played him. 

“I called the guy Danny [Abeckaser] that did the movie,” Jack says. “I said, ‘I don’t want to watch this. I can’t believe everybody’s going to see this.’ He’s like, ‘Jackie, you’ve got to watch the movie. You changed your life.’ Now, all the scenes that are in there, they didn’t happen. But was I that type of person? Absolutely. I was a fucking cocky, asshole jerk. Self destructive, selfish, wanted to do it my way, wouldn’t listen to anybody, couldn’t listen to authority. Girls and drinking and not giving a shit about anything. It was tough to watch, man. I was a dick.”

His family has already seen an advanced version and his brother, Randy, mentioned that the movie doesn’t show everything he does for the youth these days and how many people he makes smile just by knocking down jumpers and spinning the ball on his thumb. But he’s grateful for the new flick and for the people that helped to bring his story to the big screen. 

“Everybody was lovely,” he says. “The guy that played me, Greg, he invited me to his wedding. It was supposed to be last June but because of COVID it’s going to be next June. I talk to him all the time. David Arquette, he plays my father in the movie, he texted me the other day because he saw something cool with an old white guy beating up on the kids that he coached. He hit some shot. He was thinking about me and he sent me that. And Danny, the guy that did the movie, I’ve got to thank that guy. I’ve got a movie on my life. How many people can say that?

“What I really want to do with this movie is to be able to do speaking engagements,” he continues. “I’ve done a couple. Having the movie is going to help me even more to inspire people and help them find their purpose in life and become a leader.”

Triumph.

Follow Jack on Instagram at @blackjackryan21.

The post NY Basketball Legend Jack Ryan Talks About His New Movie appeared first on SLAM.

“How could you paint that picture?” Petrie asks. “That evolution of LeBron and really of sustained greatness. And I don’t know what that looks like. Getting a window into that… Maybe it’s just a blank page and you just have a little sliver. And when you look into that sliver you see basketball heaven’s in there.”

Petrie knows all about James’ reign at the top. He was given the reins to the LeBron line with the 7. And he brought the rain, thunder and the lightning with that model. He was the brain behind the first-ever Nike Basketball silhouette with a 360-degree Air Max unit. It was a sneaker that completely redefined the King’s line-up to that point and one that still remains an anchor of his personal Nike history. The 360-degree Air unit was complimented by Flywire cables in the upper and a patent leather toe rand similar to the Air Jordan XI. The seven colorways that came out have become legendary. Ballplayers still wear them on-court to this day, including The King. That was 2009, back when James had only one MVP award. A lot’s changed since then, but the relationship between Petrie and James has remained. One constant of that relationship is LeBron’s desire to play with an Air Max unit in his signature sneakers.

Petrie reintroduced the all-encompassing cushioning with the LeBron 15 in 2017. The 16 and 17 also got the treatment, with some updates. Max Air returns in the 18 and it features one huge innovation: the cushioning is still there, but the heel is composed just a little differently.

“With the 17, we had the two little pods, the Zoom in the forefoot,” Petrie says. “They were very reactive, very pinpoint, and allowed us to be really flexible and carve away a lot of stuff there, a lot of midsole foam, for a very unique and kind of poppy feel for LeBron with those really thick Zoom bags. But what we noticed as we were working through that project was that in the heel bag, when you look through an Airbag and you see that color there, that’s actually foam that’s filling up the inside of the Airbag. It’s a little bit weird to think about. It’s Air but there’s some foam in the middle. Some of our full-length Zoom bags would fit laid right into that cavity. So instead of filling it with foam, you fill it with Zoom. Which is like, ‘Oh my God, that could be unbelievable.’

“So it just came from really spending time on the 17 and being in Asia and being around innovation and having all those Air units around us and working with engineering and development thinking, ‘Oh, we could do this. This system could work.’ Basically what it did was allow us to integrate in a ton more Zoom than was on the 17 in a shoe that’s lighter than the 17. So now you’ve improved transition, you’ve replaced foam, which is a resilient material, with our most responsive material, which is that Zoom. It just gives you back so much more energy. The whole feel of the shoe—even though you’re using the same heel bag as the 17—the entire feel of the shoe is different than it was on the 17 because of that change.”

Petrie mentions that the reason the tooling has been similar on the 15, 16, 17 and 18 is because of how reliable it is and because of how much time it takes to develop. He says that they don’t want to get rid of it just to get rid of it. So they iterate and continue to find ways to improve.

Plus, peep this: between the first season that Petrie brought the Air Max unit out and now, Bron’s averaging 27 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds on 52 percent shooting. Those might look like standard LeBron stats. But he’s upped all of those numbers across the board compared to his first 14 seasons in the League, and he had about 50,000 minutes on his legs by the time he laced up the 15. That’s Sinatra at the opera.

That cushioning is helping him play better, straight up. Can’t knock the hustle.

“LeBron’s the main driver,” Petrie says. “He gives you those north stars that you go and get, that day-to-day inspiration, after he provides, ‘Oh man, I need to be all about Max Air.’ And you’re like, ‘Alright, shit, we’ve gotta find some kind of new thing of Max Air that works for him. Now we’ve gotta work with the entire Nike armada, NXT, everybody, to try to figure this out for him.’”

Petrie has been the face of the LeBron line on the Nike side for over a decade now. But he doesn’t do any of this alone. The “armada” he brings up comes in the form of designers, engineers and marketing experts. Like Hov said, “Recruited lieutenants with ludicrous dreams of getting cream.”

“We’ve got a lot of creative people,” he says. “Nike, in general, but [with] Basketball you’ve got Ben [Nethongkome] working on Kyrie stuff and he’s always doing something new and crazy and Ross [Klein] doing his thing. We’ve had so many greats come through. Your game gets elevated and we work as a group. So a lot of stuff floats around. Maybe you talked about it two years ago and somebody else picks it up, makes it better, runs with it.

“Our NXT and Advance teams and Air research and product research and Innovation are coming up with stuff all the time,” he continues. “So when you give them something to go after like that—LeBron loves Air Max, he wants to be in Air Max—how can we make something that’s lower to the ground? And that’s what can take some time. They go after it. They test it. They try it with six flex grooves, with 20 flex grooves. You know, everything. And we work together as you go through that process knowing that it’s way out. And when they start getting something that’s like, ‘OK, we can kinda make this work, we might be able to integrate this in, you know, Holiday ’25 or whatever.’ Then it’s like, ‘OK, now how can we start working a shoe around that?’”

Because the entire Nike Basketball team works at least 18 months out on products, some ideas can take up to three years to fully finish. The final touches on all of these projects are earned by many, many people, both in the States and abroad. Though Petrie, and eventually LeBron, get to approve the sneakers, they run through the hands of countless people who all have a role to play in the development stages.

Another part of the relationship between James and Petrie that hasn’t changed after all this time is the way they react to seeing progress made on a new model.

“I get happy like a kid,” Petrie says with a big laugh. “I’ll curse or something, like, ‘Ohhh shittt! That’s gonna be crazy!’ Or sometimes it’s just a wide grin. They’ll be telling me something and I just start smiling. I know we must be doing something right because I literally get like a little kid. And LeBron does the same thing, which is, like, really one of the most incredible rewards of the job is being able to put something in front of him and have him react like that and take pictures and be excited. It’s really cool.”

The knit that covers the upper of the newest LeBron sneaker elicited that kind of reaction. Petrie says it’s a combination of all the knits that have been seen on the 15, 16 and 17. The protection aspect from the 15, the high-tenacity yarns from the 16 and the TPU yarns that got heated on the 17 served as the foundation. They took what they learned from those three BattleKnit uppers and adapted it to make it sleeker and faster. Petrie says that it feels like armor-skin.

“Roberto and Jose Luis, they were two gentlemen that worked with us on [the knit],” he continues. “They’re with us all the time so they’re kind of thinking about the same things. And they come back with a bevy of stuff. ‘We could do this, we could do this, we could do this.’ And as Roberto and Jose Luis started laying these elements together, it was like, ‘Oh shit, OK, that’s the stack.’ We started to get a really strong, really thin [knit] and from the get-go, the thing I hung on was the way the TPU knit felt when you scratched your fingers on it. And the way it looked. It looked so intricate.”

The complexity of the yarns is extended into a Flywire cable system. The knit works with the Flywire to secure the whole ride, which goes back into the “skin” feel that Petrie mentioned. It wraps around the whole foot.

“We just basically took the best bits of every knit to form this ultimate version of BattleKnit for LeBron,” he says.

The 18’s split-construction is a callout to the mixture of speed and power the King still plays with, even after all this time. That kind of talk is only reserved for the bosses.

“That’s where lightning strikes and it cracks open Pandora’s box, but in a good way. It allows us to get a witness to these insane things that LeBron can pull off. The chasedown block and even these things that he’s doing off-court. This ain’t a quick lightning strike,” Petrie says about James’ career. “This is what he does. It’s just him. That’s another thing that makes it special. Sure, every now and then an athlete will put that combination together for a great game, maybe even a great season. But LeBron’s done it, really, for people’s lifetimes.”

Never change. This is James every day.

The post Inside the Design of the Nike LeBron 18 appeared first on SLAM.

Don CC is the Godfather of the Air Jordan XI baseball cleat.

The “Concords” were on his feet when he and the New York Yankees won the 2009 World Series. And now any ballplayers who want a pair have to go through him, the Don.

“A lot of guys started asking about it but we kind of made it a rule,” Sabathia tells SLAM. “You gotta win a championship to get the XIs. It’s a rite of passage of baseball guys that [if] you win a championship, you get those.”

Other baseball players have worn Air Jordan XIs on-field. Even Sabathia’s teammate, Derek Jeter, once had a pair of XIs that looked like “Space Jams.” But the diamond version of the silhouette is now officially tied to 52.

Great men are not born great. They grow great. Sabathia’s long list of accomplishments make him a lock for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He’s won the Cy Young Award and the ALCS MVP, played in six All-Star Games, notched 251 career wins and, of course, that ’09 World Series victory.

The Bombers took home the chip during Sabathia’s first season in the Bronx, which was also the first season the new Yankee Stadium opened up. He was already well-established by the time he started playing in the Cathedral, an eight-year veteran with multiple All-Star appearances and a reputation for his lefty sliders, changeups, cutters and sinkers.

But he was cooking during that ’09 campaign. As one of the few baseball players with Jordan Brand at that time, his reps at the Jumpman expected him to make the All-Star Game. Even though he didn’t get the nod in that particular season, a box still showed up at his place.

“They sent me my first pair of ‘Concords’ [in] ’09 because they thought I was going to make the All-Star team,” CC remembers. “Dale Allen [Director of Sports Marketing at the Brand], at the time, he was like, Don’t wear them. I’m going to send you these. If you make the All-Star team, wear them. But if you don’t, don’t wear them.”

Don CC pauses right here and lets out a huge laugh. Nobody tells a Don what to do.

“Yeah, right! Like, you sent me these cleats, I’m wearing them. I was like, Yeah, for sure, I’m not going to wear them. He sent them and right away, my first start after the All-Star break was a big game against Boston. And I had them on, pitched great and the rest is history.”

Just like Michael Jordan before him, Sabathia played in the “Concords” even though he was told not to. And just like Jordan before him, Sabathia was winning. He was 19-8 on the mound in ’09 and the Yankees finished the regular season with a 103-59 record. Sabathia had his favorite sneaker converted into a cleat just for him.

Jordans were everything and everywhere in the ’80s and ’90s. Sabathia says that the XIs immediately stood out to him when he was in 10th grade, becoming his favorite pair right away. But he couldn’t afford them while he was growing up in Vallejo, CA. He was a huge fan of MJ and understood his impact on sneakers and sports and actually played baseball, football and basketball when he was a kid. Sabathia remembers finally being able to get the Air Jordan XIIs in 11th grade and playing in them, beating them up and holding on to them for as long as he could. That’s why as soon as he started playing in the XIs with the Yankees, they quickly became his number one option.

“I’m like, Yo, I need eight, nine pairs of these. This is my shoe forever,” he says. “And we went on to win the World Series, pitched in the playoffs all down the stretch with the ‘Concords.’ For me, it’s just about feel. After that stretch in ’09, wearing the ‘Concords,’ anytime I needed a big game or it’s a big start or I needed to get back rolling, I would always put on ‘Concords’ or some version of them. That was always my go-to shoe to get me back on track, make me feel good.”

His personal history with them, as well as their overall stature and appearance, were already easy money. Their on-field performance is what kept them in-rotation. The wraparound patent leather rand makes them extremely durable. It allows for the exclusion of a pitching toe, a medial side add-on aimed to protect the toe area.

“When you throw you drag your foot on the dirt, off the mound,” Sabathia explains. “When I have XIs, I never put that little extra because the patent leather can take it.”

The Brand sent more and more XIs to Don CC after the World Series. The next decade saw him get PEs shouting out his little league team from back home in Vallejo and his 200th career win, as well as more Yankee-themed flavors. The smile on his face when he talks about the memories and the cleats tell the entire story. He went from being the kid who couldn’t get them to the Don who made history in them.

“For me, it represents my championship, because these are the shoes that I had on down the stretch to help us win the World Series,” he says. “Obviously we won a championship in them, too. For me, it’s just about my legacy. Anybody that ever asks me about my cleats, it’s always the ‘Concords.’ At the time when I first wore them, it was a big deal because nobody was really wearing them. It just means everything to me to have these shoes and for them to be such a big part of my childhood and me wanting them so bad…and then to be able to win a championship in them? It’s just a surreal feeling.”

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF JORDANS VOL. 6

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos by Jon Lopez.

The post How CC Sabathia Became the Godfather of the Air Jordan XI Cleat appeared first on SLAM.

Let’s take a trip and fly high above Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon. We’ll see over two million people living down there. We’ll hear French and various dialects being spoken, and we’ll see a palace, art museums, bustling marketplaces and the Reunification Monument. Then we’ll keep flying. We’ll head west of the city, for about 160 miles.

A peak will rise up off the horizon.

Mongo Ma Ndemi, which translates from Bakweri to the Mountain of Greatness, lines the shore overlooking the Gulf of Guinea. It’s an active volcano, towering over 4,000 meters tall. The climb up to the top passes through a tropical rainforest with showers of mist covering its canopy of evergreen trees and its bushes on the forest floor. Elephants, monkeys, hogs, chimpanzees and duikers make appearances throughout the ascent, while the Mount Cameroon speirops, a small bird species, skips from tree to tree.

But the density of the forest gives way to the scarcity of Mongo Ma Ndemi’s summit. On sunny days, the greenery transforms into an arid landscape, with only sunburned shrubs lining the walkway. The change in scenery, from canopy to bushes, is finally completed by the view.

All of Cameroon is now lost to the sky. Nature’s purest blue meets the nearly translucent light of the atmosphere. Clouds hover and glide below the peak and the wind sings while it rides across the mountain. There’s nothing up here. It’s just the world. It’s just possibility.

The volcano hasn’t erupted for about 20 years. The last time it did, Joel Embiid was a kid in Yaoundé. His story was just beginning. He had no intention of becoming an NBA player.

“My goal was actually to become the president,” the 26-year-old says. “I just wanted to change the world.”

He was dreaming, leaning on a source of inspiration that captivated him immediately.

“I’m a big Dragon Ball Z and all the franchises, GT and all that stuff, I’m a big fan,” Embiid says. He can’t remember when he got hooked, but he knows it was when he was young. “It gave me a different sense of the world. Growing up in Cameroon, in Africa, wasn’t always the easiest. So you just see different sides. I know it was a cartoon, but at the same time it just also felt real. You just get a different sense of everything. It kind of, in some ways, teaches you how to be a better person.”

He wanted to become president because of Goku.

“You see he’s saving the planet, he’s fighting against Freeza,” Embiid says, speaking about the hit anime series beloved by tons of NBA players. “Even going all the way back, the Red Army, even to the first Dragon Ball, the original one, he’s always fighting to save people and to make the world better. At the time, obviously, I didn’t think it had any correlation. But looking back now, what my goal was, it probably had something to do with it.”

Those early years of Embiid’s life are what shaped everything about him. And now they’ve also shaped his debut signature sneaker, the Under Armour Embiid One. Reggie Wilson, Senior Footwear Designer at UA and the lead on the Embiid One, has tapped into that past for the launch of the silhouette.

They’re starting things off with the “Origin” colorway. As a nod to Embiid’s favorite cartoon growing up, to Wilson’s love of Star Wars and to the format of episodic storytelling, the entire narrative of the Embiid One centers around sharing the Sixers star’s journey like a movie.

“I always say my life is a movie,” Embiid tells KICKS.

One of the characters in the movie is Mongo Ma Ndemi. Wilson and his team studied the mountain and transformed its influence into a part of the sneaker.

“I was researching people that go up this mountain,” Wilson says. “It could be dangerous but it’s this journey. When I was in the initial phase of doing research, I was looking at that mountain. I happened to go to Google Earth and I was looking at the topography and it just so happened that at the top of that mountain, the topography of it is the shape of Africa. So I was like, Wow, that’s kind of cool. And if you see the outsole, that’s partially why I put Africa in the heel, because the top of that mountain looked like Africa. And that’s where those radiating lines come from.”

Embiid hasn’t climbed the mountain, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t taken his own adventure. Though he’ll be leaving his footprints in the Embiid One moving forward, the steps he’s taken since 2011 have formed their own outline.

“That was one of the main things when I started working with Under Armour,” Embiid says. “My story is, I don’t mean to brag, but my story is fascinating. I still feel like people don’t really know my story. It’s been told a lot of times but people don’t know it, or they don’t pay attention. They just look at the Joel Embiid now. Like, Oh, he’s doing this, he’s doing that. He’s scoring this many points and this and that. But they don’t know how I started.”

So let him tell you about his origin story.

“I played soccer and then I played volleyball,” he begins. “As I got into it, I had a different sense in the way that I thought I was heading for the pros when it came to volleyball. And then in 2011, I had the opportunity to be part of Luc Mbah a Moute’s camp. I had just started playing ball. I thought I did OK and I never believed that I had any chance.

“And just like that, he offered me an opportunity to come to America, and then that’s when everything opened up. But still, even then, I still wasn’t confident. I just started playing basketball and it was hard. And I went to a school, Montverde Academy, which is known as, you know, they got the best, talented high school players. I think it helped me a lot, just develop, just figuring out what I want with my life. Especially because I was not supposed to be there. That year or a year later, I was supposed to go to France to play volleyball and probably start my professional career. Instead of that, I was in the US, trying to learn how to play basketball and the language, and just trying to get better.

“The first time I really thought I had a chance to get to the NBA, it didn’t start until when I was in college, a few games in. It was against Iowa State. I had a pretty good game and then after that game, coach Fred Hoiberg called me the best player in the nation. And right before that, I had a few other games, like, against New Mexico State, where I had a Dream Shake. It was starting to come together and people were starting to say it. Two thousand and eleven, and then in just three years, I get drafted, 2014. Everything happened so fast.”

The years in between 2014 and 2020 have seen him get named to three All-Star Games, make two All-NBA teams and two All-Defensive teams. He’s got career averages of 24 points and 11 rebounds a game, and he’s the driving force behind the Sixers’ championship hopes.

The accomplishments and the stats are definitely impressive. But the eye test is the only way to truly understand the full scope of his impact in the NBA. Embiid is 7-0, clocking in at 280 pounds. He doesn’t play anything like an old-school center, though. He’s got the honey-dipping stroke from downtown, the skill to take unlucky opposing bigs off the bounce, the strength to dominate from the post, the vision to be a playmaker, the tenacity to protect the rim and the ruthlessness to beat entire teams by himself. He’s a one-of-one, a whole new type of ballplayer who’s capable of doing nearly everything on the court.

The UA Embiid One was constructed with all of that in mind.

Before Wilson cooked up the narrative structure of the Embiid One, he and his team engineered a silhouette specifically designed for positionless basketball.

Its mid-cut height serves as the bridge between guards and bigs. Mesh covers the upper, addressing one of Embiid’s specific requests for breathability. A TPU support wing pops up on the lateral forefoot section. Its foundation is a combination of two UA technological staples: a HOVR unit sits in the heel on top of a Micro G midsole.

“We wanted to keep a relatively simple build,” Wilson says. “The first time I met Joel and went into his closet, one of the things I noticed was all the shoes in his closet were really simple. But they always had one iconic element. I used that as inspiration, and that’s why the TPU piece is the clear visual focal point and everything else is simple.”

Then there’s traction pattern that Wilson referenced. The heel’s directly shaped by the continent of Africa while the forefoot’s directly shaped by the continent of North America. And the right outsole is a mirror reflection of the left outsole.

“As I mentioned, the overarching story of the shoe is about reflecting on his journey,” Wilson says. “The outsole of the left shoe highlights this idea by being an exact reflection of the right shoe. The left is literally a reflection of his journey. If you hold the shoes up to a mirror or look at the shoe prints that are left behind on the ground, one of the shoes is always reflecting on his journey.”

It’s all part of the international odyssey between Cameroon, France and America.

The series’ that both Embiid and Wilson reference, Dragon Ball Z and Star Wars, are modern day epics. They both develop long-term narratives, with multidimensional characters and world-building. As Wilson notes, that’s what people can expect of the Embiid One.

“The storytelling that we introduced with the shoe is definitely a continuous thing,” he says. “That saga concept is something that we will continue.”

Because though this is Embiid’s sneaker, this is Wilson’s origin story, too. This is the first time he’s been the lead designer on a UA basketball sneaker. The stars aligned for him in October 2018. That’s when the Director of Team Sports at UA approached him with the chance to make this project happen. He says he remembers walking in the UA parking lot on a chilly night with his best friend, thinking, Man, this could be really, really big.

Nine months later, on Sunday, July 14, 2019, Wilson got to celebrate his birthday by being the first person at UA to weartest the Embiid One.

“We have a guy who runs the weartest for basketball,” Wilson says. “His name is Mike. He gets shipments in. I think we got size 9s in first. So I was like, When are the weartest pairs coming? Texting him, emailing him. When are the 10.5s coming? When are the 10.5s coming? At some point, I forget when they came…I think they came [during] off-work hours. I may have left work early. So I remember leaving my house at, like, 8 at night; I drive to the office, go into the office, try them on, like, do cuts in the office. Looking crazy. They probably have security footage of me just running around the office. But I just wanted to put them on so I could have them ready to play the game the next day. I was like a little kid.”

Wilson says that the biggest benefit of the sneaker is that anybody can hoop in it, from himself to Embiid to the average consumer.

Though he didn’t get to become president, Embiid is still trying to make the world a better place, regardless of what kind of kid plays in his sneaker. He’s worked hard in both Yaoundé and Philadelphia to establish safe places for kids to learn and grow. He helped to refurbish the Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia at the end of 2019 and says he still has more to do.

“Another thing which is good with the relationship with [Under Armour], it’s not just about basketball and the shoe,” Embiid says. “We also want to make a difference in the community. I’ve preached that I want to help as many people as I can where I’m from, people in need.”

Even if he can’t be there, the Embiid One “Origin” colorway features an icon on the heel. There’s a heart inside of the star; the heart representing the love of his home and the star representing Cameroon. Home is where the heart is.

“That’s where it all started,” he says. “I was born there, I’m Cameroonian. My whole family is from there. And it didn’t start when I started playing basketball; it started when I was born, with the way I was raised, with everything I was around, with everything I went through. That’s why Cameroon was the main point. There’s a lot of indications on the shoe, in the back of the shoe. It was designed to make sure there was an emphasis on that.”

An emphasis on a dream to change the world, from Yaoundé to Philadelphia.

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Cover and portrait by Jennifer Pottheiser/Under Armour.

Additional photos via Getty.

The post Joel Embiid Talks About the Journey of Creating the UA Embiid One appeared first on SLAM.

Dr. J. Magic Johnson. Larry Bird. Isiah Thomas. Larry Johnson. And now, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

“It’s crazy that [Converse] kind of started the whole sneaker thing in the NBA back in the day,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander says. “A few of the best players in the League at that time. Dr. J, Magic and Larry Bird.”

But that’s the past.

“The biggest lesson is that while legacy affords Converse legitimacy, we’ve got to create our own path to connect with the basketball community today,” Ron Johnson, Converse’s General Manager of Global Basketball, tells KICKS.

That means working with Gilgeous-Alexander, Kelly Oubre, Natasha Cloud and Draymond Green to reestablish Converse Hoops and the sneakers the brand releases. So far the All Star Pro BB, the G4 and the All Star BB Evo have dropped with the full support of those players. Johnson and his team are still learning about what makes each one of them different.

“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a pathfinder,” Johnson says. “We loved his story–growing up in Hamilton and making his way into the NBA to being one of its rising stars–he’s made it happen for himself through his vision.

“The always energizing, fashion-forward creative Kelly Oubre was the first to join the squad,” Johnson continues. “Kelly is as invested in creative culture as he is basketball. We knew he would be a strong advocate for Converse Hoops as we re-entered the space for the first time in nearly a decade.

“WNBA Champion and social activist Natasha Cloud, we had been following her before her WNBA championship run and worked with her during our Pro Leather campaign in 2019,” Johnson says. “Her love and passion for basketball is equaled by her bold personal vision and sense of purpose off the court. She is a true advocate for the underrepresented communities she stands with.

“NBA champion and avid investor Draymond Green is a proven competitor,” Johnson says. “He’s known for his do-it-all approach on-court that contributed significantly to the Golden State Warriors’ success over the years.”

All four of them will be heavily involved in the storytelling and sneaker creation processes. Johnson and his staff repeatedly emphasize the importance of giving them their own space to be inventive, whether that means working on colorways or on marketing campaigns.

“Obviously as a kid, you see a shoe but you don’t really realize everything that goes into making the shoe from the ground up,” SGA tells KICKS. “That’s probably the biggest thing I realized. It’s a whole process. It’s not just glue the sole to the upper and the upper to the sole, put the laces in.”

“We started this campaign a while back called ‘Converse All Stars,’” Brodrick Foster, Global Footwear Product Director at Converse, says. “That idea exemplifies why we don’t have signature athletes, because we feel everyone can be an All Star. That’s always just been our mantra and our game-changing mindset and why you’re going to start to see these exciting colors and materials and storytelling.”

“We believe that Converse Basketball’s distinction is in offering athletes the ability to showcase their individuality on the court and to support their creative vision off of it,” Johnson says. “That’s what sets us apart. We’re just truly getting started. Expect to see more from us as we color outside the lines and bring a new and fresh perspective to the game and the culture surrounding it.”

Kiss the past goodbye.

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Converse and Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images.

The post 2020 Vision: The New Path For Converse Hoops appeared first on SLAM.

Just a little patience. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander moves with just a little bit more poise than everyone else does. He’s on his own time, on and off the court. He’s always been that way.

“That was the way I grew up and was raised,” Gilgeous-Alexander tells KICKS. “To be different and be yourself no matter what or who says anything about you. Just be yourself. That was something that was instilled in me very early. From my parents to the people I’ve been around, it’s always been about being yourself. Individuality, and influencing the world through that. The biggest thing is don’t be afraid to be yourself. Follow your heart. Just be who you are. And go about life that way.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is the latest ballplayer to sign with Converse Hoops. The Hamilton, Ontario, native and second-year pro decided to jump from the Swoosh to Converse and take the road less traveled. It could make all the difference.

He joins Kelly Oubre, the Phoenix Suns’ bucket-getter, Natasha Cloud, point guard for the reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics, and Draymond Green, three-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, on the Converse Hoops roster.

“I just think where I’m at right now in my career, kind of wanting to get out there a little more, express myself a little bit more, on and off the court, the things they do with their brand, and the vision they have, it was perfect timing,” Gilgeous-Alexander says. “And I’m excited for it.”

Truthfully, there’s a lot to be excited about. Converse reintroduced themselves into the basketball market in April 2019 with the All Star Pro BB silhouette, and they have big plans for the future, pursuing ideas informed by their legendary past. The brand’s connection to the game goes back to 1917, when the All Star basketball shoe (canvas upper and thick rubber outsole) was first produced. The mid-’70s, ’80s and ’90s treated their basketball division very, very well. Julius Erving has been connected to Converse since he was the most entertaining player in the world. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas led a group of elite NBA guys who got the Weapon tons of national attention. And Larry Johnson’s Aero Jam silhouette set the stage for his extremely famous “Grandmama” commercials. The 2000s then saw a downturn in activity.

Oubre, Cloud, Green and, maybe most notably, Gilgeous-Alexander are being entrusted to bring Converse back to the top by being unique off the court and performing well on it.

Now that the NBA has returned, Gilgeous-Alexander will be lacing up the Converse All Star BB Evo. He’s part of a dynamic offensive attack for an Oklahoma City Thunder team that casts him as a catalyst for scoring. It’s only his second year in the League, and he’s only 22 years old, but he’s already become a problem for defenses. That same patience he moves with off the floor translates to his in-game style. Though he has plenty of rhythm to himself, his rhythm isn’t standard for the League. He’s somehow both faster and slower than people think, lulling them to sleep with rock-the-baby dribble combos that quickly turn into accelerated contact finishes at the rim. He’s got shifty head fakes that he relies on and a stepback jimmy for when people don’t bite. He craftily works angles to his favor, either by kissing a shot off the glass or uncovering a gap between multiple defenders. His ones are dictated at his speed. And it’s really all done with just a little patience.

“We’ve been talking about this kid for quite some time,” Brodrick Foster, Global Director of Footwear at Converse, says. “Personally, I know of him because he’s a Canadian kid. One of my really good friends who played for St. John’s back in the day, he came through his AAU, Gauchos. As a team, when thinking about who was next…we would just slide the note of his name and text every day. And then when Adrian Stelly, who’s our sports marketing rep, came down and told me we were gonna sign him, I was so happy. This kid is going to be a big deal later on.”

“Later on” might not be all that much later. SGA is averaging almost 20 points per game in just his second season. He’s shown up big in clutch moments for the Thunder, and he already has real playoff experience as a member of the Clippers squad that took the Warriors to six games last season. And he spends nearly every day of work with Chris Paul, soaking in lessons from this generation’s best floor general.

Foster is one of the leaders on the Evo silhouette, so not only has he spent lots of time crafting the sneaker, but he’s also spent time listening to what Gilgeous-Alexander’s looking for.

“Shai is an artist,” Foster says. “He colors up shoes and he’s texting us all the time, like, Hey, what do you guys think of this? What do you think of that?”

Gilgeous-Alexander really does spend a decent chunk of time with a pencil and paper.

“I sketch a little bit,” he says humbly. “As a kid in elementary school, you have art block or art period. I don’t know, I just always looked forward to that, was always excited for that part of school. And then I got away from it a little bit and then picked it back up a little bit more once I got to the League and had a lot more free time. Didn’t know what I was doing with my free time so I started drawing a little bit more and found my love again.

“A lot of it is clothing stuff,” he continues. “I’ll sketch out pants or hoodies or shirts. If I get an idea, I’ll put it in my notes and then I’ll try to go to the sketching board and sketch it, whether it be a symbol or meshing two symbols in one, and then try to put it on a hoodie in a cool way. Whatever it may be, but most of the time, it’s clothes or shoes.”

The mutual admiration for expression and creativity is what brought SGA and Converse together. Foster and his team have left the door wide open for any of the four players to communicate their ideas and feelings. Converse has spent decades dedicating real estate on sneakers in imaginative ways, both internally and externally with collaborators. They’ve released Chuck Taylors in all the standard primary colors; in collaborations with Jerry Lorenzo, Tyler, the Creator, Virgil Abloh and Millie Bobby Brown; and in dropped colorways with messages of support for the LGBTQ community.

Ron Johnson, Converse’s General Manager of Global Basketball, says that Gilgeous-Alexander, Cloud, Oubre and Green will have the chance to cook up anything they want to.

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“The democratic and expressive nature of the game is what brought us back,” Johnson tells KICKS. “It’s who we are as a brand. It’s the start of our story, and it’s what led us to have one of the most iconic shoes in the world. Every person has a different experience or entry point to the world of basketball. And the game extends well beyond the court—to the streets and culture where basketball is played, lived and consumed. That’s why it’s important to create space for our roster to be authentic to themselves. We would be doing a disservice to them to only think of them as professional basketball players. They’ve got bold ideas, strong personal vision and creative points of view. The world deserves to see their full story, and we’re happy to celebrate and amplify them as they create progress.”

The canvas that Gilgeous-Alexander will get to paint on is the Evo. It’s Converse Hoops’ third basketball silhouette, directly shaped by insight from players and by studying the All Star Pro BB.

The Evo’s foundation is a Nike React midsole, which then trails up to a 5/8s cut. A plushly padded collar transitions into an engineered mesh upper. And the lead colorway is split right down the middle.

“We got a lot of learnings from our BB Pro last year,” Foster says. “The lacings might be a little bit too long. The material’s a little too tight. So it was a lot of things that we learned throughout this process. There were really three things from the BB that we wanted to improve.

“One was the lockdown,” he continues. “Players don’t want to worry about coming out of their shoe when they’re running and cutting and jumping. Ankle support was another thing that came out of it. Some [players] really talked about how they had heel slippage. How do we perfect that? And last but not least, I’m gonna harp on this: LeagueFits All-Stars. Style. We’re going to be the lifestyle basketball brand that you see that is always going to have that look and authentic feel when it comes to our basketball sneakers.”

Foster and his team hit the Nike Sports Research Lab at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, OR, to figure it all out. Because the Swoosh owns Converse, they work in the same space, use the same tech and get to call on insight from the same designers. Eric Avar, who has worked on the Kobe Bryant and Penny Hardaway signature lines and the OG Nike Hyperdunk, among a multitude of other huge projects, had a big influence on Converse’s reentry into hoops and the BB.

It makes sense that Gilgeous-Alexander would feel comfortable in Converse’s new basketball models; he’s spent years playing in the Black Mamba’s Nike series. Avar was the mastermind who helped to develop Bean’s light and low-cut footwear, a similar road that Foster and Converse Hoops are traversing now. Foster knows that because of the groundwork that Avar and Bryant laid, both consumers and athletes tend to mess with low silhouettes. So the Evo isn’t a traditional mid or high.

Another insight borrowed from Nike can be seen in the cushioning. The Swoosh’s React foam is a proprietary material they made in 2018. They count it as their most durable, lightweight and responsive foam.

“When I go to look for a car, the first thing I look [for]—of course the exterior’s going to be the thing that draws me in—but I say pop that engine,” Foster says. “What does that engine look like? And for us, our engine works so well; and the feedback that we got from all consumers and athletes [was] that Nike React works so well, we kept the same engine. There was no need to change that. Of course, you’re going to see some things like ice bottoms and some color outsoles. The aesthetic is going to change, but the core of the engine and how it runs will be the same ride.”

Foster, as he mentions the look, says, “The last part is really around that functionality and style. That’s why you see the knit upper. It gives you a little bit more mobility. And then that style point is that 50-50 split. It gives you that yin and yang look. You can have bold blocking or you can have a little bit more settled down. These are the things that our athletes talked to us about. There’s times when you can just have something as simple as a black and red with the white but there might be something I want to be a little more bold, like an Oklahoma City where it’s blue, orange, a little bit of white. There’s also allowing for graphics that you may see later on.”

SGA has already shown off a few graphic treatments on the Pro BB, working out in a low with the OKC logo on it and playing in a mid with an image of fire on it. He won’t give any insights for what he has planned yet, saying that it’s still a secret. But he does offer that there will be layered storytelling between the court and the tunnel. (One time for @LeagueFits.)

“So whether it’s a fit through the tunnel or before the game, kind of having the same theme or colorway as the shoe on the court,” he says. “Expressing my love for fashion, whatever it may be, in the summertime and fashion shows. Just connecting the two and showing the world that passion for both.”

Everything else will come in time. Just move like Shai. Have a little patience.

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images.

The post THE ARTIST: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Covers KICKS 23 appeared first on SLAM.

But going into that night, GMs and coaches had already determined that there were a half-dozen can’t-miss players. Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen and Antoine Walker were the “Super Six of ’96,” the dudes that were locks to be selected first. And that’s how it played out.

Another half-dozen teams would make their picks, all missing out on a chance to draft the man who would immortalize the #8 and the #24.

So cheers to the Dirty Dozen and Unlucky #13 for making the mistake of a generation.

In honor of UNDEFEATED’s new Kobe 5 pack, we’re running down every player selected before Kobe and every franchise that got it wrong by not taking him.

1.     Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers

Italy was isolation. For most of his time over there, Kobe was alone, obsessing over basketball, dreaming and imagining the places that the game could take him. Then when he and his family got back to the States, they settled in Philadelphia. Lower Merion High School was the new headquarters for young Kobe to finally show the work he had put in during all those years.

It was like a comic book superhero had made his grand entrance.

Boom!

Pow!

Wham!

It wasn’t a bird or a plane—it was Kobe flying over every high school kid that dared to guard him. #33 was an unstoppable force, an immovable object that just wanted to see every school in Philly burn.

But the Sixers weren’t watching the story unfold. They selected Allen Iverson with the first pick in the ’96 draft.

Iverson and Bryant would have their battles. They’d each win and they’d each lose. Sometimes Kobe was the villain and sometimes he was the hero.

Until 2001, when Iverson earned League MVP and carried an offensively-challenged squad to the Finals. The roles were clear. Iverson was The Answer, the person that the entire country was rooting for. Kobe was the one standing in his way.

But there was no happy ending, no way the sun would shine on Iverson and Philly. Kobe made sure of that.

He sent his hometown team back home by doing everything on the floor and reminding them in between hounding defense, marvelous shotmaking and an evil competitiveness that their local kid wasn’t a kid anymore.

“It was always a war,” Iverson said in 2016. “You knew you had to come with your best. He brought everything out of me. He’s a fighter. With all the criticism that came his way throughout the years, he was able to overcome it all. That’s how he’s built. He loves proving people wrong.”

You hear that, Philly?

2. Marcus Camby, Toronto Raptors

Defense, rebounding and leadership were the qualities that made Marcus Camby a sure thing coming out of the University of Massachusetts. He was forever steady on the backline, plus he brought athleticism to the offensive end, as well as a very famous shooting form that was actually good money for the entirety of his 17 years in the League. 

But damn, did Kobe love playing against him. They played against each other 37 times and Camby came up on the wrong side of those matchups 24 times. Bean was out there giving him a light dose of 25 points every time they linked up. Then there were the times he gave Camby and his teams the gold-member level scoring treatment. Those were all-inclusive experiences that saw 51 points and 42 points (twice) get put on the Nuggets. 

And that career average of 25 points per game against Camby got upped to 33 a night when they met in the 2008 playoffs. Bean put that Nuggets team out of their misery swiftly. In the four-game sweep he put up 32 points, then 49 points, then a calm 22 and ended them with an efficient 31.

The defense that Camby got drafted for wasn’t ever enough vs #8 or #24. 

But back to the Raptors real, real quick. 

January 22, 2006. 

81 reasons to regret passing on him in ’96. 

3. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Vancouver Grizzlies

The shots seemed to cascade down from the rafters when Kobe found the zone. It used to look like they were falling and descending from basketball heaven, like Kobe was above the floor, higher than the defense—hooping from the sky. He would raise up and no matter what the defense did, the shots would splash through the net. And it would happen relentlessly, until the final buzzer mercifully sounded. 

It wasn’t just that there were a lot of shots. It’s that, truthfully, they were often bad shots against good defense that somehow always went in. 

Ask Shareef Abdur-Rahim about January 19, 2006. 

The third pick in the ‘96 draft had moved on from Vancouver to Sacramento by that point. His Kings team caught up with Kobe just three nights before he hit 81. He was already in the zone. 

Kobe racked up 51 points, getting the step on every single member of the Sac-Town defense. He did his damage from wherever he wanted to on the floor but most of his buckets came in the midrange, taking bad shots that became good shots because they went in. Clinically speaking, it was a first-class education in midrange footwork out of the triple-threat. Prof. Bryant was nice enough to give the Kings a free course. 

The Lakers lost in overtime that night. But a decade into their careers, Bryant showed Adbur-Rahim what the zone truly looked like. 

4. Stephon Marbury, Milwaukee Bucks

Stephon Marbury deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. That’s how nasty he was. From Lincoln High School in Coney Island to Georgia Tech in Atlanta to the NBA to China, the only thing that ever changed was the jersey. The rest stayed the same. The hunger he played with, the fight he showed, the brilliance he brought to the hardwood, it all deserves to be rewarded with a spot in Springfield. 

That’s why the fourth pick’s words about Kobe, from a 2007 interview, carry so much weight. This isn’t Steph speaking about the finished product, the man with five chips and two Olympic Golds and over 30,000 career points. This is the single-minded, uncompromising, still-searching-for-the-next-rings Kobe. So listen up. Because real ballplayers know real ballplayers. 

“The way he goes at basketball and his preparation and dedication is something that’s unique. Kids think that he’s Kobe Bryant, he’s just as good as he is because of him just knowing how to play. They don’t know before the product touches the store, there’s a lot of things that has to go into that. People, when they look at him play, it’s like, ‘Oh, I could do that.’ Nah, you can’t do that. He’s the only person on this Earth that can do what he’s doing on a basketball court. He defends and plays offense. Who does that? He guards, he defends, he stops people. And then do that on the offensive end? Seeing him that night is like, ‘Damn, I can’t score and he about to bust my ass.’ That’s a hard pill to swallow.”

5. Ray Allen, Minnesota Timberwolves 

Enter the mind of a predatory animal on the hunt for food. Picture the hours that go by stalking and waiting for the right moment to make the right move to execute the right strike. Imagine all the time that is spent trying to survive and advance, all the skills sharpened by those experiences. 

But there’s something else out there in the wild. Another predator that’s just as big, just as cunning and even more cold-blooded. 

No matter what you do, that animal is marking you as its prey, just like you’ve marked others as your own prey. 

You know this. You know it’s coming. You know it wants blood. 

Ray Allen knew that Kobe had him marked. He learned about that when they met while traveling together to the Rookie Combine in Chicago. Kobe had Allen in his sights, studying him during his career at UConn, clocking the footwork and the instantly-squared-to-the-rim shoulders that Ray used on his jumpshot. Allen even knew how Kobe always felt disrespected about getting selected well after he did in the draft. 

They had their fights in between Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Seattle. All those scraps were meant to lead up to the battles in 2008 and 2010. 

When two alphas meet, it becomes a war of the mind. The bodyblows will land, but the spirit will stand. 

Allen won in ’08, catapulting three-pointer after three-pointer, setting what was then a Finals record for most threes. 

Kobe didn’t stop, though. 

He came back in ’10 and he got revenge for the draft, for all the times that Allen outscored him and beat him, for both the Bucks and Timberwolves thinking that Allen was a better player. 

The hunt was done. 

6. Antoine Walker, Boston Celtics

The Celtics were ready to draft Kobe. ML Carr, who was the director of basketball operations and the coach in 1996, and Red Auerbach, who needs no introduction, had him come to Boston for a workout before the big night on June 26, 1996. It’s no surprise that he bodied the workout. His shot was flowing and his interview was an early indication of the basketball genius he would morph into. 

They wanted to select him with the sixth pick. They saw all of it. They could see his skill level and his intellect and they could see his willingness to learn from older players and teach younger ones. They saw it from the drills that Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson put him through and they saw it from all the tapes they watched of him destroying high schoolers. 

But they didn’t take him. 

Their fear outweighed their interest. 

The Celtics were a bad team in 1996, far from all their glory of the previous three decades. They wanted to pick up a prospect that was pro-ready, somebody they could trust to adjust to the League.

They went with Antoine Walker, who ended up having a good career, averaging over 20 points per game during his time with the Cs. 

Carr and Johnson and Auerbach made the wrong decision, though. 

Bean came back and burned them in 2010 when he led the Lakers to the chip. 

They could’ve had him join the history that includes Russell, Bird and the countless other Hall of Famers that have worn the green. But they got scared. 

7. Lorenzen Wright, Los Angeles Clippers

Lorenzen Wright was tragically murdered in 2010 after a 13-year NBA career in which he averaged 8 points and 6 rebounds per game. 

He and Kobe matched up a handful of times in the League, and like everybody else, he didn’t have the answer. Kobe dropped 45 on his teams a couple of times, as well as multiple games of 25-plus. 

Out of respect for Lorenzen, let’s stick to the franchise that had spent decades in the basement—the Clippers. 

Bill Fitch, the Hall of Famer, was their coach and Elgin Baylor, the Hall of Famer, was their general manager. Even with all that brainpower and basketball history in between them, they didn’t pick up on Kobe’s potential. All they had to do was watch him play.

Here’s what Kobe did to the Clippers in 69 career matchups: 

22.4 points per game

5.1 rebounds per game

4.6 assists per game

1.6 steals per game

47-22 record

He kept the Clippers down, repeatedly making them look like the little brothers. Their “home” games belonged to him. There were more of his jerseys at Clippers home games than there were hot dogs, popcorns and sodas. He was the guest that never left, the neighbor who served as the ultimate reminder of the biggest miss that Baylor and Fitch ever had. 

8. Kerry Kittles, New Jersey Nets

It played out like a soap opera. The New Jersey Nets had made it known; they were ready to draft Kobe. John Calipari had just been named coach and general manager of the Nets and he didn’t hide any of his interest in the youngster. He had multiple private workouts in front of Calipari and his staff, with all of them playing out the same way—he was busting up every full-time Net they brought in to guard him. 

The love was immediate. Calipari and the front office recognized the greatness they were watching and they wanted to capture it in the draft and then set it free on the court.  

That love, unfortunately, wasn’t mutual. 

Bryant didn’t want to play in New Jersey and his agent, Arn Tellem, was going to make sure it didn’t happen. Drama followed from the moment that information became known. Tellem was threatening the Nets, saying that if they picked him, he’d ghost and go back to Italy. Arrivederci, idioti. Just like Calipari, Tellem knew what time it was. This was a special, special talent. 

Rumors flew for weeks. He said this and then he said that. But wait, then they said something else.

Oh, the storylines! Oh, the narratives! Oh, the lies! Oh, the truths?

The only people that know whether or not Kobe would’ve actually gone to the Boot aren’t giving up the informazione. Maybe he wouldn’t have. Maybe his dynasty would’ve been in East Rutherford, New Jersey, rather than in Los Angeles, California. Maybe he and Jason Kidd would have gotten to link up. 

Tellem’s plan worked. Calipari went with Kerry Kittles, a talented shooting guard out of Villanova. He had a nice eight-year career, calmly and efficiently averaging 14 points a game.  

The ghost came back to torment New Jersey in 2002. Swiftly, with no sympathy, Kob and the Show swept Kittles and the Nets in the Finals. It wasn’t even close. He was still #8, reigning down on those helpless defenders with towering poster dunks and the flashiest windmills. 

The love that never was hurts the deepest. 

9. Samaki Walker, Dallas Mavericks

Samaki Walker wound up on the Lakers for their 2002 championship season against the Nets. His head-to-head with Kobe isn’t on the same level (22.5 ppg vs 5.9 ppg) so let’s rewind to December 20, 2005 to show the Dallas Mavericks a souvenir they received for passing on Kobe in favor of Walker. 

It was a 75-degree day in Los Angeles. “Run It!” by Chris Brown was blasting on the radio every other moment. Kids were flocking to movie theaters to catch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. “Gold Digger” was still getting airtime and so was “Disco Inferno.”

Kobe was scorching the League then too. From November 2 to December 19, he was out there getting 30 and 40-balls with consistency. Tearing people up with so much ferocity that it was no way he couldn’t be considered the best ballplayer on the planet. 

Three-pointers, midrange, dunks, lays were dropping with such such style and grace that double-teams and triple-teams couldn’t stop him. This was Prime Kobe. 

The Mavericks were in town and they were good that season, carrying an 18-6 record in the matchup. 

They weren’t good enough, though. 

Kobe scored 62 points in three quarters. He played 32 minutes, took 31 shots and outscored the visitors by himself. They wrapped up the third with a total of 61 points. 

It was all island-work. Nobody else around, just Kobe, the triple-threat position and pain. The water was too deep for any Maverick that came to Kobe Island. None of them could swim safely. He sunk ‘em all and then called it a night, allowing them to only lose by 22.  

Samaki Walker was long gone by then. Kobe wasn’t. 

Nobody was talking about those movies or songs on December 21. They were just talking about Kobe. 

10. Erick Dampier, Indiana Pacers

The knock on Kobe coming out of high school was about strength, both mentally and physically. The doubters all sang in unison; Is he strong enough to guard Michael and Reggie and Payton and Mitch and all the other PGs and SGs that will take him to the block? Then the chorus of those songs went like; Can he handle an 82-game season? He’s never played that many games before.

When he hardcore-failed against Utah in the 1997 playoffs, with those four straight airballs, that song of doubt rocked the nation. 

We told you, we told you.  

The Pacers didn’t want any part of the high school kid during the draft. They had their own shooting guard. He was the best three-pointer shooter ever at that point, an ironclad lock for the Hall of Fame. They were an old-school organization with a roster full of veterans. Didn’t matter how much talent the kid had, they weren’t about to draft somebody that had just gone to prom. 

So they went with Erick Dampier, a rock solid center that played three seasons at Mississippi State. 

And then they watched Kobe shoot the Lakers out of the 1997 playoffs. 

And then against the Pacers in Game 4 of the 2000 Finals, after Shaquille O’Neal fouled out, they watched Kobe shoot the Lakers into a huge road win. 

There were just over two minutes remaining in overtime. Kobe shook the shit outta Reggie Miller near the left side of the circle. A left-to-right cross that he threw between his legs sent Miller wobbling backwards. One bucket. A stare-down pull-up over Mark Jackson followed about 30 seconds later. Two buckets. Then when Brian Shaw went streaking from left to right down the lane and missed an awkward hook shot, Kobe sprang up off the floor and tipped in the miss with his right hand. Three buckets. Gametime. 

They weren’t singing that song of doubt anymore. It would be just a couple of games after that Kobe would win his first NBA championship. 

11. Todd Fuller, Golden State Warriors

To be real, it didn’t work out for Todd Fuller in the NBA. Things happen that way sometimes. He was nice at NC State and then his NBA career only lasted five seasons. Most of those years were spent on the bench. He might’ve been lacking in basketball skill or maybe he wasn’t able to mentally comprehend and then physically adjust to the way ball is played in the League.

Kobe never let the Warriors forget being so close to getting him and choosing Todd damn Fuller instead. He went 51-16 against them in his 20 seasons. He gave them a 50-piece combo in 2000 and treated them to nine different 40-point performances and 17 other outings with at least 30 points. He had even had a game in their building where he dished out 14 assists. Yeah, that guy making that many passes.

He never had to see them in the postseason and he only ever played against Fuller a combined 12 times. Ain’t hard to tell how those games went.

12. Vitaly Potapenko, Cleveland Cavaliers

On the night that Kobe set the record for the most three-pointers made in a game (it’s since been broken by Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry), he connected from distance 12 times and had three huge dunks. His primary defender was Desmond Mason but the Seattle SuperSonics threw everybody at him. Kenny Anderson tried. Rashard Lewis did, too. Vladimir Radmanovic also contested a few shots.

Bean was firing in a few different ways. Shaq got double-teamed a couple of times and hit him for some off-the-catch shots. He had some fall after he set up his own dribbles. He, of course, shot a bunch of them out of the triple-threat.

It was 2003, though. Dudes weren’t shooting three-pointers at will yet. The game still operated inside-out. Shaq got his post touches and Kobe ran the offense from the wing. So launching 18 missiles was exceptionally rare, even for the best guard in the League.

Because the crowd wasn’t used to that type of volume shooting, they were hanging on every attempt, sonically following the trajectory of every shot.

Their collective voice would rise in pitch each time he put one up and then it would crash down in unison when they dropped.

He had ten of them already in the books with 2:33 left in the third. He was on the right wing, Mason standing in front of him. He took a beat to stay there, without dribbling, holding the pumpkin in his right hand. Mason took a huge swipe at the ball, leading Kobe to rip through a right-to-left screen. He took one left-handed dribble and hopped into a shot off two feet, met with a right-handed contest from one of the Sonics’ big men.

With his follow-through up for an extra moment, Kobe laced a triple in the eye of Vitaly Potapenko, the man selected right before him in the 1996 Draft.

Life comes at you fast, Vitaly. There’s your defining moment in NBA history.

13. Charlotte Hornets

They had him. They really, really, really had him. They could’ve had Kobe Bryant playing for the team that Michael Jordan would one day own. That could’ve been real life.

Jerry West, who was running the purple and gold in ‘96, had a plan to make sure that the Hornets’ draft pick would become the Lakers’ rookie.

“Kobe Bryant, through his agent, they were trying to direct him here to us,” West said shortly after Kobe passed. “So Kobe wanted to come back again and workout for us. So Arn called me and said, ‘He’s in town, he wants to workout.’ I brought Michael Cooper in, one of the great defenders we’ve had in our League. Well, after 10 minutes, I said, ‘Stop this.’ He was embarrassing Michael.”

West didn’t stop working until he orchestrated a trade that sent Vlade Divac to Charlotte. It became official on July 11 of that year.

Then the Logo used that cap space to sign the Diesel, which in turn established the best guard/big tandem to ever play basketball.

For their part, the Hornets got Divac and some playoff appearances in the years that followed. And they also get to go down in history as unlucky #13, the last team that lost out on Kobe Bean Bryant.

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Getty.

The post The Biggest Miss Ever: The Teams That Passed On Drafting Kobe Bryant appeared first on SLAM.

Could it mean that the act of dreaming, of imagining the future, of hoping for more, even if there’s only one last dollar left to spend, is what pushes people forward? Is that how a pawn becomes a king? With just a dollar and a dream?

Could that be how a kid named Jermaine from Fayetteville, NC went from reading these very pages of SLAM with Nas’ Illmatic playing in the background to a generation-defining, Grammy-winning musician named J. Cole? Or does that sound fake? Does it sound like the dream turned out too well? Like that kid didn’t put in the time?

Could it be that the public doesn’t know about how he took on New York’s winters for 11 years straight? Maybe they didn’t see how Shawn Carter wouldn’t release his music without a “single?” Didn’t they realize that kid was just asking the Lord for a sign? Didn’t they understand he was trying to show us something?

Could it possibly be true? That the dream actually became a reality? How did the Young Simba become the Grown Simba? Did he do it by taking a power trip to work out his heartache? Did he capture the youth’s attention with a different mixture of flow and truth? Did he manage to hold on to the creativity and integrity that made him a rarity?

Could it be that the rest of the world took notice? Did corporate America suddenly want a piece of the genuine passion he walked with? Did they throw themselves at him? Did he dodge the land of the snakes and the false prophets for years?

Could it be that PUMA, an international sneaker powerhouse nearing its 75th birthday, managed to understand his dream? How did the signature sneaker they cooked up for him transform into a physical reflection of what it means to have a fantasy? Is the young kid that read the basketball bible now an adult that’s happy with the RS-Dreamer?

So is Dreamville just a record label? What do you think?

The post Dream On appeared first on SLAM.

Sunrise in Miami.

A black sky is starting to give way to a blazing orange ember horizon. Biscayne Bay’s coming into focus and the breeze is picking up off the water, rolling through the air with some bite. The view of the Bay, clear and wide, is beginning to trail up into the quickly changing sky, which is now forming into a sharp blue. It’s still just a little chilly, but the city’s already up on this Monday morning in early March. There’s some traffic on I-95, breakfast spots have their doors open, dogs are out for their walks and life’s moving along like a song, like all the famous anthems about these beaches, clubs and people are actually true.

It’s the sunlight that’s different down here. It reacts to every corner, every turn, every move. It follows with each person, giving them their own spotlight, but still it somehow lights up the whole city at the same time.

The sunshine is stunning in Ray Allen’s backyard. It’s radiating off the sand and the water that’s part of his property, bouncing off the house doors and furniture that dot the space. And when he pulls out his Air Jordan XI PE, the sunlight catches the toebox’s patent leather angelically.

The two-time champ has his one-of-ones out because he’s come to understand the significance of history. His post-playing days have given him perspective on how much of an impact basketball and sneakers have on people. His travels around the world have let him see firsthand just how big the game has become and how many people love the kicks he played in. And he wants to make sure that’s documented.

So while that early morning crispness fades into a mid-morning humidity, Allen breaks open another sneaker box, placing it right next to the XIs. It features another pair of PEs, another part of his story.

This box houses Air Jordan XX8s done up in Miami Heat colors with some championship gold accents complementing the white base. It’s the colorway he had on when he made one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals history.

June 18, 2013. Game 6 against the Spurs. The Heat are down 95-92 with 19.4 seconds left. The whole building is up and singing along to an instrumental version of “Seven Nation Army” while the defending champs bring the ball down the floor. Mario Chalmers dribbles deep into the left corner. LeBron James runs an odd-angle V cut and pops off a Chris Bosh screen, one that both Tony Parker and Boris Diaw go under. He misses a three from the left wing. Eleven seconds. Bosh rises high and snatches the offensive rebound. The clock reads 8.1. He finds Allen, who swiftly retreats to the right corner, sets his feet and lets fly. Time check: 6.6 seconds.

His momentum carries him backward and it forces his right leg to kick out ahead of his left. His left arm uses Parker, the shot’s defender, as an anchor, steadying the rest of his body on the landing, while that right arm holds the follow- through. Holds. Holds. Holds.

Time check: 6.3 seconds.

There’s a moment, a very brief moment, of silence right before the shot drops. The singing stops after James misses the first jumper. There’s shock when Bosh pulls down the rebound and finds Allen. Then the singing ends completely, even though the beat continues to play. While the Spurs’ defense shuffles and Parker meets Allen at the three-point line, the crowd is collectively terrified. They’re left standing still, petrified in-place.

That’s when the silence is the loudest. Allen’s follow-through is still up. Parker has helped him regain his balance. Forty-thousand eyes watch the ball in the arena. Millions more around the world follow it, too.

Then…

Swish.

Bliss.

Each and every person in the lower bowl lifts two hands above their head while the noise crashes back into AmericanAirlines Arena. The possession was a rollercoaster and that was its peak.

The Heat went on to win Game 6 in overtime and then a hard-fought Game 7 to capture their second consecutive title. Allen’s signature is left on a defining moment in League history.

Now that he has both pairs out in front of him, he takes a look back. It’s been, he says, a few years since he’s even taken them out of their boxes.

“They’re the end and the beginning,” he tells SLAM. “I say that these two shoes are connected because this shoe was the shoe that got us to where we needed to be and ultimately the shoe that I was wearing when we won the championship in 2013.

“This is what I wore on Ring Ceremony night,” he says about the XI. “Both of those shoes, to me, have a very soft spot in my heart because, obviously, winning. Obviously, I had the ones in Boston, 2008, the gold and green ones, which are at my house up north. These two represent a great deal for me. I always keep those somewhere in the house hidden.”

Here comes the sun again. Palm trees line either end of Allen’s backyard. The center of our solar system sits symmetrically between them. Its light has chosen the lateral side of the XIs gold’s patent leather to shine. Gold to gold.

As he mentioned, Allen doesn’t take these out all that often. It doesn’t get old to him when he does. He says it’s like watching an old movie and having the moment where its plot instantly comes back to memory.

“These represent one thing and one thing only,” he says with the XI in his hand. “When you bring that out, it’s like being able to relive certain moments.”

Allen made acts of on-court brilliance into a habit. He hit the most three-pointers in NBA history, played in 10 All-Star Games, won an Olympic Gold medal and is the author of a vault’s worth of unbelievable highlights. Those are the stories that he and Jordan Brand like to capture with his PEs.

“Ray had some pretty big moments, some record-breaking moments, some championship moments,” Gentry Humphrey, VP of Footwear at Jordan Brand, tells SLAM.

Those plays and accomplishments would spark the creativity and then colorways would pop up.

“With Ray, because he and I have such a good friendship, he would always hit me up,” Humphrey continues. “You know, Hey G, I’m thinking about doing this. How about this? Or I’d come to him and say, Hey, you know what? Maybe we should create something kind of fresh for you for whatever thing was coming up. He and I would talk about it. He was down for doing whatever throughout his career. While he never had any signature shoes, even some of the PEs that we did for him, they’re probably more sought after than even some signature shoes because he was just kind of like that. He’s down for being different. Kids were like, What’s Ray got on today? He was always like that. Sometimes he’d give us some stories. And Ray, he’s not afraid to do wild stuff so it’s a little easier to work with someone who’s not afraid to push it.”

“Gentry, he has a great eye for style, and oftentimes I would sit with his design team,” Allen says.

The design process was something Allen witnessed first-hand during his days on the Sonics, spending time with the Jordan Brand team at the marina and watching them draw inspiration from the windows on boats. He’d give them feedback on everything he did and didn’t like.

As Allen traveled the globe throughout his 18-year NBA career, he learned all about storytelling and the value of moments, from something as small as windows on boats to something as big as a title-saving jump shot.

“It’s interesting, because having this XI just tied to my legacy, as much as I can think about the moment that I played in them, that moment is not mine anymore,” Allen says. “It’s about the kids that watched it and what it meant to them and how they clamor after the shoe and it forced them to go out and shoot because they wanted to be on that stage and have that celebration.”

That awareness, he says, fully formed about five or six years ago when he was in China to host a camp for 15 young ballplayers. One girl traveled 11 hours by train to get there. And she stood up for the whole entire trip.

“The stories she’s telling me,” he says about that kid, “and you realize the impact that you have on people. You walk out of the arena and sometimes you see people leave the arena and they’ve got jerseys on. You go to a restaurant and they’ve got jerseys on. But we fail to recognize the viewership. LeaguePass is real and it’s all over the world. So when you realize that, you say to yourself, Now I have an opportunity to understand the impact that you’ve had when you walk away from it.”

Allen was one of those kids who didn’t have Jordans.

“The Air Jordan XI, to me, I still think about when I was a kid not being able to afford a pair and working hard to get to that status, to that level where I was an ambassador for the Brand. I didn’t own a pair of Jordans until I got to the League,” he says. His first pair of XIs, he says, came with no fanfare. “Yeah, just got them in the shoebox, random shoebox.”

Allen was one of the first people to sign with Brand Jordan, as it was known at the start. (Shout out to Eddie Jones, Vin Baker, Derek Anderson and Michael Finley, aka the First Five, aka Team Jordan.) Though he didn’t own a pair of Js, he was watching along, referring to them as “otherworldly.” He knew the formula for their releases and he always looked forward to the playoffs so he could see what next season’s silhouette was. He’s been a student of Michael’s, like he’s a student of life. He’s constantly reading, continually learning. He darts from talking about examining sheet music to watching fighter jet pilots fly to describing the shooters that he considers better than him, a list that includes Mike Miller, Eddie House and James Jones.

Earlier in the morning, when he had just broke out the XIs and the sun was still rising, Allen was holding his “Championship” PEs. He had them in his hands and was looking down at them intently. He noticed something on the shiny patent leather and he started scrubbing them to make sure they were perfect. Their weight has never been lost on him. They were his idea in the first place.

“I just knew after we won the championship in Boston in 2008 that I had to wear something special going into the Ring Ceremony,” he says. “What was great about the Brand was they knew that I was right. That next year, we’re playing against Cleveland on opening night and I said, I got to have something on my feet that symbolizes a championship. At the time, I loved playing in the XIs because they gave me the best grip on the court, especially as much as I’m coming tight off screens. They came up with the gold and green colorway. So 2008 happened. It’s like a stamp on that moment. And then obviously 2013 was the same opportunity. And to be able to stamp those moments with these shoes, like I said earlier, it’s always the shoe that tells the story at the end of the day.”

His 2008 “Championship” PEs feature the same gold patent leather as his 2013 editions. But it’s the 2013 joints that really stand out.

The tongues on the right and left side are both different. The left tongue’s exterior reads “Sugar Ray” in the iconic Jordan XI font. The left tongue’s interior has a patch that says “2008.” Then the right tongue’s interior is where it says “2013.” And finally the right tongue’s exterior also uses the XI’s custom font to spell out “2013 Champ.” Both exterior tongues feature little rings.

A “34” replaces the customary “23” and “45” normally seen on general release XIs. His jump shot PE logo rounds out the colorway.

“Gentry was somewhat of the brainchild behind it because we were trying to figure out a logo many years back,” Allen remembers. “And it’s symbolic obviously to who I am, to take my signature and then embody the spirit of my shot. If you had me running down the floor as a black shadow and the shot went up, people could tell you, Hey, I know who that was. To be able to embody that in the logo, to me, when I saw it, I was like, It’s perfect.”

Time keeps on slipping while Allen speaks. Miami’s really bringing the heat now and that sunlight is beating down. But it keeps on finding the patent leather on every turn and every move. The sneakers are glistening with their own aura, levitating under the light.

“This shoe is symbolic with greatness, and the gold represents winning,” the Champ says. “Because this is a special piece and it represents…this is greatness right here. This is winning. This is a Gold medal. This is an NBA Championship. That’s what the Brand has always been about. You have to be bold and you have to be a pioneer to step out there and say, I can be great and I will be great.”

The XIs go back inside the shoebox after that.

A true historical artifact documented.

Yesterday can’t be retold. It’s cemented.

Afternoon is here now. South Beach is getting activated. Little Havana is bustling. Then the breeze starts to roll back in. Dinner spots open their doors and dogs are out for their night walks. Sunset in Miami.

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF JORDANS VOL. 6

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Portraits by Jon Lopez.

The post GOLD MINE: The Story of Ray Allen’s Air Jordan XI PE appeared first on SLAM.

With March Madness canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, we’ll be reliving some legendary tournament moments on the days when NCAA basketball would’ve been played. Enjoy.

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The Wildcats won the national chip in 1997. They came back from a 10 point deficit late in the game, forced overtime and won it by five. It was dramatic and entertaining and blah, blah, blah…

The important thing is that a few of them debuted the Nike Air Foamposite One. The Foams were made for Penny Hardaway but the Cats got ‘em first, leaving an extremely, extremely important footprint on the way to etching their names in the history of the NCAA.

“Eric Lautenbach came to our team,” Mike Bibby told us a few months ago. “It was the first year we were there and he came and sat everybody down and said, ‘I got a shoe that no one has seen yet. It’s not your team color.’ Back then you matched your shoe with your uniform. It’s not like nowadays where everybody wears a different color just to be different.

“‘It’s not going to match your uniform. It’s up to you guys if you guys want to wear it.’ I said, ‘Hell yeah, I’m wearing them.’ A few guys wore them. I think Jason Terry wore them, I think Quynn Tebbs wore them, a few guys that sat on the bench wore them. But that was it, really. He got a shoe that’s not our color, hasn’t come out, no one has seen it yet. ‘It’s up to you guys if you want to wear them.’ You know I wasn’t turning that down.”

The visionary Eric Avar, who would go on to work with Kobe Bryant on his signature line, led the charge on the first Foamposite. Its upper was made out of a hard plastic shell while carbon fiber sat below in the midsole. The sneaker was far ahead of its time.

“I wasn’t sure I was even going to show that sample to him,” Avar said about Penny. “We had other ideas we were presenting. But he leaned over, looked into the bag and said, ‘What is that?’ He reached in, grabbed it and he says, ‘This is my next shoe!’ I was like, ‘Okay! There’s the go-to-market strategy!’”

Maybe it was the perfect storm of the Cats being wild cool and Penny playing ball like a stampeding horde of wild horses. Or maybe the Foams would’ve taken off regardless of who was rocking them on the court. Whatever the reason is, the Foams were launched into basketball footwear lore, climbing to heights that nobody could’ve predicted.

The DMV, made up of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia, is now synonymous with Foamposite silhouettes, like New York is known for wearing Air Force 1s. Foams have their own geography now.

When the cartographers eventually write it all down, that geography started out in 1997 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis when Bibby, Terry and the Cats broke everyone’s necks. 

—

PREVIOUS MEMORY LANE STORIES:

Illinois’ Elite 8 Comeback vs. Arizona in 2005

Michigan State’s National Title in 2000

Florida Gulf Coast’s Incredible Run in 2013

Butler vs. Duke in the 2010 National Title Game

UCLA vs. Gonzaga in the 2006 Sweet 16

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photo via Getty.

The post MEMORY LANE: Arizona Debuts the Nike Air Foamposite One in 1997 appeared first on SLAM.

SLAM Movie Night begins at 8:00 pm ET on Thursday. The Carter Effect is available to stream on Netflix.

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Sean Menard first linked up with LeBron James, Maverick Carter and the Uninterrupted crew when they bought his film Fight Mom, a documentary about Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson, an MMA fighter that was balancing motherhood with her career in the octagon. And as he details below, he was reluctant to share his next project with them. He had an idea to showcase Toronto’s history with basketball but thought that an American audience wouldn’t be able to connect with the film’s storyline. Luckily, he was wrong.

“Maverick and LeBron, they grew up watching Vince Carter when they were in high school,” Menard said. “And they’d seen the impact. So they said yup, we love it, we want to move ahead and make this thing.”

The Ontario-native eventually produced The Carter Effect, a documentary about Vince Carter’s influence on hoops up north. It was a smash hit at the Toronto International Film Festival and there’s still buzz floating around it. We caught up with Menard a few weeks after he, Drake and LeBron premiered the film in the T. Dot.

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SLAM: What do you remember about Vince and the Raptors when you were growing up?

Sean Menard: I grew up just outside of the city of Toronto, about 45 minutes away. I didn’t really take to basketball at first. I was pretty young when the Raptors first got in, in ’95. I was, like, eight or nine years old. Then it took Vince Carter coming along to get the attention of me and my friends. It shifted from us talking about hockey or baseball to all of a sudden everyone was drawn towards, ‘Oh, did you catch that game last night?’ Or taking the ball out on the playground and trying to imitate his dunks and his moves. I noticed the switch from hockey and it all became more of a basketball culture.

SLAM: Why was it the right time to make this film?

SM: As a filmmaker, I look to tell stories that haven’t been told. It really just came from wanting to get this story out there. I have an office that’s right outside of the Air Canada Center. I would see the fans gathering around and “We The North” and all of this culture that has come in the last four or five years. I was just like, ‘How did we get here?’ It wasn’t necessarily just about I want to make a Vince Carter documentary. I want to explain the history and where we are now, this basketball frenzied country. You see the effect with all of these young players. I wanted to see how we got there. And then from there the film really just existed on a one-page Word document called The Carter Effect. It outlined, roughly, the film. I tried to get Canadian networks to pick it up and they all passed. I thought it was dead and over. Then it was those guys at Uninterrupted, they had bought my first film, and then they asked what else do you have? I sent them a few pitch documents and I was hesitant on this one because it was so Toronto-centric. I didn’t think such a large American company would want to jump at it but Maverick and LeBron, they grew up watching Vince Carter when they were in high school. And they’d seen the impact. So they said yup, we love it, we want to move ahead and make this thing.

SLAM: What did you learn about your home country while making the doc?

SM: While making the film I definitely noticed that Vince’s impact went beyond him just playing basketball. If he just collected his paychecks and just went home to Daytona Beach, Florida in the offseason and didn’t have any type of involvement coming back, there wouldn’t be a Carter effect. He got involved in the city, opening up a nightclub and doing those camps for those young basketball players that grew up and became NBA players. Just from going through this experience at the Toronto International Film Festival, having four sold out shows and seeing the lineups for people around the block, just hoping a ticket would get released last minute. Seeing these people show up to the theater and saying ‘I’ve never even been to a film festival but I needed to see this. This was my childhood.’ I guess I underestimated the reach and the impact that this really had.

SLAM: What were your expectations for the film?

SM: You’re messing with sacred ground of childhood and nostalgia. For me, my expectations were I can’t mess this up.

SLAM: Speaking of nostalgia, what’s your favorite Vince moment?

SM: It’s the Slam Dunk Contest. That’s what changed everything. Vince was doing those dunks with Toronto across his chest. Not the Raptors. It said Toronto. That’s just become such an iconic moment for me and for people that grew up watching that. It’s turned into a where-were-you-when moment.

My second favorite Vince moment is interviewing him. So when we sit down to talk to Vince, and we were told we only had 20 minutes. Being told 20 minutes with Vince is not nearly enough to make this film. So what ended up happening was after 20 minutes, he told the Memphis Grizzlies PR person to sit down because that person was trying to stop the interview. And we went for a full hour. I was hoping that was gonna happen but you never know until you get in the experience. He didn’t have to do that. He could’ve just taken the 20 minutes and be gone but he was so overcome with nostalgia and memories. And he did not mail in that interview. You could tell he wanted to make sure I got everything I needed to tell the story properly.

SLAM: Now you’re hanging out with Drake and LeBron. Have you had a chance to step back and realize what’s going on? 

SM: LeBron James was sitting behind me [at the premiere]. He’s a real delight to watch a movie with. He was like a little kid, reacting to the dunks and the highlights, making little comments. And then being on stage after, next to LeBron and Drake and Maverick Carter for the Q+A. You’re in front of 2,000 people and I had this moment. People kept saying stop and breathe and be present and really extend the moment. So I started doing that for a second and then I got lightheaded. I realized this is way too surreal, I need to step out of this moment for a second. Yeah, it was incredible. My expectations were never at that point. I never thought it would get that big.

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photo via Getty.

The post Director Sean Menard Talks ‘The Carter Effect,’ Toronto Hoops appeared first on SLAM.

The jackets were gifted to Fred VanVleet and his teammates from Drake after they took down the Bucks, Sixers and Warriors last season. And whether Drake calls him “Twin,” “Steady Freddy” or “Champ,” the respect is there. VanVleet has earned the love of Drizzy and every other Raptors fan in the world. Because his game is in the details. 

A clutch three. A body-to-body layup. A pick-and-roll pocket dime. An extra swing pass. A perfect ball-denial defensive possession. 

That’s where Fred VanVleet makes his money, doing the things that show up on the highlight reels and everything else that doesn’t. It might look like the 25-year-old came out of nowhere to become a key hitter for the reigning champions, but his devotion to play the game isn’t anything new. This is a 20-year journey.  

“I hoop just for the love, man,” VanVleet tells SLAM. “I’ve had a desire to play basketball since I can remember.”

VanVleet’s life kicked into high-gear when he was only 5 years old. His father was murdered that year, which was also when he remembers starting to fall in love with hoops. He only ever wanted to be outside with his older brother, Darnell, getting shots up. He details how much of his childhood in Rockford, IL was spent facing difficult circumstances, and how even when he and his brother were young, they’d see things that kids shouldn’t ever have to see. 

We’re with VanVleet at a hotel just outside of Toronto on a bitterly cold day in January. The sky is grey, white snow flurries dot the air and the wind bites with every new breeze that rolls through. The champ’s words about his hometown come slowly, pointedly, ringing with weight all these years and miles and memories later. Rockford, for all of the hardships, is home for him. And home, through all of the pain, is home because it’s where his dreams started. 

He once posted on his Instagram about how he wanted to make the people in Rockford proud. Nearly seven years have gone by since then. 

“I hope so,” VanVleet says when asked if he thinks his hometown is proud of him. “The biggest thing for me was not about what I did or how much I accomplished—it was the fact that I rep my city no matter where I go. And everybody who knows me knows where I’m from and what I mean to that community.

“In Rockford, basketball is huge,” he continues. “It’s one of the only outlets people feel like they have, especially when I was growing up. It was basketball and football. Obviously I made the choice to play basketball and that was my outlet to get to college and ultimately get to the pros. It’s that outlet for kids that don’t really have much. It’s a safe haven and it’s a safe place where people can come together.”

The game helped FVV to bond with his stepfather and his two new stepbrothers while he was growing up. They would constantly go through drills, working on ballhandling, stamina and strength. He was an extremely expressive kid. He couldn’t handle losses. He couldn’t stand playing poorly. He used basketball to channel everything that he was feeling and thinking between fifth, sixth and seventh grade.

“It’s funny because now people always see me as this super-calm person, but when I was real young playing, I used to cry a lot,” he says with a grin. “If we lost or if things weren’t going my way, I would get so mad that I would end up crying. I eventually got over that as I got older. From a young age, I always played up. I played up with my older brothers and I had to sit on the bench and watch. I didn’t get to play and I felt like I was good enough. That was, like, fifth, sixth and seventh grade, dealing with that.”

VanVleet was just wearing his real, valid, legitimate NBA championship ring. It’s so heavy that it gave him a blister after having it on for only 10 minutes. You need some damn sunglasses to even look at it. But when he thinks back to playing ball as a kid, he still can’t shake one loss, even with that rock on his finger. 

“One I remember real well was I had just started playing with a new team and we went to a summer tournament in Notre Dame or something,” he says. “We were playing in the auxiliary gym. We was getting smacked. I remember I started crying in the game. They took me out and I went to the bathroom in the middle of the game. They had to come get me out and calm me down. That’s one thing that sticks out in my mind. Any time we was losing, I was hot.” 

But the years have changed VanVleet. He went through a few more adjustments during his high school and college careers. He wouldn’t show any type of emotion during his freshman and sophomore seasons at Auburn High School. He could have 30 and his face would look like he hadn’t scored at all. That switched up when his stepfather encouraged him to vocally and passionately lead his teammates. The new, outwardly impassioned VanVleet then went to Wichita State, where he could routinely be seen pumping his fists and screaming after hitting huge shots. 

VanVleet’s four seasons with the Raptors have been defined by a serene and tranquil approach, the end result of all the moments from growing up in Rockford, becoming a star at Auburn High and hooping with the Shockers added up. It’s an unshakeable confidence, one realized through those hours. Fans, opponents and teammates know him for his toughness, both mind and body. 

VanVleet knows his family members for their toughness. He mentions his mother and his grandmother, praising them for all they made it through. His stepfather, a member of the Rockford PD, also gets a shout out. His friends, he says, for staying steadfast even when the neighborhood tried to take them down. The ballplayers who came from his city before him for laying the foundation. Those are the people he thinks of when he thinks of toughness. 

“For me, I think mental toughness came with how I grew up,” he says. “Losing my father at an early age sped up my maturity process. It made me grow up fast. I’ve seen a lot growing up. And those things give you great perspective on life. Whether it’s what you went through, your friends or your family members, where I come from, we’ve all seen a lot of things that kids shouldn’t see. So when I go play a game, it’s always a game. And nothing that can happen within that game amounts to any of the real stuff that goes on in people’s lives.”

Now the big picture comes in clearer. His single-minded focus in last season’s Finals makes more sense. His ability to play through chipped teeth and stitches can be traced back to his days running around Rockford. His rise from undrafted rookie has been certified. 

He bet on himself and he came up with a royal flush. 

AND1 took notice. They’ve partnered with the champ to help him take his FVV clothing line to the next level. And in return, he’s been playing in the Attack 2.0, AND1’s newest basketball silhouette. There’s a signature sneaker in the works, though VanVleet says with a smile that he can’t “speak on too many things that go on behind closed doors.”

“You think about the history of where it started and how it started,” VanVleet says about AND1. “If you really know the history behind it, then you have a different level of respect for it.”

That’s just like his own story. It’s all in the details. 

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Portraits by Charlie Lindsay.

The post BET ON YOURSELF: Fred VanVleet’s Journey to a Championship appeared first on SLAM.

Some people define eternity as a life that has no end. But others look at it as what exists outside time—another plane that’s reserved for only the few.

A place where the ball never stops bouncing. 

Kobe said he fell in love at six, which is when he moved to Italy. In solitude, he picked up the ball. He found a piece of something that compelled him, something that called to him. He said it made him feel alive.

That’s the way he made us feel. It was exhilarating when we watched him and we saw him fly. We were just kids, falling in love with the game through him. He was our teacher. He was on his way to the cosmos and we were hitched to the rocket ship. His game, his movements, his energy… Contagious. Intoxicating. Addicting. The bounce he walked with led into the explosion he dunked with. The explosion he dunked with bled into the blasts that he would shoot his jumpers with. That was all just the pathway to the inferno raging inside of him, his scorching, searing devotion to winning. 

His infatuation with victory infected us. We expected it from him. 

He delivered. 

We followed. 

He would shoot 1,000 shots a day. We would do the same, no matter what our “shots” were. We’ve grown up a little since we watched him three-peat and then go back-to-back. We’ve got jobs now, we’ve got families. But we’re attacking each and every day with those 1,000 shots loaded and ready to go. That’s the mentality he shared with us—win. 

And then we saw him evolve. He went from dunking on everyone stupid enough to challenge him to something else. He reached basketball genius-level. He dominated mentally. His footwork became methodical. His fadeaway became unstoppable. His IQ became unquestionable.

He became a basketball master. 

But his greatest evolution happened off the court, where he blossomed into a true father. He was already a father-figure to so many of us but the time he invested in his daughters was the truest testament to his character. That was where he showed the most growth. And that’s why this hurts so much.

We can all admit how upset we are, how many tears we’ve cried since Sunday. This isn’t about sadness, though.

This is about appreciation. Celebration. We should all understand and acknowledge how lucky we’ve been to get to see Kobe become Kobe. We were there the whole time, while he used basketball as the vehicle to educate us on how to realize our potential, whether as a ballplayer, a writer, a doctor, a chef, a photographer, a husband, wife, son or daughter. 

People have been saying that he influenced an entire generation. And that’s an absolute fact. It was our generation. Kobe belongs to all of us. We all have a story about how he impacted us, from the time we were little to this exact day. We could go back through those moments that now echo in basketball history. Or we could just remember the feelings that ran through us during those plays. We got to be in the presence of one of the game’s most potently devastating forces. That’s a blessing. 

Kobe, we’ll be moving for you from here on out, using everything you taught us. The quotes, the highlights, the memories, they will never, ever fade. We’ll see you and Gigi up there, where the ball never stops bouncing. 

Thanks for everything, Bean. Love.

The post Eternal: The Kobe Bryant Story appeared first on SLAM.

But then, after nearly six minutes, the conversation shifts to Garnett and he springs to life, just like when he was hooping. Animated, thoughtful, honest—KG’s demeanor is unchanged, whether on the court or off it. He commands the room, with the full attention of Sandler and the Safdie brothers. 

The flick centers around Sandler’s character, a jeweler in New York that can’t stop making bets on sports. Garnett, who plays himself in the movie, runs into Sandler’s store and develops a relationship with his character. It all goes to hell after that, when Sandler’s character places a bet on Garnett and the Celtics during the 2012 playoffs. 

Garnett speaks about how the movie, and the betting that takes place in everyday life, has given him perspective as a former professional athlete. 

“You’re not thinking about things that doesn’t confine what you’re doing and the objective out there,” KG says. “It’s just funny to hear. It’s funny to us. But theses are life-changing things that people are doing.”

Sandler says that the cast and crew spent a whole lot of time with former gamblers who lost everything, from money to houses to relationships with their families. He says that they ran the gauntlet of research, investigating the worlds of jewelry, gambling and sports. 

The movie reaches extremely high-highs and extremely low-lows. The Safdie brothers had a few different ballplayers in mind throughout the production process, including Joel Embiid and Amar’e Stoudamire. They got connected to Garnett one day during the nearly nine-year film development stage. A one-hour phone call was scheduled, but that one hour turned into three because their chemistry was immediate. Garnett was messing with them and Josh and Benny, who grew up as diehard Knicks fans in Queens, felt a connection right away. And when Garnett got to work with Sandler for the first time, it felt easy. 

“Even talking to Adam, it was like having a conversation with Adam,” Garnett says. “It didn’t feel like a script.”

“You were incredible,” Sandler says to Garnett. “He was so focused in on every moment,” he then says aloud. 

Garnett, as he’s shown he’s capable to, goes in-depth following that. 

“Acting is preparation, just like anything else,” the Hall of Famer says. “And coming into this I didn’t want to fail them. They took the risk on me being in here, playing this part. I figured you got a list of people you could pull for this. The least you could do is come in here and be professional, be prepared. Everyday I come in here and I sit in my room and it took me back to just Rasheed Wallace or Tim Duncan and watching film and I did those same things. I came in here, when I showed up to set, I was ready, I knew what I was doing. Someone once told me in television know where you’re going when you come out of the driveway, so I had direction on what I wanted, the energy, what the scene called for, all of that. I was totally ready.”

And he had to be ready because Uncut Gems is a nonstop, tension-filled rollercoaster ride. It’s not meant for the weak. It’s for the hitters, the dudes like Garnett and Sandler that have been winning for decades. 

The post Adam Sandler and Kevin Garnett on Making ‘Uncut Gems’ appeared first on SLAM.

It’s crystal-damn-clear that he’s the definition of a hooper. And if you get the chance to see him play outdoors in New York City, it’s even more claro that no per-game averages can quantify his impact on the community. JuJu has spent the past few years making NY proud, taking on any challenger who has enough cojones to step up, whether national or local, with a game that was built on the blacktop. No matter where he goes in New York, a hero’s welcome waits for him. He doesn’t have just one playground. The whole city is his playground.

“I get love everywhere, man,” Murray says. 

How nasty is JuJu? At the SLAM Summer Classic this past August at Dyckman Park, it was JuJu who took home the MVP honors, beating out a who’s who of the country’s most valid high school players for the trophy. He capped off his showcase with an and-one lay that had people rushing the court just to get a piece of the city’s most popular guard. 

“Dyckman is a place where you can really get in your zone,” Murray says. “Dyckman is not for everybody. If you ain’t ready for that type of environment, there’s no reason for you to play in it.”

His rise, unlike a lot of his peers, has been legitimately earned. He started off at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, playing alongside Joe Toussaint, now suiting up for the University of Iowa. He worked his way up, learning from Toussaint, an ill point guard in his own right. And while he was playing at Cardinal Hayes, he was also solidifying his rep at the park. The city is one big jungle and JuJu is a certified lion. That’s exactly why he decided to leave and attend Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut. 

“The move to Putnam was to get on a bigger stage and get more focused,” Murray says. “I felt like the city was going to distract me a little bit. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s a distraction, but, like, it’s a lot of people that are just going to tell you what you want to hear,” he continues. “Out here, people tell me what I want to hear: Best guard in the city. When I go to Putnam, they tell me, You’ve got to work on this, you’ve got to do that, you’re not good at this stage. People telling me what I’ve got to do to get better, that’s good.”

There are certain things that JuJu can’t learn at Putnam, certain things that can’t be found outside the city. Like what he calls “automatic kill mode.” He learned that in New York.

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Portraits by Johnnie Izquierdo.

The post JU HEARD: Jaylen ‘JuJu’ Murray Runs New York City 🗽 appeared first on SLAM.

This is Sabrina Ionescu’s home court. 

Ionescu is now the NCAA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles, entering her senior season with 18 of them. She’s all but a lock to be the No. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft. But before all of that happened, she was playing here, at Larkey Park. 

“I played at a few parks in Walnut Creek but Larkey Park was the one that we went to a lot of the time. I would say one of my earliest memories is just playing at the park,” Ionescu tells SLAM. “Pickup games, random games with my brother. Once I got older, obviously started playing on a team, but always the small memories of playing in the front yard or at the park.”

Her story is playing out like a Hollywood movie. Ionescu was good enough, tough enough, strong enough to play with the boys. But they didn’t always let her. She would have to watch sometimes. Then she would get to play other times.

“I always had a Tweety Bird shirt and they told me that I wasn’t allowed to play until I got rid of the shirt,” she remembers. “And so I went home and changed my shirt, came back and then they let me play. So I never wore it after that moment.”

When she did get to play, they wouldn’t pass her the ball so she started to grab it off the glass, push it up the court and dish it to an open teammate while the defense swarmed to get what they thought would be an easy steal. She’s been developing a skill set to stack up triple-doubles ever since she was a kid. 

“She is a pass-first player,” Kelly Graves, her head coach at Oregon, says. “People know how much she scores. 

She gets a lot of attention for her rebounding. But, I think, fundamentally, she is about the team. Her ability to see the floor, to be one step ahead of the defense is incredible. She knows her teammates are open before they know they’re open and that you just can’t teach. That’s innate to the elite players.”

And Ionescu is the most elite college basketball player in the country. The game she built at Larkey Park has her close to becoming the one and only NCAA women’s basketball player to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in a career. Her three years as a Duck have seen her register 18 points, 7 rebounds and 7 dimes a game. And her junior season, in which she led Oregon to the Final Four, wrapped up with her best numbers yet—averages of 19.9 points, 8.2 assists and 7.4 boards were complemented by 42 percent shooting from distance and 88 percent shooting from the foul line. Her squad had a 33-5 record. 

“She’s made us relevant in the national championship discussion,” Graves says. “Now we’re a national program. Obviously she has great teammates and everybody has helped, there’s no question about that. But she’s really been the face of that resurgence.”

It’s normal for Ionescu to get stopped whenever she’s on campus. The days where she can walk around and not get noticed are mostly gone, replaced by moments when people want photos with her or when they want her to know that she’s appreciated. Everybody wants to be a part of history. And Ionescu is living, walking, talking, breathing history. 

Her 18 triple-doubles are the most—by a woman or a man—in the history of the NCAA. More than Diana Taurasi. More than Candace Parker or even Wilt Chamberlain. She busted up the record that Kyle Collinsworth set while he played at BYU when she got her 13th triple-double in December of 2018.

“I remember getting my first triple-double my freshman year and we were in Hawaii,” she says. “I had no idea that I had gotten it because the stats weren’t up anywhere. But I remember after the game Kelly came up to me and just handed me the box score and that’s all he said. He said, ‘Congrats, not a lot of people do it.’ Just handed me the box score and I had no idea what he meant. I was trying to look at the box score and see was it how many points we scored in a half? I was really confused at what he was talking about. I was like, Oh, I got a triple-double. I was like, OK. That was it.”

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Ionescu, for as long as she’s been recording those triple-doubles, has always insisted it’s not about numbers. She’s just doing what it takes to help her team win. 

“I just don’t like to lose,” she says. “In anything that I do, whether it’s basketball or anything, I’m just super competitive. Going into every game, into every practice, I’m trying to be the best version of myself. I’m not really playing against anyone, it’s really just me trying to be the best version that I can on the court, off the court.”

Ionescu says that her twin brother, Eddy, and their older brother, Andrei, never took it easy on her. Blood and tears were common for her when she was growing up at Larkey Park. But those moments helped her become the no-mercy-machine she is now. Clutch moments mean nothing to her. She’ll just walk up the floor, drill a dagger three-pointer and walk back to the bench while the other team scrambles to call a timeout. Because she’s not going to lose. And if she does take a loss, she’s going to make sure it won’t happen again. 

After getting beat by Baylor in the 2019 Final Four, Ionescu all but promised a natty to the Ducks in 2020. She’s gonna deliver. Her game is a terrifying mixture of basketball’s most deadly competitors. 

Her desire has been shaped by following Kobe Bryant. Her floor general skills have been refined by studying John Stockton. Her jumpshot has been honed by watching Stephen Curry. 

“I’d pull up John Stockton’s videos from when he played and watched that on the computer,” Ionescu says. “I’d watch Kobe’s. It was cool because I was able to watch them growing up and if they did something, I would go back in the yard and try to do it myself.”

But it was more than just watching Curry and the Warriors or old grainy footage on YouTube. The way that those players hooped can be seen in Ionescu. Like her coach says, she sees the game before things happen. She can read defenses, bend them to her liking. She knows when to step up for the shot and when to drop a laser feed off the bounce. 

“The more basketball you watch and the more you pay attention, that only helps your IQ,” the point guard says. “Playing with guys, they were a lot bigger and stronger and so I had to see things early and I had to be able to make passes in order to be able to play with them. Just starting at a young age, being thrown into a game like that has just helped me now. Now the game kind of slowed down for me just because of how sped up it was when I was younger. 

“I was just back there and it’s cool to see that they watch our games and they keep up with me,” she says about all the guys in Walnut Creek. “Now they all want me on their team. It’s just different from when they weren’t allowing me to play with them.”

They can recognize the expert-level that Ionescu plays the game at. And so can Kobe. Sabrina gets excited when talking about the time that the Black Mamba and his daughter, Gigi, showed up at one of her games last season. 

“We were just warming up and all of a sudden he goes and sits courtside,” she says, like she still can’t believe it. “I was like, Oh my gosh, that’s Kobe Bryant at our game. That was just awesome. He came back into the locker room and spoke to us and signed our shoes. It was really cool to be able to meet him and talk to him like an actual person and not someone that I just watch game film on.”

It wasn’t that long ago that she was recreating his moves at Larkey Park, under the big, tall, green trees. And it won’t be that long until she’s in the W, playing pro ball at Staples Center, the same court that he used to play at, under the big, bright lights. More triple-doubles and a national championship, it won’t be that long until those become reality too. 

But for Coach Graves, Sabrina Ionescu is already a superstar. 

“She’s gotten better skill-wise but I think where she’s made the most improvement is in leadership and being a great teammate, handling lots of pressure, expectations,” he says. “She has just become, I think, the entire package when it comes to what you would expect and want out of an elite athlete. She inspires me. She inspires her teammates. When you talk about what you want in a human being, she fits it all.” 

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos by Ashley Walters and via Getty.

Additional reporting by Camille Buxeda.

The post MIGHTY DUCK: Sabrina Ionescu Is Coming for the National Title 🏆 appeared first on SLAM.

“For us, at this point, it’s bigger than basketball,” Devin Booker says, with D’Angelo Russell sitting to his right and Karl-Anthony Towns sitting to his left. “We know each other’s families. This is way bigger than the game.”

Three of the NBA’s youngest, brightest stars are friends for real. Not the hi-bye type of stuff. The “What-are-you-doing-after-this-photoshoot?” type of energy, like Booker asked Towns after they spent an entire afternoon together at a studio in midtown Manhattan. The all-day, all-night texting kind of friendship. The laugh at and fight about memories flow. The know-each-other-so-well-that-they-can-make-each-other-get-emotional level of camaraderie.

Booker, Towns and Russell are the League’s newest, coolest family. And they know it.

“We gotta do this again, when we’re all on the same team,” Russell jokes toward the end of the day. “Nah, don’t cut it,” he says to our rolling cameras. “Y’all got it on footage. When we’re all on the same team—I ain’t gonna tell you which team because I don’t know—we’re gonna do this again.”

This isn’t the first time that SLAM has linked up with these three. We shot Towns right after he won the 2016 Rookie of the Year, out in L.A., for a pair of covers. One of those featured him in a Kevin Garnett jersey. A trip to Phoenix followed in 2017, with a clean cover that chronicled Booker. And then Russell’s cover, an instant classic, in March of this year. DLoading, with BKLYN across his chest, a snarl and a crown, paying homage to The Notorious B.I.G.

This trio, they’re all connected to each other, ever since back in the day. They’re on a journey together, even when they’re not together. Because they’re always together. They’re basketball’s modern goodfellas.

“You know, we always called each other goodfellas,” the famous line from the movie goes. “Like, you said to somebody, ‘You’re gonna like this guy. He’s alright. He’s a good fella. He’s one of us.’ You understand? We were goodfellas.”

—

We’re in the middle of Koreatown, in the beginning of September, on the fourth floor of a building that’s sandwiched between karaoke bars, delis and tourist shops. Thousands of people frantically shuffle around the blocks just outside, not knowing that three NBA players are up here getting fits off. (What’s good, @leaguefits???)

Things are pretty relaxed, even with the three all-world hoopers up here. Russell and Booker get shape-ups in the corner. Towns has taken control of the music. He’s decided to run through a bunch of Mac Miller songs. He dribbles around a little bit, until Jess Holtz, who’s worked with all three since they were drafted in 2015, tries to guard up. Towns catches her with a nasty behind-the-back combo and she reaches for it.

Loss of body control.

Laughter fills the space, with Towns running to show Booker the clip of it. It’s a moment that happens with kids all across the country—something hilarious or embarrassing goes down and they jet over to their friends to laugh about it until it hurts. It’s just that the kid who did this particular move has an NBA ROY trophy to his name and the kid who’s being shown this particular video scored 70 points against the Celtics as a 20-year-old.

Towns (23 years old), Booker (22, though he’ll turn 23 on Oct. 30) and Russell (23) are stacking the accomplishments in the League.

The Timberwolves big man has that ROY, two All-Star appearances, an All-NBA nod in 2018 and is coming off a season in which he averaged 26 points and 13 boards.

Booker hit that 70 a few years ago, made the All-Rookie First Team in 2016, has upped his scoring and assists numbers every season and has transitioned to becoming a hybrid point guard/shooting guard combo, fully capable of dropping 30 points whenever he wants or dishing out 10 dimes at will.

Russell’s made it through a few storms in his career to become an All-Star. He led the Brooklyn Nets to the playoffs last season, singlehandedly reviving the franchise as a highly skilled and efficient point guard who was never afraid in the clutch.

They recognize and acknowledge that their time in the League has been different and that is what has made it special.

“It’s cool how we all went our separate ways and had that ambition to make it to the top,” Russell says.

These are relationships that have been formed over years of life on the road, when nobody else would be able to truly understand what they were going through. The only people they could relate to were each other.

“I remember this dude, Devin,” Russell says. “We were at Elite camp. Everybody’s coming from all different types of places and everybody has their own gear. I remember I had some knee pads. And they were his colors back home. So my dude, he was like, I need those, I need those. And they were all rugged. They were worn out. And he was like, I need those. He done cut it and flipped it up and they looked ready to go. That’s my first memory.”

“I’ve been watching D’Angelo play since, like, sixth or seventh grade,” Booker remembers. “Before we knew each other, I was watching him play. I was on a low-level team. We’d play in one of the sorry brackets and I’d be sitting on the side of the court, watching the top players play.”

That’s been Booker’s story. He didn’t get minutes as a rookie with the Suns until late in the season. He only averaged 10 points per game while at Kentucky. And it took him a minute to work his way up into the national spotlight as a prospect. But he eventually did it.

“I met Book for the first time at NBPA 100 Camp in Virginia,” Towns says. “I remember just seeing a really, really pale white kid. Turned out he wasn’t white but that’s what I thought. They said he could shoot the ball better than anybody. I came late to the camp and I talked to him about Kentucky. I had heard his name before, too. I knew he was interested in Kentucky. Just feeling his vibe out that day. Obviously in college is where we really blossomed a special relationship.”

“My first memory of Karl, I was at NBPA Top 100 Camp and we always heard about him,” Booker confirms. “I had never seen him play. I still didn’t see him play there. He showed up to the camp, he took all the gear, he went home. He didn’t play not one game.”

They go on to argue about what really happened. Towns calmly says he showed up for the last day and played in two games. Booker promises, with tons of laughter, that’s not the truth.

No matter what actually happened that day, both Booker and Russell are adamant in saying that Towns has been dominating since they met him. They talk about his skill level and his poise and they predict that one day he’ll be the president of the NBPA. They’re right, too. Towns, older than both Booker and Russell, is extremely articulate, whether he’s talking hoops, sneakers or his brotherhood. And he has plans for the future. He wants to leave a legacy on and off the court, “to change the game as a big man.”

“He knows what to say and at the same time when he gets on the court, it’s domination,” Booker says. “It’s kinda hard to have both of those in players. And he has that.”

“I’m like, This dude’s the No. 1 pick in the draft,” Russell says about Towns. “Not when I first met him but when I first worked out with him. Like, this dude’s the No. 1 pick in the draft.”

Russell’s intuition would go on to be correct. Towns went first in 2015 and Russell was right behind him, getting selected with the second pick by the Lakers.

“I met D-Russ for the first time, we were playing against each other in New Jersey,” Towns says. “It was Montverde vs St. Joe’s. Here comes this number-one-wearing guy, lefty, that they talked a lot about.”

Montverde won the matchup. “We kicked your ass,” Russell says under his breath.

“Me and him, the relationship hit off earlier in high school because we were the young kids getting invited to older camps,” Booker says of Russell. “We’d have roommates and we’d ask our roommates could they switch so we could be in the room together. I remember us sitting and talking about what college we wanted to go to, things like that.”

“I would say we talk about basketball, maybe, about 25 percent of our conversations,” Towns says. “And it’s not really, like, basketball-deep. It’s just generic things around the basketball world.”

The rest of that time, including living together during the draft process, is dedicated to stuff that Towns doesn’t want to share.

“I got a lot of stories but I can’t say,” he grins. “Just know the Banana Boat V2 has been doing very well since day one.”

There’s a moment when they’re taking photos together that Booker, without being asked to, grabs onto Towns and Russell. He brings them in close and smiles real, real big. They smile, too. Genuine, I-actually-mess-with-you-guys, smiles.

They’ve been raising each other up throughout our time at the studio, complimenting each other’s fits, offering advice, asking for a certain song to be played, talking about something, giggling about nothing.

“This is crazy,” Russell says. “They my dogs right there. They my dogs.”

Towns, speaking poetically about Russell, almost made the lefty cry. It was time for reflection, time to think about the past, present and the future, everything that has already been done and everything that is still to come.

Minnesota’s big man can see them all being champions in 10 years.

“We all got the drive,” Towns says. “All we know is how to win.”

“Right now, especially the stars, they know who the next generation is and it’s our job in the next 10 years to make that come to fruition,” Booker continues. “I think we’re all on the same page with that. We’re gonna have to win.”

And in speaking about the past, that’s when three of the League’s tuffest killas have the most to share.

“We’re on covers,” Russell beams. “Can we go back to that? Like, we really did this, man. A lot of people take this for granted.”

“We all had different paths in the League, too,” Booker says. “For me not playing at first, to D’Angelo being with the Lakers, in and out of the lineup. Karl, dominating from day one. It’s just all different paths. We’ve all been through a lot but to finally be here, all in one room with our own covers and now all on one cover together, this is gonna be all over my house.”

Booker and Towns stand up and start to get ready for a few more photos that are set to follow. But Russell stays seated.

“Ayyy, I love y’all, man,” he says to Towns and Booker. “We did this. I’m about to cry over here. I’m emotional, man. This isn’t normal. I’m gonna let this marinate for a second, this little aura we created. I’m gonna sit in this little bubble for a little longer.”

Together, no matter what, no matter where.

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 224 FEATURING DLO, BOOK AND KAT HERE

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson.

Styling by Browne Andrews.

Art by Tyrrell Winston.

The post Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, D’Angelo Russell: THE NBA’s GOODFELLAS appeared first on SLAM.

“It was something I was thinking about, being creative and doing things different than other guys,” Prince tells KICKS.

While most players don’t put that much thought into their footwear, Prince was ready for his moment as a sneaker free agent. His contract with adidas had expired right before the 2018-19 season began. By that time, he wasn’t a stranger to hooping in rare kicks. He wore T-Mac 5s, T-Mac 3s and even two different pairs of Kobe’s first adidas signatures when he was still with the Three Stripes.

He had real heaters in 2018-19, though. He played in the “Fairfax” LeBron Zoom Soldier 3. He played in the “OVO” Air Jordan VIII. He played in the “Stepover” Reebok Answer IV. He really played in Nike 20-5-5s, a silhouette that was cooked up after LeBron’s legendary rookie year and hasn’t been retro’d yet. They’re extremely rare. 

“To be honest, I wasn’t really trying to compete with PJ [Tucker] or Trezz [Harrell]. Those guys, it’s cool,” Prince says. “But they’d rather spend a whole bunch of money doing that. It’s not even about that for me. I really don’t care about having the most expensive shoe on. It’s like, literally, whatever I feel like wearing that day or that game, it’s just what I’m gonna wear. I’m not basing it off whether somebody’s gonna post it. I know they’re gonna catch it, so it’s just gonna be what I like.”

He had a really good season, too. Though he had to overcome a left ankle injury that kept him out of over 20 games, he showed major improvement on offense. He ran pick-and-rolls better than the year before and drilled catch-and-shoot threes, hitting almost 40 percent from distance.

The Hawks traded him to the Nets in early June and he’s already thinking about his footwork for Brooklyn.

“Everybody knows my man is KD,” Prince says about his new teammate, Kevin Durant, who is now 12 signature sneakers in with Nike. “So I’m gonna cook up a lot of iDs with him. I’ll probably be wearing a lot of the things he would be wearing if he was playing.

“I’ll probably be more spontaneous with it this year. I’ll probably switch up between a lot of old Kobes and old KDs. Bron, he’ll get a taste a little bit this year, but you know how it is. When you’re teammates with the other best player in the world, you gotta tame that a little bit,” he adds with a laugh.

And speaking of Brons, the “Equality” 15s kind of fell into Prince’s lap at the perfect time.

“I was actually in Cleveland at the time,” the 25-year-old says. “My boy, he has a consignment store called Restock. So I walked in there and he actually wears my size. [The ‘Equality’ 15s] were just right there in the case. I asked how much they were. They were a good little price, enough to where I could get them at that moment. So I copped them right then and there and wore them that night.”

Prince says it’s become normal for him to hit up stores on the road.

“If we have five games on the road then I’ll bring, honestly, 10 to 20 pairs,” he says. “I may switch at halftime, I may not. Just depends on the vibe. I may go to a city with 12 pairs of shoes and then go to a shoe store and cop three pairs and end up wearing those three.”

With New York as his new home, Prince isn’t done flexing. Imagine what he’ll be able to find at all the sneaker stores in Gotham.

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF KICKS 22

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Getty.

The post FRESH PRINCE: A Look at Taurean Prince’s Fire Collection of Kicks appeared first on SLAM.

Taurasi had her own kicks back in 2006. The Nike Shox DT came and went quickly and it’s already, unfortunately, been forgotten. It was a funky-looking silhouette built on Nike’s patented Shox technology. The cushioning was mixed with Zoom Air and it trailed up to a big overlay that covered the midfoot and eventually wrapped around the collar. Taurasi only played in them for one season. She’s been playing in LeBron PEs ever since.

Taurasi, a three-time WNBA champ and four-time Olympic gold medalist, is the last woman sponsored by Nike to get a signature sneaker. The last woman to get a signature in the WNBA is Parker, who has two WNBA MVP trophies, two gold medals and a WNBA title. She’s consistently been laced in the latest adidas options ever since the early 2000s and adidas hooked her up with three of her own pairs, the last of which was in 2012 when the Ace3 came out.

It’s a stark, stark contrast from when women’s basketball exploded into the mainstream in the mid-’90s. Chamique Holdsclaw, Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, Rebecca Lobo and Nicki McCray were all given their own kicks by Nike, adidas, Reebok and Fila back in the day.

And then there was Sheryl Swoopes, a pioneer in basketball sneakers. Nike made seven different signature sneakers for Swoopes and she wore them as she was winning four consecutive WNBA titles with the Houston Comets and three Olympic gold medals. The impact of the first Air Swoopes still moves the Hall of Famer.

“I remember going to Portland, walking in the room and just seeing all of the stuff,” Swoopes told SLAM at the 2019 WNBA Draft about the first time she saw her signature sneaker. “It seemed so surreal to me at the moment. To walk in and, not only see any shoe, but to see my shoe, with my name on it, and to know that there were gonna be little girls out there, and hopefully little boys too, that have an opportunity to wear a women’s basketball shoe… I love Michael Jordan, but you don’t have to go and buy the Air Jordans anymore. You can go and buy the Air Swoopes. Even today, to say that, I’m like, ‘Wow that really did happen.’ I still get emotional to this day when I think about it.”

But there hasn’t been another player able to feel that type of emotion in nearly 10 years. Even as the talent level has soared across the W and players have taken strong stances against political and racial injustices, developing rock-solid personal brands, no company has stepped up with a sneaker.

The most that the brands do is give a select few players their own team-specific colorways. Parker is always playing in purple and gold kicks, Bird has been given the reigns to the Kyrie line and Taurasi has gotten Phoenix Mercury-themed LeBrons ever since Nike did away with her sneaker. Some of the league’s best young players get featured in marketing campaigns by Nike and adidas, where the spotlight shines on them briefly. But it’s not enough for Breanna Stewart and Nneka Ogwumike, two former MVPs, to get a couple of seconds of airtime in a branded Instagram video that also shows men with their own kicks.

If the high level of skill and the social awareness weren’t enough, the W is filled with huge sneakerheads, now more than ever. There will be old pairs of Kobes, the newest adidas and a wild custom pair on any given night during the summertime. Sneakers matter to them and to their fans.

“I remember in middle school I had Cynthia Cooper’s sneaker,” the W’s Sneaker Queen, Tamera Young, says. “Our team, actually, had it. It’s something for the kids as well that looks up to us. If you had WNBA players that have sneakers, it’s something that little girls could look up to.”

“It would just be an inspiration to young players to be able to wear shoes of their favorite women’s player,” the Chicago Sky’s Diamond DeShields says. “Visibility is key. I believe this would help promote that and ultimately contribute to the common goal of growing the league as a whole.”

The 24-year-old DeShields debuted the “Chicago” Air Fear of God 1 recently, a move co-signed by the sneaker’s designer, Jerry Lorenzo. He personally thanked DeShields in an Instagram post that went out to his one million-plus followers.

“It’s all a part of the evolution of the sport,” DeShields says about a woman having her own sneaker. “At what point is it gonna become normalized for women to share the same platform and opportunities as men? ‘Never’ won’t last in regard to this question so why not now?”

Like DeShields, a few women have been able to show off high-profile pairs. The Aces have a heavy-hitting duo in Wilson and Kayla McBride, both in terms of bucket-getting and sneaker-wearing. Wilson is the first WNBA player to get player exclusive Adapt BB colorways. She first rocked her personal colorway of the auto-lacing sneaker at NBA All-Star Weekend and then went on to debut the “Air MAG” Adapt BBs. And McBride was the first to launch the “NASA 50” colorway of the PG3. Tina Charles and Odyssey Sims got to break out the “SpongeBob” and “Patrick” Kyrie 5s. And the first player to wear the Nike Freak 1 on-court wasn’t Giannis Antetokounmpo or one of his brothers—it was Dallas Wings rookie Arike Ogunbowale.

“We’re at a time where we deserve our own signature shoe,” Wilson says. “It would help the WNBA’s evolution because that’s just a huge step of getting us out there as players. That is a big step. Of course, my favorite Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes, they had their shoes but we need to bring that back. It brings a lot more coverage to our game and notice to our game. That’ll just help our game evolve.

Go down the line and look at the rest of the league and you’ll find ‘heads on every team, players that not only mess with sneakers but that can also truly hoop. Jewell Loyd, Elena Delle Donne, Chiney Ogwumike, Kia Nurse and Seimone Augustus are a few of the best players in the WNBA and a few of its biggest sneakerheads too.

Augustus, a future Hall of Famer that has four rings with the Minnesota Lynx, has been wearing customs for the last two seasons thanks to Salvatore Marcum. Marcum runs Mpls Customs and, in addition to working with Augustus, has also worked with Collin Sexton, Langston Galloway, Josh Okogie and a handful of NFL players.

“These women work harder than anyone I know,” Marcum says. “The passion is there, the love for the sport is there and the signature shoes would be a great step in the right direction for them as a whole to reach the publicity they deserve.

“Seimone’s a player I personally look up to,” Marcum continues. “We’ve done a lot of shoes together to bring awareness to things, such as the ‘Care Bear’ shoes for Pride Month and the native shoes for Native American Heritage Night.”

As Marcum notes, Augustus is one of the players that uses her platform to highlight what’s most important on a personal level. Los Angeles Sparks rookie Marina Mabrey recently did that too, when she used her platform to go after the incessant trolls that constantly leave sexist comments on social media. Mabrey rolled up to a game wearing a shirt with an image of a basketball court that read, “This is my Kitchen.”

“Sneakers are a symbol of a favorite player no different than a jersey,” Mabrey, a collegiate national champion at Notre Dame, says. “The more involved the fans are, the better the league will be. The evolution of basketball begins with participation of the fans. When young girls express their love of the game, we want them to want to be WNBA players.”

Mabrey agrees that a WNBA player with a signature sneaker would help to grow the women’s game and showcase all the skill that doesn’t get highlighted enough. DeShields seconds that.

“It would just help create more iconic players in the league,” DeShields says. “The biggest stars of the NBA have their own shoe, so I think creating that hierarchy within the W would only elevate the popularity of the game as a whole.”

It would also celebrate this group of the world’s best basketball players. It would be definitive recognition of the work they’ve put in and the respect they deserve. In basketball, the sneaker is a status symbol, a marker of the elite. It doesn’t get more elite in women’s basketball than the WNBA.

“It’s super important for us, as women, to have a signature shoe,” the Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner says. Griner’s list of accomplishments runs deep. She’s got a WNBA title, an Olympic gold medal and two DPOY trophies. Plus, when she was drafted in 2013 as the No. 1 overall pick, she was signed by Nike as part of a trio with Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins. It was a big signing at the time but all Griner has to show for it is a couple of PEs through the years.

“With our league being around 20-plus years now and all the hype behind us, women’s sports across the board, from Serena [Williams] in tennis to Megan [Rapinoe] kicking ass at soccer, it’s really time,” she continues. “Everybody always asks, ‘Where’s the shoes?’ It’s not just girls asking. Guys are asking. It’s time to test the waters. Not a shoe where we already had it and we throw a name on it. Actually sit down with the player, let them design the whole shoe and get it out there. Across the board, all brands, everybody. Everybody needs to start doing it. It’s time.”

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Additional reporting by Camille Buxeda.

The post No More Waiting: Give the WNBA Its Own Signature Sneakers appeared first on SLAM.

Bibby’s been part of the Jordan Brand family ever since he got drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies with the second overall pick in the 1998 Draft. He was one of the League’s illest point guards during his 14-year career. He dashed around the court as a threat at the rim, an early adopter of the three-point shot and a composed floor general. He was the leader of the Kings during their title-contending runs in the early 2000s. He played ball without fear, always ready to step up in the clutch. He was the foundation of a team that played every game with an unstoppable intensity.

Bibby’s in-game accomplishments speak for themselves. He had averages of 15 points and 5 assists throughout his time with the Grizzlies, Kings, Hawks, Wizards, Heat and Knicks. Look a little deeper and you’ll see that all of the crazy moments in his career happened while he was wearing wild Air Jordan colorways. You’ll see that Bibby’s sneaker resume is A1.  

He played in the you-can’t-get-these Js. The joints that featured his name, his number or “TD,” which you’ll read about in a moment. His kicks weren’t getting released. Nah, his kicks were player exclusives.

The Jordan Brand player exclusive has been rare air ever since the jump. They are the special editions made specifically for a Jordan-sponsored athlete, decorated in team colors and adorned with at least one personal shout out. And ever since Bibby, Ray Allen, Michael Finley, Derek Anderson, Vin Baker and Eddie Jones started showing out in PEs, sneakerheads all over have been fiending for them.

But the PE has remained guarded, with the exception of leaked photos and on-court appearances. And the creation process of the PE has been even more difficult to find out about.

That’s why Bibby, a certified sneaker legend, is searching through his library of sneakers. He’s going to tell us how a Jordan Brand player exclusive gets made and let us check out a handful of Js that haven’t been properly introduced before.

He brings out versions from his time with the Kings and with the Hawks and with Team USA, while the majority of them stay in the back. It would take forever to go through them all and we don’t have that much time. There are a couple of pairs that he picks up and stares at. He can break into a story about any of them, at any moment. Or he can go into detail about hidden rooms at the Nike campus with Js stacked to the ceiling. Or he can chop it up about the early Team Js.

So we sit down with Mike Bibby, a Jordan OG, to talk. 

SLAM: How does a PE get created?

Mike Bibby: When I was playing, they would mail you, like, five, six shoes in different colorways. You’d pick two or three colors that you liked and they would get it done. They usually pick the shoe of what you’re going to wear and then they’ll send you the colorways of what you could pick from.

SLAM: How did you choose between having “Bibby” on some of them and “TD” on others?

MB: I didn’t really have a nickname so I just told them put my name and just put the TD. When they send it to you, it would either be “Bibby” on the side or “TD” on the tongue.

SLAM: And for the people that don’t know, what is TD?

MB: Oh, Team Dime? It’s just family members and friends that grew up together. Just a close-knit family.

SLAM: How involved were you in the design process?

MB: They would pick the shoes and the colors. You have, like, six, eight colors to choose from. Little things to switch here and there and you picked which ones you wanted and they were done.

SLAM: You were one of the first people to get Jordan Lows. How did that happen?

MB: I just always felt, like, can you make them in lows? And if you ask questions, it’s either yes or no. They said yes. I’d rather wear lowtops than hightops anyway. A lot of the Jordans were hightops or mids. I was more comfortable playing with lowtops.

SLAM: What was your first PE?

MB: It was probably the Masterpiece. That was probably the first shoe they made in the [Grizzlies] color.

SLAM: What’s going through your head as you hold those Masterpieces in your hand?

MB: I don’t even know how I found these… I found them in my closet one day. It’s the only pair I have. I think I have two Grizzlies shoes left and I’m going to hold on to these as long as I can.

SLAM: How involved were you in making these into a reality?

MB: They sent them to me. [Laughs] When I got them in the mail, that’s when I knew I had them. They made a pair of these and they made a pair of black/gray ones. They’re Jumpmans. Back then it was mostly Jumpmans that they put us in. Towards the later part of the years they started giving us more retros. But this is probably the first shoe they made specifically with my colors.

SLAM: Which of these PEs means the most to you?

MB: These [“Olympic” Air Jordan XII Lows] are probably the ones that I don’t have that many of. The “Olympic” colors. We were only there for a couple weeks trying to qualify for the Olympics. They made these and the XVIIs for me.

SLAM: What do you remember about MJ when you were a kid and his impact off the court?

MB: I was a little bit older then but every kid wanted a pair of Jordans. The best to ever play the game. Having a pair meant the most to any kid. Coming into the League and being asked to wear it coming out, I couldn’t turn it down. There was no way he was going to be turned down because you have unlimited Jordans. And I never had them.

SLAM: So how did you link up with Jordan Brand?

MB: We had the same agent back then, David Falk, and he asked me, “Would you want to wear Jordans?” I said, “Hell yeah.” It wasn’t even a question. It was over with. They had six of us, I think, when they first started. I remember walking past Foot Locker and being on one of those pictures. I was thankful for it.

SLAM: What else do you remember about that Foot Locker moment?

MB: It’s funny. I was 20 years old and I’m walking in the mall and it’s like, “There I am.” It’s just surreal.

SLAM: You had a lot of success really quickly. Was that your first, Yo, this is real moment?

MB: I think when I first met my agent, that was the first time. Because back then he was the biggest agent out and he had Michael Jordan and I knew stuff was about to get real when I met with him to be my agent. I didn’t meet with any other agent. I knew it was going to go uphill from there.

SLAM: With that in mind, when did you realize that MJ’s legacy was way bigger than basketball?

MB: I don’t know if I understood it when I was younger. You don’t get it until you look back on it now. But the stuff that he’s brought out and the way people go crazy for his shoes is crazy. And as a kid growing up, it’s the best sneaker out.

SLAM: What do you remember about the first time you met him?

MB: He was tough. [Laughs] I remember we were in a meeting, all the guys, Carmelo, CP, and all the other guys were at dinner. He went around the table and ripped everybody. I was just sitting there like, “Damn, what is he going to say about me?” It was fun just to be there, be in his presence, be around the best basketball player to ever play the game.

SLAM: What did he say about you?

MB: I don’t even remember. He said something about everybody. I was like, “Damn, he ain’t really say nothing bad about me.” I was the quiet one back then so I think I was okay.

SLAM: What about the feeling of seeing your name on a sneaker? How do you describe the feeling of seeing your name on a Jordan?

MB: I mean, it was good. [Laughs] People in the locker room would come over and check them out. That was a big thing, just seeing the different colors and knowing that these won’t be in stores. It’s different from nowadays. A lot of guys are wearing shoes that come out in stores. I don’t know if it’s marketing or what but that was the biggest thing—knowing that no one else would have these shoes that I’m wearing.

SLAM: A big trend these days is putting your favorite movie or musician on your sneakers. What type of artwork would you throw on a custom colorway?

MB: I definitely would’ve thrown Scooby-Doo on there and probably Madden. We’ve been playing Madden for over 20 years. We have a draft every year. So it’d be Madden and Scooby-Doo. Scooby-Doo is my favorite. I love Scooby-Doo.

SLAM: Not only are you a Jordan Brand OG, but you and your Arizona Wildcats teammates also wore the Pennys before Penny did. How did you guys get to debut the Foamposite One back in 1997?

MB:  Eric Lautenbach came to our team. It was the first year we were there and he came and sat everybody down and said, “I got a shoe that no one has seen yet. It’s not your team color.” Back then you matched your shoe with your uniform. It’s not like nowadays where everybody wears a different color just to be different.

“It’s not going to match your uniform. It’s up to you guys if you guys want to wear it.” I said, “Hell yeah, I’m wearing them.” A few guys wore them. I think Jason Terry wore them, I think Quynn Tebbs wore them, a few guys that sat on the bench wore them.

But that was it, really. He got a shoe that’s not our color, hasn’t come out, no one has seen it yet. “It’s up to you guys if you want to wear them.” You know I wasn’t turning that down.

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Photos by Steve Craft.

The post Mike Bibby’s OG Jordan Brand PEs are TOO FIRE appeared first on SLAM.

“We thought about how can we make this one of the lightest gameshoes ever?” Kuerbis says of the midsole. They’re calling it the tunnel, that excavated part of the 34. “‘Let’s see what we don’t need.’ We do that a lot in the upper where we make pretty minimal uppers but we’ve never [done this.] It’s pretty amazing that you can actually see through the shoe and see the Zoom.”

Because in addition to removing the midsole, Kuerbis and Klein also came up with the Jordan Eclipse Plate. It gives the 34 a bridge from midfoot to forefoot and it helps make the sneaker bouncy. 

“This to me is one of the most responsive shoes I’ve had,” Blake Griffin tells SLAM about the new joints. “In terms of everything you need. Lightweight, grip, you feel like you get a bounce to it. I’ve been in a big man shoe for a while,” he says, referencing his years of wearing the Jordan Super.Fly. “This is a shoe that can crossover and hit both playing styles.”

Griffin, along with newcomers Zion Williamson and Jayson Tatum, will be some of the hoopers to headline the 34. Though Williamson and Tatum weren’t able to give feedback to Kuerbis, Griffin was. 

“I first saw this in March of 2019,” Griffin tells SLAM. “We talked about concepts earlier than that but I don’t think I saw a pair on a screen until Spring of 2019. I first held it in June. It’s crazy to see the shoe transform over time and how no detail is too small. When I first came to the Brand, I would weartest a shoe and I’d tell them my things and I’d be like, ‘Yeah, this is small.’ And they encourage you to tell every single detail.”

All the details help Klein on his never-ending journey to discovering new footwear technology. Klein, just in the past year, has worked on the 34, the Nike Adapt BB and the Freak 1. 

“Now what we’re doing is re-thinking that whole notion of what our next Flight Plate is,” Klein says. “To offer a little bit more lightweight, much more responsiveness and that freedom of motion.”

Enter the Eclipse Plate. 

“We took the thinking on Flight Plate and turned it to the side,” Kuerbis adds. “Now, whereas in the past we had the Flight Speed Plate over the airbag, we are taking it and turning it to the side, which allows you to do something completely different and unlock the Zoom, which we’ve never really done before.”

“The Eclipse Plate is more than just something that looks cool,” Tatum says. “It definitely gives you that extra cushioning for explosiveness.”

“These bags are meant to be inside a shoe and kind of caged up,” Klein says. But not on the 34. 

“Unlocking the Zoom is really about just letting it breathe and not contain it,” Kuerbis says. 

The forefoot Zoom can be seen underfoot, right at the top of the tunnel. The cavities that the tunnel creates is what allows the unlocked Zoom to expand. 

“I love the sleekness of the shoe,” New York Liberty guard Kia Nurse says. “I love the new design element that we have with the Eclipse Plate. That’s something that hasn’t been done before. That’s what you expect from an Air Jordan.”

The rest of the 34 is rounded out by a herringbone traction pattern, a decoupled heel unit, a netted upper and a brand new woven located underneath that netting. 

“Behind [the netting] is the magic,” Klein says. “A single layer material that is a performance woven that we’ve engineered to hold the strength.” 

There’s a callback to the Air Jordan IV that can be seen on the tongue, too. The famous FLIGHT typeface so closely associated with the IV is now on the 34. Kuerbis and Klein also went back and looked at the Air Jordan XI and the Air Jordan XX8. The full-length plate that ran through the XI helped them out in cooking up the 34. And the XX8 also had “a little bit of a gap around that bag, allowing it to deflect and move so we said we want to learn from that,” Klein says. 

“I want a shoe that is comfortable, durable, explosive and stylish,” Williamson says. “The 34 delivers on all of this.”

“All very minimal,” Klein says. “Every thought was about taking out what you don’t need.”

—

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The post Inside the Design of the Air Jordan 34 appeared first on SLAM.

“Shall they be a family in name only; or shall they in all their actions be true to the name?” —Plato

The story of Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t just the story of Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s the story of a family. It’s a story that goes far beyond the definition of the word, far beyond a name, far beyond Athens, Greece and Milwaukee, WI. It’s a story about a group of people bound together by a love that runs truly, truly deep. Love forged through hardship and tragedy. Love proven by action true to the name.

The air conditioning is kind of busted at the Filathlitikos gym in Zografou, Greece. And it’s hot. It’s a dry, no-breeze type of hot. Blue accents dot the gym, a lighter shade lining the matted walls and a darker shade covering the painted area on the court. Giannis Antetokounmpo wipes some sweat from his forehead while his childhood coach, Takis Zivas, talks about the old days. Coach Zivas, who doesn’t speak English, tells his translator that he used to see the reigning MVP outworking everybody in the gym. Giannis nods along with his coach and then follows up by talking about the memories that he made in here, when there actually was no air conditioning. While Giannis speaks, three of his brothers—Thanasis, Kostas and Alex—take turns greeting Coach Zivas with big hugs. Photos of the brothers hang on the wall behind Coach Zivas because, with the exception of Alex, they all played here. They all came from the town of Sepolia to this facility, thanks to Thanasis.

“I didn’t choose basketball,” Giannis says. “Thanasis chose basketball.”

A couple of hours before they’re at the Filathlitikos gym, Thanasis and Giannis are on stage at the Zappeion, a landmark in Athens, surrounded by a space built out by Nike. The sun is bouncing off the white beams that surround the classically designed structure. There’s no roof and no relief from the late-June heat. But Thanasis is smiling, sitting directly across from the Nike Zoom Freak 1 while his younger brother talks about the impact he made on him.

“Thanasis, back then, he was the star,” Giannis says, with the black/white Freak 1 on and a blue shirt that reads FREAK. “A lot of people were talking about Thanasis and obviously I looked up to him. I wanted to be him.”

Thanasis had a realization about basketball. The oldest Antetokounmpo brother, Francis, had a professional soccer career in Nigeria. The family loved soccer, but Thanasis thought that basketball could be a way out. And he was right.

“For us, knowing that we might be able to start making a living in basketball…but this is another level that we never could have imagined,” Thanasis, who’s also in the black/white Freak 1, says. “Being able to inspire so many people…I always knew that we would support each other. For me, greatness was just being with my family, all together, and being able to survive. But this is something else.”

“Nothing beautiful without struggle.”—Plato

Thanasis and Giannis used to join their parents on the streets of Athens, selling DVDs and CDs to make some money. They were always working. And when they weren’t working, Giannis and Kostas were walking five miles from Sepolia to Zografou, to get their reps in on the court. They’d regularly sleep at the gym rather than risk the late-night walk home. Thanasis and Giannis had to share basketball shoes, too, once they started playing. They’d switch in and out of a pair of Kobe 4s.

“People think it was hard but it was actually fun,” Thanasis says about their sneaker situation. “Let’s say Giannis is playing. Then you beat the other team and the other team is looking at you crazy because you just beat them with some guy’s [sneakers].”

They can laugh now, but there was a time when nobody knew who they were, when there were no pro contracts and no endorsement deals and there wasn’t a Nike sneaker in the family. All they had was each other. And then that changed, too.

Their father, Charles, passed away unexpectedly in 2017 at his home in Milwaukee. He suffered a heart attack, out of the blue, at the age of 54. Now the family carries his name with them at every turn.

“Every day that I step on the floor, I think about my dad,” Giannis said through tears during his MVP speech. “That motivates me and it pushes me to play harder and move forward.”

Joy wouldn’t feel so good if it weren’t for pain and Giannis made sure that everybody who wears his signature sneaker will honor his late father. “I am my father’s legacy” is written on the outsole of every single Freak 1.

“At the end of the day, that’s all you leave behind is your legacy for your kids,” he tells KICKS. “Your legacy is what you are about and you know my father passed away two years ago and he’s never going to be forgotten. We’ll be here, five kids, to remind people that we are his legacy and he is always going to be remembered and honored. 

“All the shoes, as you guys can see, say ‘I am my father’s legacy.’ And right here,” he says, pointing to the midsole, “you can see his name as well with my mom’s name.”

The “Roses” Freak 1 is a tribute to Charles. He would have loved the combination of white, red and gold.

“This is about my dad,” Giannis says, while on stage at the Zappeion. He has the “Roses” colorway in his hand. His eyes don’t leave it as he speaks. “In memory of my dad,” he says. “It’s got his favorite colors.” He shakes his head a few times. “Um…I’m not going to get emotional, but…I’m just going to keep it short. This just goes to my dad.”

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”—Plato

Creating the Zoom Freak 1 took a year and a half. When you’re talking about  a signature sneaker, that’s a pretty normal timeline for production. But Kevin Dodson, Nike’s VP of Basketball Footwear, stresses how different it is to work with Antetokounmpo, and not just because there were meetings in Athens. And Milwaukee. And Beaverton.

“Giannis is that almost never-seen-before combination of size, speed, skill, explosiveness and competitiveness wrapped into one package,” Dodson says at the Nike campus in Beaverton, OR. “That’s a unique problem you’re going to have to solve for. And his background makes him different. Being born and raised in Greece, he’s going to come with a unique perspective. Humble beginnings to now this incredible rise. His path, it all makes him special to work with. Every instance we’ve had with him, it’s been different than anybody else we’ve had before.”

Giannis had a notebook with him at the early meetings with Nike, writing down ideas, asking questions. He had his family members with him each time and he would turn to them for input. And not just, Do you think this looks cool? He was asking them about specific tech.

“It’s all about family with me, man,” the MVP tells KICKS. “Whatever I do, I wanted them to be as involved as possible. I wanted them to see what I go through. It’s not just my shoe—it’s my family’s shoe, so I wanted to hear their opinion. I’m so happy that they had so much input in the shoe, the colors, the design.”

Dodson says that Giannis referenced Kobes as his favorite sneakers to hoop in. The comfort and the ride of the Kobe line had been a constant in his life since he was borrowing Thanasis’ pair. He would go on to wear the Kobe 10 for nearly three straight seasons in the League.

“Was it three years? I feel like it was more like a month.” Antetokounmpo grins. “I loved their grip because I make a lot of cuts and they were really the only shoe that could take it.”

“You’ve got to understand why he liked the Kobe 10,” Dodson says back in Oregon. “The Kobe 10 had a particular fit and forefoot ride that he really loved. When we sat down for the first time, those were the elements he called out. We were all wondering the same question. Why that shoe? Why so many seasons wearing it without changing? So we knew from the beginning the fit in the forefoot, the underfoot ride had to be spot-on to mimic that same sensation.”

So the Freak 1 was built like a Kobe silhouette.

“We wanted to heighten the sensation Antetokounmpo has loved in the Kobe,” says Ross Klein, Senior Creative Director at Nike Basketball.

A double-stacked Zoom Air unit was placed in the heel to complement the forefoot feeling that was so important. Klein notes that it’s one of the first basketball silhouettes to include double-stacked Zoom. The sneaker’s reverse Swoosh also serves a performance function. It allowed Ross and his team to establish a frame that would prevent Antetokounmpo from popping out of the sneaker on his Eurosteps.

The upper of the Freak 1 is made out of a mesh that rests on top of a foam midsole. That all trails down to a new traction pattern that has a dual meaning behind its design. First, it’s designed to help Giannis on his long, long, long strides because he places a ton of weight on the lateral side of his foot. Second, it may just look like a multidirectional pattern, but it’s another callback to his father. When the outsole is closely examined, two roses appear.

“That has a lot of meaning to Giannis,” Klein says about the outsole design.

“I thought Nike was gonna come with a shoe and say, ‘OK, this is gonna be your shoe.’ But actually no, they asked me what I wanted to share with the people,” Giannis says. “Every shoe’s gotta have a story and this is the Zoom Freak 1 so when people buy this shoe, I want them to hear my story and get to know me. There are a lot of details that you have to figure out with the shoe. I’m really excited about the details.”

In addition to the roses on the outsole and the names of his parents on the medial midsole, the names of his brothers are written on the heel. The “34” on the heel’s collar can be read as his jersey number or as the Greek flag. And there are more colorways planned, like the “Coming to America” and “Greece” flavors that will continue to share his story, because he now understands how powerful his sneakers can be.

“It’s amazing,” he says about the devotion people have to sneakers. “Before I joined Nike, I didn’t realize how big the sneaker world was and the influence that athletes and sneakers have on the next generation. And that’s where it goes back to the storytelling. I wanted a lot of kids, when they get my shoe, to be motivated. I want my shoe to be about hard work and about hope, about having faith.”  

“The measure of a man is what he does with power.”—Plato

The launch of the Zoom Freak 1 was a journey that spanned Beaverton, Greece, Milwaukee, Los Angeles and New York City. And at each stop, Giannis brought pandemonium with him. Kids screaming for selfies in Athens. Teenagers trying their hardest to show off their ability to hoop in front of him in Queens. Adults watching along, fighting back tears of happiness with mile-long smiles on their faces in Sepolia.

“With this comes responsibility,” Thanasis says. “It’s not just everybody knows me or my brother is the MVP. What comes with that is you’re a role model. It’s different now. It’s not like, I can lag a little bit. You have to give your all, always. The thing that makes me really proud is he’s tried really hard to be a role model.”

“This is a global perspective coming into Nike Basketball,” Dodson says of Antetokounmpo and his family. “That story can speak to basketball players around the world. It not only resonates here in the United States but if you go overseas into Europe or into Asia, his story is something that everybody can connect with.”

The story of Giannis Antetokounmpo is one that bridges race, nationality, age and fandom. Everywhere he goes, with Thanasis, Kostas and Alex by his side, he’s welcomed like a hero. He is the legacy of his parents, the legacy of Greece and Nigeria, the legacy of an NBA franchise. He’s grown from a kid trying to help his family to an inspiration helping kids around the world.

And yet, with an MVP trophy and a signature sneaker, Antetokounmpo won’t stop working.

“I’m really, really happy about everything, but at the end of the day I can’t stay in the moment that much because I try to stay as humble as I can and hungry, and usually when you stick around the moment, that makes you feel comfortable and I don’t want to be comfortable,” he says. “Feeling uncomfortable is a good thing. When you’re out of your comfort zone, then you get better. You improve, you learn. 

So I’m excited about the MVP, I’m excited about this shoe right here, I’ve waited 18 months for this shoe to be released, and it’s been a long journey, but at the end of the day, we have to keep getting better, on the court and off the court so more stuff like this can follow.”

When our interview with him wraps up, he grabs the sneakers off his brothers’ feet and starts to make stank faces, the same looks he gives after he posterizes somebody.

“They said my shoe was trash! Yeah, right!” He’s not yelling at anyone in particular, only to the people on the internet who didn’t approve of the early leaks. “Are you crazy???”

He goes from mean mugging to cheesing, holding up the Freak 1 colorways that were made specifically for Francis, Kostas and Alex, making sure that his family members get the shine, too. Because the story of Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t just the story of Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

It’s the story of family.

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Portraits by Matthew Coughlin and Devlin Resetar and via Nike.

The post FOR THE FAMILY: Giannis Antetokounmpo and His Brothers Built the Nike Freak 1 appeared first on SLAM.

“I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of the Jordan Brand family,” Williamson says via Nike. “Since I was a kid, I dreamed of making it to the league and having the type of impact on the game Michael Jordan had and continues to have today. He was one of those special athletes I looked up to, and I really can’t express how happy and excited I am for this journey.”

“Zion’s incredible determination, character and play are inspiring,” Michael Jordan said via Nike. “He’s an essential part of the new talent that will help lead the brand into the future. He told us he would ‘shock the world,’ and asked us to believe him. We do.”

Stay tuned to see the sneakers that Williamson will be lacing up during his rookie season.

The post Zion Williamson Announces He’s Signed with Jordan Brand appeared first on SLAM.

Nurse and her teammate Asia Durr have formally joined the ever-exclusive Jordan Brand family, following Maya Moore as the only other women’s basketball players to officially rep the Jumpman. For all of Nurse’s humility in that initial moment, this is a distinction that she’s earned.

Nurse made it from Hamilton, Ontario, where she dominated for St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School, winning three straight OFSAA high school championships. She destroyed the competition outside of high school too, capturing five consecutive Provincial Championships with her Hamilton Transway team.

She was such a problem that she got noticed by the best program in college basketball. When Geno Auriemma came calling, Nurse moved down to the States, helping the UConn Huskies win a pair of titles. And she’s just the latest member of her family to have played sports at a high level. Her father played professionally in the Canadian Football League and both her mother and sister played basketball in college. Her brother and one of her cousins are pro hockey players and her uncle is Donovan McNabb, the former NFL quarterback.

Her accomplishments all throughout high school and college are impressive, but her early addition to the Canadian National Team was the solidifying stamp on how good she had become. She joined up with the best players in Canada when she was only 17, averaging 10 points per game in 2013. She came back the next summer still the youngest player on the team, and has been a steady force ever since. She’s a knockdown shooter, a willing passer and most importantly, a dog on the court. 

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She’s got a killer’s mentality that comes out on defense and during clutch moments on offense. 

And now with her Jordan Brand partnership, Nurse has another win to add to her résumé. She’s been a fan of MJ since she was a kid, when she got a pair of Air Jordan Is during her years playing with Transway. She counts the I as her favorite pair.

“I love Jordan Is,” she says. “Those were my go-to. They go with any outfit, whether it’s sweats or jeans or something fancy, I will put on Is.”

Nurse leaves the court at Nike’s NYHQ and switches out of the Air Jordan XXXIIIs she’s wearing in favor of the recently released “NYC to Paris” Air Jordan I. She walks up to the roof of the building and poses for photos with her new home, New York, in the background.

She had a solid rookie campaign for the Libs last summer, posting 9.1 points per game. She showed flashes of what’s to come when she dropped 34 points on the Fever, 28 points on the Mercury and 25 points on the Wings.

Now in her second season, Nurse has upped her production through the first 18 games. Her ppg average is now at 16.2 and she’s taken on a larger role for the Liberty, all while rotating between the Air Jordan XXXIII and the Jordan Why Not Zer0.2.

“Right now I’m really into the XXXIIIs,” Nurse, who was recently named an All-Star, says. “I love the way they feel, I love not having to do my laces up, because I’m kind of lazy sometimes. I absolutely love the Russell Westbrooks as well.”

The XXXIIIs don’t have laces. They rely instead on Jordan Brand’s new FastFit technology that makes use of parachute cables to tighten and loosen the sneaker with a pull tab. And the Zer0.2s, with their lightweight textile upper and FlightSpeed technology, come in a plethora of colorways, allowing for the silhouette’s nontraditional design to shine. Nurse is already seeing the benefits of linking up with Mike in all the gear and the kicks, but the biggest benefit is the platform that the Brand is giving the 23-year-old.

“I love being able to be a face that young women can look at and say, ‘She did it, so why can’t I?’ There are so many important things about sports,” Nurse says. “It’s the transferable life skill that each and every young woman, as a role model, has the opportunity to learn through playing sports. So when they go into their lives and say, OK, I want to play this sport because that’s my life or I want to be a teacher or I want to be a doctor, they already have teamwork and cooperation and communication down. And as a part of this Brand, I love what they do to empower women.”

In addition to Nurse, Durr and Moore, the Brand also works closely with designer Aleali May, singer Billie Eilish and Michael’s daughter, Jasmine. They all have input on the direction of the sneakers and the clothing and the voice. They’re making a concerted effort to be sure that women are as much a part of basketball and sneakers as men are.

“Women have been showing Jordan Brand love for years, and we knew that to show them love in return, we needed to learn everything we could about how to serve them best,” Andrea Perez, General Manager and Vice President of Jordan Brand Women’s and Kids, told SLAM last year. “We spent hours with women around the world to get their insights.”

Because just like so many other people, Nurse remembers idolizing Jordan when she was falling in love with the game as a kid, all the way in Ontario.

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Getty and Nike.

The post RARE AIR: Kia Nurse Is Living Out Her Dream with Jordan Brand appeared first on SLAM.

“It was more of Jordan reaching out,” the 21 years old says. “Nobody signs with Jordan without getting his approval so just having that honor of having him reaching out, wanting me to be a part of the Brand… He’s the greatest player of all time so that was a no-brainer.

“He represents just, like, a larger-than-life figure,” Tatum continues on Jordan. “He’s been done playing for 20-plus years and the shoes still sell. Guys like myself that never got to watch him play live—I was born in ’98—but just from highlights and documentaries and things still knowing that he was the greatest.”

The first two seasons of Tatum’s career saw him evolve into one of Nike’s cornerstone athletes. He was given the keys to the Kyrie line as a rookie when Irving was hurt, debuting several high-profile Kyrie 4 colorways in the 2018 playoffs. Then as a sophomore he was the man behind the Adapt BB. He was the first player to wear them in-game and he went on to receive a handful of PEs of the auto-lacing sneaker. 

Now he’ll transition to become a high-profile Jumpman athlete. 

“I’m excited about just bringing my creativity over and telling them stories,” Tatum says. “Any chance I get I like to shed light on St. Louis, where I’m from. Kind of give my background and give kids hope that it doesn’t matter where you come from, if you love it or you work hard enough then you can achieve whatever.

“It’s crazy,” he continues. “Five years ago I couldn’t imagine being in the position I’m in now. Signing with Jordan, here in Paris, it’s just not something I really thought about when I was growing up in St. Louis. Like, I’m gonna go to Paris, I’m gonna sign with Jordan, I didn’t think that was a reality.”

A few moments after he gets up from the couch in the upstairs room he walks downstairs and joins a handful of Jordan Brand’s top talent. He squeezes in for a photo that also features Maya Moore, Kemba Walker, Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook and the man himself. 

“Probably when I was in, like, fourth or fifth grade I really started sitting down and watching Jordan film and highlights with my dad. Kobe was always my favorite player and he was like, ‘That’s cool, but you need to understand who Michael Jordan is.’

“His impact is hard to describe. He is undeniably the best ever, and you know you can go to any country in the world and they’re wearing Jordans.” 

Like here in France. 

“Yeah, France, they’re wearing Jordans,” he says with a smile. 

Tatum goes on to say that his favorite retro Js to play in are Xs while his favorite to walk around in are Is. And he’ll be hooping in the Air Jordan XXXIVs by the time next season starts. 

“I’ve had Jordans since before I could walk,” he says. “Not that I really remember, but I’ve got pictures in the house where I got on Jordans.”

Now he’ll have pictures in NBA where he has on Jordans. 

The post Jayson Tatum on Signing With Jordan Brand appeared first on SLAM.

Fast-forward to last month, and Collier, who played soccer and was a softball pitcher, became the sixth pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.

“I just remember how awkward I was,” Collier says with a laugh about her earliest memories of playing basketball. “I played soccer for so long, so working with my feet, then transitioning to my hands, I just remember how weird it was to do that.”

There was a shift around eighth grade when Collier says she could see that she was gaining separation as one of the better players in her state. And that’s when she got her first collegiate scholarship offer. After starring at two different Missouri-based high schools (Jefferson City High School and Incarnate Word Academy), she decided to go to the University of Connecticut. She learned very quickly from a trio of the best that UConn had to offer.

“My freshman year, I really looked up to Morgan Tuck and the way that she led, which was by example,” Collier says. “That’s what I tried to do for my first three years.”

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The 6-2 Collier put the work in and got the results, averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds as a sophomore, 16 points and 7 rebounds as a junior and 21 points and 11 rebounds as a senior. The achievements continued to pile up as Collier became one of the best do-it-all forwards in the nation. She matured into a bully in the paint, a knockdown three-point shooter, a lockdown defender and a rebounding machine. That’s why her coaches at UConn, Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey, challenged her to become a vocal leader in her last season.

“Being a senior this year I had to step out of my comfort zone a little bit, and that’s what they told me I would have to do,” she says. “Be more vocal and be that on-the-court kind of leader.”

Auriemma and Dailey have been coaching together since 1985. They’re the opposite forces that hold the Huskies’ powerhouse program together.

“Coach [Auriemma] is way more laid back than people think he is,” Collier says. “It’s kind of CD running the show behind-the-scenes.”

With her coaches pushing her, Collier wrote her name in the UConn history books when she became just the fifth Husky to ever record at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in their career, joining a list that includes Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Breanna Stewart and Rebecca Lobo. Collier also left UConn with a national chip on her résumé.

Now she’s headed to Minnesota to start her professional career. “We talk about Napheesa just being a little bit of everything,” her new head coach, Cheryl Reeve, said after the draft. “My experience with her at USA Basketball gave me a really good look into who she is and what she’s capable of. Power forward, small forward…she’s just a player. We’re excited to get someone who’s been incredibly efficient.”

Reeve also called her a Swiss army knife on the court, and that’s the true strength of Collier’s game. From the softball diamond to the soccer field to the basketball court, ever since she was a kid, Collier’s been doing it all.

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Getty.

The post QUIET STORM: Napheesa Collier Is About to Make Some Noise appeared first on SLAM.

“Yeah, I’ve had them for a while,” Lyles said about the “ASG” 6s after the game. “I’ve got a lot of stuff, a lot of old ones. The 6s were always my favorite so I got a lot of those that I haven’t worn yet.”

Lyles has been playing in Kobes ever since he was going to school at Arsenal Tech High School in Indianapolis, Indiana.

“I started collecting Kobes in, probably, my sophomore year of high school,” the now 23 year old said. “He’s always been my favorite player and I always liked playing in his shoes. I just tried to get and wear as many as possible.”

Lyles continued to rep the Mamba during his lone season at the University of Kentucky.

Lyles wore heat on the low during his first two seasons with the Jazz. He played against his idol the night that #24 went for 60 points. Lyles rocked the “Del Sol” 6s during that game and continued to hoop in a couple of burners over the next few years.

But it wasn’t until this season that he really started to flex the collection he’s been working on since high school.

“It’s more art for me,” Lyles said about his kicks. “You get to show off your artistic side. It’s another way to express who you are as a person. Coming up, in Indy where I went to high school, the first thing people look at is your sneakers. I always tried to make sure I had a nice pair to walk around in and a nice pair to hoop in.”

Lyles has hooped in Kobe 3s, Kobe 4s, Kobe 5s, Kobe 6s, Kobe 9s and Kobe AD Mids this year, quietly, steadily rocking a stable of rare pairs.

“I try to get as much 6s, 4s and 3s as I can,” he said. “I think the 3s are underrated.”

Lyles brought the 3s out earlier in the season against the Kings.

“Those are the only ones I’ve worn so far,” he says about the 3s. “I’ve got a couple other pairs I was waiting on. I’m gonna pull them out for the playoffs.”

Lyles mentioned that it’s difficult for him to always find good pairs. Size 15 usually marks the cutoff for readily available pairs. Lyles wears a size 16. The “hundred-something” pairs of Kobes that he has have been a labor of love.

“It’s harder for me to find them. But when I do I jump on them.”

Lyles counts the “Grinch” 6s as his favorite pair.

“It took me forever to get a pair of the ‘Grinch’ 6s,” he said. “I finally got a pair of those this year. I wore those a couple of times earlier this year. Those are probably my favorite shoes.”

The Nuggets locker room was starting to settle down. The team was headed to Indiana right after the Knicks game and Lyles said that he was planning to go through his stash in time for the playoffs.

“I’m gonna start bringing some more out,” he says. “We go to Indy so I have a bunch of stuff there that I’m gonna bring out to Denver once we go back. I’m definitely gonna heat-en the rotation up a little bit.”

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Trey Lyles Talks About His Kobe Sneaker Collection appeared first on SLAM.

Now the PUMA Ralpha Sampson OG is back for the first time in over 30 years. We caught up with the Hall of Famer to talk about the return of his kicks.

SLAM: What do you remember about the process of creating your sneaker back in the 80s?

Ralph Sampson: The process, back then, was interesting to see. You had Converse with the Dr. J’s and all of that was looming around. So when I got to the NBA, I thought I was gonna go with another brand and then PUMA swooped in and took it on and became a very good shoe to wear. I wore Pro-Kids in college. They were owned by Stride Rite and Stride Rite went under. PUMA came in at the last minute and gave me a deal I couldn’t refuse. My first couple of weeks in the NBA, I wore a shoe that was a prototype of the shoe that I would end up having. Within a two-week period of time I had the shoes that I needed to wear that had my name on it.

SLAM: What role did sneakers play for you growing up?

RS: When I was 12 years old I wore a [size] 12 tennis shoe. When I was 13 years old, I wore a 13. It was very hard in those days to get shoes. Especially when you were growing as fast as I was. So when I was 17, I wore a 17. And that was unheard of in those days. Back then you couldn’t find dress shoes or any shoes to wear.

SLAM: You accomplished a lot during your career. All you have to do is say three letters; H-O-F. Where does having your own sneaker rank among everything else you did?

RS: As I look back, I didn’t plan to be a Hall of Famer. I was granted that due to my career. That was just a great honor for me. There are very few to have a shoe named after you, back then and even today. The success that PUMA had back then was amazing and it’s so good to see them back in the basketball world. They have a great product, great stories and a great passion for the game of basketball.

SLAM: How did this retro release get started?

RS: I had called them a number of years ago to see if they were getting back into the [basketball] business. They were changing personnel. They said they weren’t. Then out of the blue, a few years later, I don’t even know how they got my number, but one of the guys in the office called me. I was in Los Angeles at the time and I got a call. I didn’t know the number so I didn’t answer. I looked at my voicemail and it was ‘I’m so-and-so from PUMA, give me a call back.’ I had heard that they were back and they had signed Clyde Frazier to a lifetime deal. So I called them back. We had a couple of meetings on the phone, I flew to Boston, had a couple of meetings. And then much later we ended up with a pretty good deal.

SLAM: You definitely got a good deal. You got your own kicks. How do you describe your emotions now that your sneakers are back?

RS: It meant something for me to wear a shoe that was by a company like PUMA that had a culture, a history. Players like Martina Navratilova. We had a lot of people that wore the shoes that had a meaning behind their name. I think that’s what it’ll continue to mean today.

The Ralph Sampson OG drops exclusively at KITH on April 13 and will be available globally on PUMA.com, PUMA stores and retailers starting April 27.

The post Ralph Sampson Talks About the Return of His OG PUMA Sneakers appeared first on SLAM.

“I have two older sisters and when they started playing basketball I would always be over on the sidelines,” Samuelson says.

The 6-3 forward has become one of the best players in the nation. She’s a lock to be a top-five pick in this year’s WNBA Draft. Her career at UConn has been filled with accomplishments and awards that stick out even in the Huskies’ storied history. By the time we went to print she had racked up over 2,200 career points during her time in Storrs, placing her fourth in UConn women’s basketball scoring history. She’s second in made three-pointers, has two First-Team All-American selections, two AAC Conference Player of the Year trophies and she was on the squad that won the 2016 national championship. 

And before all of that Samuelson was feasting on the high school level. She was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year when she was a senior at Mater Dei (CA), she won three Trinity League chips and set just about all of the scoring and shooting records in Monarchs history. She broke up all that winning by securing five total gold medals with Team USA between 2013 and 2014.

But it took a minute for all of those victories to happen. When Katie Lou was still young, her sisters, Bonnie and Karlie, consistently bullied her on the court. They could hoop for real, too. They both wound up playing at Stanford and whenever they would match up against Katie Lou the games “would usually end in a fight.”

They didn’t realize they were creating a monster. For as polite, patient and easy-going as Katie Lou is off the court, she had been developing an appetite for basketball destruction. And her sisters were the first people standing in her way.

“When I was in middle school, one of my coaches said something to me, like, that I had the chance to be better than my sisters,” Samuelson says. “Once they said that, it was just over. I had to do that.”

Katie Lou is extremely close with her sisters. All of their social media pages are flooded with loving photos of each other. But back then, when there was a chance to beat them, she was ready. She had been diligently practicing shooting with her father, John, a former pro that played in Europe, for years.

“Shooting was the first thing I did,” she says. “Like, every day with my dad, we’d go get shots up.” 

Samuelson had been perfecting her form and working on catch-and-shoot mechanics when she was as young as 7 years old. The rain really hasn’t stopped since then. She knocked down 47.5 percent of her long range shots as a junior. She went 10-10 from distance in one game as a sophomore. She’s shot at least 81 percent from the foul line in every single one of her seasons at UConn.

Samuelson’s overall game has evolved, too. She still has the chopper, of course, but she’s added a steady ability to drive the lane, shown improvement in court vision and she’s been hitting the glass. Her 3.8 assists per game as a senior is nearly double her 2.2 average as a freshman. She had one double-double in her first three seasons. This year she’s had six of them, effectively going after rebounds.

With the WNBA calling and her time as a Husky almost complete, Samuelson takes a moment to look back.

“For me, the craziest thing was taking that chance to come all the way across the country and really live in a different world than I’ve ever been a part of,” she says. “And I think that paid off for me more than anything else has.”

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Getty.

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“Brooklyn’s back on the map, I’m not bragging. Defeating all foes, bring your styles.”

Jeru the Damaja introduced that lyric to the world in “Brooklyn Took It,” which dropped in 1994. It’s been 25 years since then, but for the Brooklyn Nets, it still holds weight today. The Nets are most definitely back. They’re in the middle of the playoff picture, holding on to a future that’s shimmering with potential, while rolling through a fast-tracked rebuild in the present. Their nimble turnaround from a team burdened with horrible contracts, aging centerpieces and no draft picks is a credit to great coaching, fluid team-oriented offense, a sound defense and, most importantly, D’Angelo Russell.

Russell earned his first All-Star selection this season, convincingly evolving into the best player on a team headed to the postseason. He’s fought through years of deafening criticism to become one of the League’s most effective and entertaining point guards. He’s an artist in the pick-and-roll, a ballplayer with no fear. Give him the rock in the clutch and get out the way.

The all-around growth is simple. It’s come down to confidence, opportunity and patience. Because all of this was supposed to happen—the All-Star appearance, being the clear-cut franchise cornerstone, making the playoffs. Ever since he was little, growing up in Louisville, KY, Russell has been putting in work on the court.

“We got our first rim in our grannie’s backyard and we used to shoot all the time,” Russell remembers. “I used to shoot really high. It was just my thing. All the kids would come over—you shoot high, you shoot high. And they just started calling me Rainbow.”

“He wasn’t strong enough to shoot it, to really shoot it,” his older brother Antonio says. “He would have to throw it. And it always went in. Everybody around the neighborhood used to call him Rainbow. ‘Rainbow, there’s Rainbow.’” While cracking a smile, Antonio brings his voice up higher, imitating the kids from their hometown.

Antonio, who’s two years older than D’Angelo, goes on to say that his brother’s skill-level was advanced from the very start.

“We had a few neighborhood friends that would come over,” Antonio says. “And he was the youngest. Everybody was my age group or a year older than me. They would all come over there and everybody would be going at it. I think that’s where he developed that toughness. Everybody would try to go at him. He was already equipped as to how to handle them. He knew that the only way to get everybody’s respect was to go at them. He had to.”

D’Angelo’s mental stamina was already being developed, and he would need it early on in his career. After a standout freshman season at Central High School in Louisville, he transferred to Montverde Academy, a national powerhouse in Florida that’s become a breeding ground for future pros. But he got benched immediately. His head coach, Kevin Boyle, was always dogging him, cursing him out. Russell’s tolerance was running low.

“I remember coming in, I was coming off the bench,” Russell says. “I would dominate practice. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t playing. I called my dad after, like, a month or two and I was like, ‘I wanna come home.’ He was like, ‘Nah, stick it out. You wanna win a national championship or a state championship?’ I was like, damn, OK. Then we ended up winning. The pain, the storm that you go through, it’s always brighter on the other side when you just deal with it.”

The lefty wasn’t done with the pain, though. When he was selected by the Lakers in the 2015 draft, things looked like they were going to be all good. 

“We had a lot of players there that could dominate the game,” Russell says. “You go back to Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram. We had a lot of dudes there.”

But shit got rocky and he could sense a trade was coming. A deal announced two days before the 2017 draft sent him to the Nets. Instead of being salty, he was hype for the opportunity.

“When he first got traded, I remember exactly where I was at,” Antonio says. “I was in Kentucky at a movie theater. I called him right away. I was like, ‘Yo, what is it?’ He was just like, ‘Bro, you do not know how excited I am right now to have a clean slate.’”

“For me to get traded first, I knew that I was prepared to go dominate wherever I went,” Russell says. “I was ready.”

Nonstop hate and doubt followed him from L.A. to BK, but Russell was never shook.

“It’s just this…” Russell says about the internet’s and the media’s constant desire for drama. He makes a talking, Pacman-like motion with his hands. “I knew my circle. We were tight and we knew what it was.”

It was a chance to start fresh with a young team that was squarely off the national media’s radar. Russell’s first season in Brooklyn was solid. He put up good numbers, posting averages of 15 points and 5 assists. But he only played in 48 games after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in November of 2017.

When the season ended and the Nets missed the playoffs for the third consecutive time, Russell took a long look in the mirror. He’s always been able to assess whatever’s going on in his life, good or bad, and be honest with himself about it. For only being born in 1996, he’s mature for his age, a psyche battle-tested by years of living in the spotlight and performing under pressure. He was just 22 when last year’s campaign wrapped up, but he knew it was time for a change. The 2018-19 season was going to be his.

So rather than going home to Louisville or spending the summer in Los Angeles, Russell stayed in Brooklyn with a hunger that was totally revived. He damn near lived in the gym. He made adjustments that he never had before. He worked on basketball and updated everything about his body.

Antonio says his brother cut out junk food and that his renewed dedication to eating right has rubbed off on the entire Russell family. They’re all following in D’Angelo’s footsteps. But D’Angelo wasn’t following in anyone else’s. He made the decision to switch up his eating habits by himself.

“I didn’t know, you know? As soon as practice was over I remember I was the first one to leave,” Russell says. “I’d get my shots up, but I wasn’t getting treatment. I wasn’t getting massages, ice cold tub, doing all of that, because I didn’t know.”

So who told him?

“Man, I’ve picked so many peoples’ brains,” he says. “[Rajon] Rondo, Chris Paul, James Harden, LeBron. All those dudes. There’s a reason they’re there. They know the secret, they know what it takes off the court. Everybody can play but what are you doing for your body to be prepared for every practice, every game?”

After a summer spent renovating everything about his game and physique, Russell took a backseat to Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie to start the season.

“It was tough to begin the season,” Nets’ forward Jared Dudley says. “He was getting benched in fourth quarters. He was struggling offensively, trying to find his role. Caris took off and to see [Russell] cheer on the bench, take constructive criticism in film sessions and it finally clicked. I think it took Caris’ injury and him to be a little more aggressive and the coaches to have a little more faith. But he’s responded. Once he got his rhythm, his confidence just kept building.”

But the confidence, according to his brother, has never been an issue.

“Yeah, the confidence has been there. Been there, man,” Antonio says with a laugh. “There’s not much that can take that from him. And when the opportunity came and he needed to display it, he took it and ran with it.”

Russell flipped everything about his game once he was given the reins. Floaters, midrange fadeaways, rainbow three-pointers, ice-in-his-veins buckets in close games, they all started to fall. Forty points and a game-winner in Orlando. Thirty-six points, 8 assists and 7 boards to outlast the Cavaliers in a triple-overtime marathon. A 34-point outing against the Celtics; a night with 14 dimes against the Raptors; a 22-point and 13-assist performance in a win over the Lakers. An absurd 44-point performance in Sacramento, that included 27 points in the fourth quarter, en route to a 28-point comeback. Averages of 23.6 points and 7.7 assists since January 1. And a wild performance on his 23rd birthday, one that both D’Angelo and Antonio count as their favorite moment of the season.

“I surprised myself,” Russell says about that night in Charlotte when he scored the Nets’ final 12 points. “I just looked up and I had 40. Damn.”

“And [the Nets] having the lead, losing the lead and then coming back,” Antonio remembers. “And [D’Angelo] being the catalyst for that comeback. That was special.”

Even more than the stats and individual performances, though, Russell’s teammates say the biggest leap he’s made is as a leader. They repeat the word over and over.

“He’s a great leader,” rookie Rodions Kurucs says. “He gives me all the tips. Always coming to talk to me. Just explaining things, trying to motivate me also.”

“From what I’ve heard, I’ve heard he’s matured a lot,” Ed Davis says. Davis, a defensive-minded veteran, has been in the League since 2010 and his locker is right next to Russell’s. “Since I’ve been here, he’s been a great teammate, a good leader.”

“He’s the best player on this team and [he’s] leading us,” high-flying center Jarrett Allen says. “I’ve seen him grow in that area. People don’t understand. They understand he’s taken a step but not how big of a step it is.”

“He’s 50 percent more vocal now than he was in the beginning of the year,” Dudley echoes. “He leads our huddle, leads our breaks. People critiqued that early in his career, being young. I would say that he was quiet early in the year and he’s definitely vocal now. It’s been a nice, natural progression.”

Russell’s progression, both on and off the court, has been all about finding his way through landmines of drama. High school, his brief time with the Lakers, his start with the Nets, they were all tests. Perseverance and persistence have been Russell’s calling cards for years now.

It’s led to the photos you see here. The tribute to Biggie, crown on his head, Brooklyn across his chest, that means something. That’s earned.

“I get so focused on what I’m trying to achieve and I just look up and all of this is here,” Russell says about the playoffs, All-Star Weekend, his career-best season.

“If the game shakes me or breaks me, I hope it makes me a better man, take a better stand. Stay far from timid, only make moves when your heart’s in it. And live the phrase ‘Sky’s the limit.’”

Christopher Wallace introduced that lyric to the world in 1997. It’s been 22 years since then, but for D’Angelo Russell, it still holds weight today. 

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 221 FEATURING D’ANGELO RUSSELL

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Portraits by Justin Borucki.

The post THE NOTORIOUS D-LO: D’Angelo Russell Is Built for This appeared first on SLAM.

“Kevin, we had a meeting with him,” Chang remembers. “He was like, ‘I’m this millennial who has this love and respect for the 90s. I want the 12 to be about that.’ Without saying it so eloquently, I had been thinking about that same thing in terms of designing the shoe.”

Chang says that he was already in the process of designing a silhouette that was based off of Nike’s 90s basketball design language. He noticed that the toolings of the outsoles and midsoles were all “expressive.” There were a lot of shapes and bumps in the sneakers back then. The clear frame on the outside of 12 is a reflection of that. It’s functionally about containment and visually about the 90s.

Chang also considered the 90s when constructing the upper of the 12. He wanted to make a textured, layered upper, similar to what was seen when Charles Barkley and David Robinson were playing. Quad-axial Flywire was born.

“Quad-axial means four directions,” Chang says. “The idea is this upper, I really wanted to get after the sensation of broken-in-feel but still have this adaptive, on-demand kind of lockdown. KD, since the 1, has worn shoes forever, more than we’ve wanted him to wear a shoe. He wanted it to feel broken in.”

That’s where the quad-axial Flywire comes in, an “upper that’s super comfortable from the get,” Chang says.

“The way that the quad-axial works is that all the Flywire, for the most part, is loose in these four directions. The wires are almost a little slack. When you need it, it’s there, it engages.”

Everything else on the 12 takes its cue from the 90s also. The height, the midsole design and the colorways, which Chang promises are going to be fire.

Another premium touch on the 12 is the layered tongue.

“On the backside it’s actually a chenille yarn that’s used,” Chang says. “In the middle layer there’s actually a bulking yarn. That’s a filler-type yarn. And then on the outside is this lofted, translucent material.”

A full-length Nike Air Zoom unit sits directly underneath the sockliner, finishing off the underfoot ride on the 12. The Zoom unit is sewn directly to the upper of the 12, a breakthrough in sneaker construction. It marks the first time in Nike basketball’s history that a sneaker was created like that.

The “90s Kid” KD12 drops on April 1 and the “Black/Wihte” KD12 drops on April 6, both for $150.

The post Inside the Design of the Nike KD12 appeared first on SLAM.

But what they started in Harlem, on 138th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard, is much bigger than just what happened on the court. The Rens were the first all-black professional basketball team. They were brave pioneers, busting down doors in the face of racism and adversity to lead the way for African-American athletes across the country for generations to come. 

Bob L. Douglas founded the Rens in 1923 and eventually became the first African-American inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. But before that happened, he set in motion a visionary plan, one predicated on total on-court domination. By striking a deal with the owners of the Harlem Renaissance Casino, Douglas was able to create his own team with a place to play (The Renaissance Ballroom). By thriving on the floor, Douglas knew how much of an impact that team could have on young people.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was only two years old when Douglas’ ownership of the Rens ended in 1949, but he’s always understood the importance of the program and Douglas’ contributions to basketball.

“Bob Douglas was the first black man to own a basketball team,” he said, via The Undefeated. “Not just any team, but the greatest team of the time. The early rivalry with the Original Celtics and Harlem Globetrotters gave basketball exciting teams to support. The possibilities for business success as owners of professional sports franchises is the heart of Bob Douglas’ story.

“Douglas was ahead of his time because as a black man, he was not allowed to own a major sports franchise. He and his team faced so many challenges, mostly with racism against his team. His courage in keeping the team together while at the same time running his club places him ahead of this time.”

Douglas and the Rens toured the United States, overcoming constant racism and poor traveling conditions to continually destroy anyone they matched up against. They played the game together, working in concert on defense and whipping the ball around the perimeter. No matter what was thrown at them, Douglas and his team just couldn’t lose. 

“To this day, I have never seen a team play better team basketball,” said Hall of Fame coach John Wooden, who played against the Rens when he was a member of the barnstorming Indianapolis Kautskys during the ’30s. “They had great athletes, but they weren’t as impressive as their team play. The way they handled and passed the ball was just amazing to me then, and I believe it would be today.” 

“I tried to spread the word [about Douglas] with my book and documentary, On the Shoulder of Giants,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “I did both to make people aware of the Rens’ contribution to basketball because it’s important that we honor those pioneers who made this billion-dollar industry possible. It’s also important that we recognize the people of color who did so much but that history deliberately ignored. The best way to do this is to keep their names in front of the public in textbooks, basketball events, and with sports memorabilia the way we do with other pioneers in sports history.”

In order to fully respect the Rens, their legacy has to be looked at both on and off the court. 88 consecutive wins is impressive, there’s no question. But 88 straight wins in the face of unwavering discrimination is a miracle. 

The Rens conquered race riots. They were courageous when they faced threats of violence. They held firm when white businessmen denied them the right to play in the American Basketball League in 1925. They just kept winning.

They monopolized the game for nearly two decades before finally getting a chance to put everything together. Their win against the Oshkosh All-Stars, an all-white team, in 1939 gave them the distinction of capturing the first-ever professional basketball championship—proving yet again that there was nothing that could stop them.

The Rens program was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1963, as a final tribute to one of the greatest squads to ever play. The team re-formed in 2012 as an AAU program and has been a home for players like Rawle Alkins and Hamidou Diallo, both of whom made it to the NBA. The Rens’ current star is point guard Jalen Lecque, a four-star recruit that’s committed to play at NC State in the fall.

Douglas and the original Rens, according to Abdul-Jabbar, would be happy about their legacy and how far the game has come.

“Bob Douglas would be very pleased with not only how much the game has developed athletically but also with the number of African-Americans involved in the sport,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “He would be delighted with the status of black athletes, not just the money they are making but with their influence on our culture.”

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Black Fives Foundation.

The post BHM 2019: Remembering the Pioneering and Dominant New York Rens appeared first on SLAM.

Jordan wore the “Infrareds” from that weekend in hometown all the way up until the 1991 NBA Finals, when he captured his first championship.

The “Infrared” Air Jordan 6 reached mythical status following that weekend. It’s part of a long line of black/red Jordans that were worn during historic on-court moments. And in the nearly 30 years since it was first released, it’s become a solidified style staple on sidewalks everywhere.

We caught up with Gentry Humphrey, Jordan Brand VP of Footwear, to talk about all-things “Infrareds.” Check it out below.

SLAM: Does Mike get hype for these releases, the special, legacy-type ones with all the buzz leading up to them?

Gentry Humphrey: MJ is more passionate about footwear design than most people I know. He pushes us to maintain the authenticity of the original model, while not being afraid of paying attention to details and craftsmanship. The VI is extra special to him and our brand because he won his first championship in them.

SLAM: The “Infrareds” had a crazy run in the spotlight from the ’91 All-Star Game to the Finals. Why did Mike love this colorway so much?

GH: First, Michael is an intense competitor. He was known to gain motivation in many ways. He felt that black based shoes were meant to be played in the opposing team’s arena.  It was a reminder that he had to raise his level of intensity in what could have been a hostile environment. The infrared was a pop of color, that gave a black based shoe, added energy. It was a turn up on a traditional color of red.

SLAM: With that long in-game run in mind, what is the “Infrareds” legacy in the grand scheme of the Air Jordan line?

GH: It’s synonymous with MJ’s success as an athlete, in a relentless pursuit of being a champion. As far as legacy in the Air Jordan line and the entire sneaker industry as whole, you now see Infrared as one of the brand’s bloodline colors. When you see Infrared anywhere, you automatically think of the AJVI.

SLAM: Do you think it’s an underrated silhouette?

GH: It’s been almost three decades since the silhouette’s original launch and you still see people of all ages wearing the AJVI on a daily basis due to its timeless design. Trends come and go but sneakers like the AJVI are always in style.

SLAM: This 2019 retro version is a stitch-for-stich match to the OG that dropped almost 30 years ago. Why is now the right time to return to the materials, the stitching and the color?

GH: Timing wise, it was a no brainer with All-Star being in Charlotte this year. It’s a great opportunity for the brand to provide access the OG fans who remember that ’91 game and also a chance for us to introduce the shoe to a new generation who are pursuing their own dreams and can take inspiration from the story of this shoe and MJ’s legacy. When it comes to the construction, we strive to deliver a premium level of quality and original construction. When MJ saw this year’s AJ VI for the first time, he gave us that MJ smile! It was validation and an indication of a job well done. You could tell it provided a flashback of a very memorable point in time. A smile equaling success!

SLAM: Sneaker nerds are really excited for the 3M’s return, too, another OG detail. Are you surprised to see how much the internet has been fiending for this release?

GH: No, the shoe is an all-time favorite. I believe that our attention to details and pursuit of fine craftsmanship is expected. Our consumers have come to appreciate the additional nuances that we apply on re-released models. It allows them to have another reason to stay connected to an all-time classic.

SLAM: You’ve been around for so many amazing colorways and silhouettes and collaborations. It seems like every time a Bred Air Jordan drops, though, there’s still so much desire, almost like Mike is going to play in them again. Why does the black and red colorway continue to have so much power?

GH: A black and red Air Jordan is always going to be special to people who love sneakers and basketball. When you pair that with the silhouettes that MJ did amazing things in, you truly get to own a piece of history. The beauty of Bred Air Jordan shoes comes from combining MJ’s legacy of playing in them with whatever that particular sneaker means to you and your journey. For some, it was their favorite sneaker as a kid and now they want their kids to have it. For others, it was something they maybe couldn’t get the last time they released so this is their chance to finally own it. Each story is unique and that’s what makes a sneaker like this so special.

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Photos by Terell Drayton.

The post The ‘Infrared’ Air Jordan 6 Has Returned in True OG Form appeared first on SLAM.

“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough. So go big,” Dakota Gonzalez says with a big smile.

Her twin sister, Dylan, is sitting right next to her at Sunset Park in Las Vegas, laughing along. But don’t get it twisted—the Gonzalez twins are dead serious about making the WNBA.

“Go super, super big,” Dakota continues.

Big, as in trying to make it onto a WNBA roster after not hooping competitively for over a year. Big, as in proving countless internet haters wrong. Big, as in fulfilling a journey, through multiple states and two colleges, that’s taken an entire lifetime of work.

And they know it’s going to be tough, especially after not playing for a minute, when they chose to pursue their music career instead.

“We put the ball down, but we never really put the ball down,” Dylan says.

They’ve been in the gym and on the court the entire time, working on strength and conditioning and skill level. And now they’re ready to go after their dream of playing in the W.

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The Gonzalez twins were stars at Highland HS in Pocatello, ID. They were named Co-Players of the Year after their freshman season, and Dakota went on to win the Idaho State Journal’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year for three consecutive years.

They started their collegiate careers at the University of Kansas, where their mother, Angie, starred. Angie was a walking bucket, scoring over 1,500 points in just three seasons as a Jayhawk. She earned an All-American honorable mention selection in 1984 and then played pro ball in Germany.

But the twins, born in ’94 and both standing at 6-0, only stayed in Lawrence for a single season, transferring to UNLV in 2014. The decision paid off. They averaged a combined 23.1 points in their final year with the Runnin’ Rebels, growing their games together. Dakota became a well-versed offensive threat and Dylan matured into a do-it-all defender. They were solid individually and they were dynamic together.

“Dylan is a very tenacious defender,” Dakota says about her older sister. “Super dialed in, super vocal, incredible leader. Goes super hard. Every game, Dylan is going to bring it. Definitely likes her pull-up threes and her transition threes. She be gunning and hitting. She even has a little step-back that she likes to do at the three-point line. One move that never fails to get people, even when I tell them, is her up-and-under. When she gets in the paint and she stops, don’t fall for the head fake! I’m not even going to lie, I know that’s her move and she still gets me.”

“If I were to give a scouting report on Dakota, I would say a very vocal leader,” Dylan follows. “Refuse to lose mentality. Loves her pull-up mid-range jumper. Even when we play one-on-one, it’s very difficult for me because she’s kind of that player that has all of the skills in her pocket offensively. She can shoot the three, she can pull-up in the mid-range and she can get to the basket and finish. It’s a defensive nightmare. You don’t want to get too close but you can’t be too far back because she’s going to pull it in your eye.”

Even with all the improvement they made on the court, the twins decided to step away from the game in 2017, foregoing their final year of eligibility at UNLV in favor of a music career. The NCAA wasn’t allowing them to profit off of their songs while still playing. So they dipped. They released Take 1, their debut R&B EP, in 2017, and have continued to work on their music ever since.

For as long as they can remember it’s been hoops, along with Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Queen, Beyoncé, Ciara, Elvis and so many others. They’ve always had varied musical tastes—a mix of oldies like Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and new stars like Ariana Grande.

Their wide-ranging musical knowledge offers a peak behind the curtain—beyond the IG profiles and into the mindset of a pair of professionals. They put the work in, something they want WNBA teams to notice.

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It’s a calm day in Las Vegas—sunny and windy, but not too hot. Dylan and Dakota are getting shots up in the park, joking about how far their jumpshots have come, laughing constantly.

“My mom actually used to always say you’ve got to come and shoot on outdoor rims because then you’ll be a super good shooter,” Dakota says.

They demonstrate their old shots, yelling out impressions of their mom’s advice.

“She’s such a coach, that lady,” Dylan says, right before knocking down a jumper.

The twins are quick to switch between light-hearted reminiscing and deep thought.

“I don’t think Dakota and I are the saviors,” Dylan says. “I’m not saying that we’re going to come in and make the WNBA something completely crazy, like it’s never been. Like, ‘The WNBA needs us!’ It’s not like that.”

But the WNBA could make use of their massive social media following. The twins acknowledge that they haven’t fully tapped into the voice that they’ve developed, but that doesn’t mean they won’t.

“I don’t think that Dakota and I have ever really taken advantage of our platform like that,” Dylan says. They each have over 1 million followers on IG. “I just feel kind of weird about it. We do not open up regularly.”

They both mention how much criticism they receive even when they keep things on the “surface level.” Dylan admits it’s gotten to her in the past. Sharing her life with the internet, she admits, is “a scary thing.”

“Quite frankly, when we really look at it, and we think about the bigger picture of what we’re trying to accomplish, it is our responsibility,” Dakota says. “We do have a responsibility to help educate people and to inspire people. We do feel like we have voices and we have things to say. We want to be able to start putting that out there. And I don’t think we’ve done that so far.

“I saw something on Instagram and I think it was another social media influencer. And he kinda was like, ‘When people come to your page, what are they getting out of it? Are you inspiring them?’ It spoke to me and made me realize that is some true shit right there.”

“We want to inspire young ladies [and] just people in general to pursue their passions,” Dylan adds. “And hopefully if we are open about that, it can open that door for people to go for whatever.”

The twins want to be next in line, following in the footsteps of Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi and Candace Parker, legends who inspired a whole generation of young women to start playing. Even if they have to start on the bench.

“It’s exciting to even have the conversation out there that we’re looking to pursue it,” Dakota says. “Even if I got to play pickup with them, I’d be pretty happy about that. These are, like, freakin’ stars. People don’t understand that. A lot of people know, but a lot more don’t. These women are legit.”

“And to be in that mix would, honestly, just be crazy,” Dylan says. “That’s top of the line. We’re looking for progression, not perfection.”

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” Dakota says.

“Then work your way up,” Dylan adds.

The twins speak quickly, in rapid fire succession.

“All the women who are so amazing, who are the best in the world, they don’t get enough credit, they don’t get enough notoriety,” Dylan says. “And it would be an honor to just be sitting on the bench with them. It would just be an honor knowing that there are all these women, who are so talented at this craft, that I love. The goal is to get there. And we’re the type of people who when we put our minds to something, it gets done. We just put our nose to the ground and we just work really hard. Because that’s all we’ve ever known how to do.”

“It’s part of that fierce competitiveness that has been instilled in us,” Dakota says.

“If you just look at us, no one wants to take us seriously. And I’m like, ‘That’s cool, don’t take me seriously, advantage for me,’” Dylan says with a sly grin. Dakota chuckles next to her.

They expect the doubt; they know the hostility will be there. Dylan concedes that she didn’t even want to announce their intentions to play professional basketball. Dakota mentions how tough it is to be vulnerable in the public eye. But here they are, working for their moment, without any illusions, without any promises.

—

The sun is starting to fade on East Sunset Road and what was a warm mid-November day is starting to turn into a chilly mid-November night. Dylan and Dakota continue to dribble and talk about their basketball odyssey, one with too memories to recount everything.

Some things do stick out to them, though. Their awkward shooting forms in middle school, their less-than-stellar tenure at Kansas, their early moments of falling in love with the game. They argue real quick about their all-time one-on-one record but come to the conclusion that Dylan is winning the current series, while Dakota has more lifetime wins. They share a story from a few months ago when they couldn’t even finish a game because they had too big of a fight. It all had a purpose.

“I do feel like we are prepared,” Dakota says. “And the work we put in thus far, I do feel very confident. We love the challenge.”

Big dreams.

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 220 HERE!

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Portraits by Joseph L. Sherman. 

The post Dylan and Dakota Gonzalez Are Coming for the WNBA ☄️ appeared first on SLAM.

Beyond the 11 championship rings, the 12 All-Star appearances and the five MVP trophies, Russell is a groundbreaking force, a source of unending strength and courage. And his fearlessness has extended way past the hardwood.

Russell grew up in West Monroe, LA, during the middle of the Great Depression. He became used to rampant racism, watching his parents deal with it on a daily basis. After living amongst hate for too long, Bill’s father, Charles, moved the family to Oakland, CA in 1944. Bill’s mother, Katie, passed away in 1946.

“My father was my hero,” Russell said in an interview for NBA TV. “Because when my mother got sick, and she knew she was dying, she asked him to promise her that he would send her boys to college.

“We buried her in Louisiana. She had five sisters. They were deciding who was going to take me and who was going to take my brother. And my father said ‘I’m going to take them both back to California with me.’ They said that men can’t raise kids. He said, ‘I promised their mother I would try.’ …He sacrificed so he could be home every night to be a good parent. I was never afraid because I knew that he loved me and he never let me down.”

The strength that Bill witnessed in his parents carried him throughout the rest of his life, because the racism didn’t stop even when he became one of the best ballplayers of all time.

Despite winning two NCAA championships and racking up national collegiate honors including All-America selections and NCAA tournament MOP, there was a possibility Russell was going to stop playing basketball.

“St. Louis was overwhelmingly racist,” Russell said on NBA TV. “If I had gotten drafted by St. Louis, I wouldn’t have went into the NBA.”

The Hawks were based in St. Louis in 1956 when they selected Russell with the second overall pick. The city, as Russell said, had a serious problem. So when coach Red Auerbach and the Celtics swooped in to trade for Russell, he was glad.

The Celtics were the first NBA team to ever start five African-American players. They were the first franchise to ever draft an African-American, forever etching Chuck Cooper’s name in history. Auerbach didn’t see color, he just saw winning.

But Boston didn’t think like that. During Russell’s playing career, the city repeatedly treated Russell with vitriol and hate.

“I didn’t become aware of Russ’ problems until later,” his former teammate Bob Cousy told ESPN. “Within the unit, I think Russ felt we had his back. But when he walked outside the unit, he’d sit in the lobby and be reading his paper and some white guy would come over and make his speech—’Mr. Russell, I’m your biggest fan, you are the greatest’—and Russ would never look up from his paper. So, Russ felt very strongly, and I don’t blame him, about the issue [of race]. My God, they broke into his home, they defecated on his bed. He went through so much.”

Cousy referenced the time that Russell’s home in Boston was invaded. His bed was defiled with feces and there were racist messages written on his walls.

He delivered winning to the city of Boston (11 championships in 13 years) and they showed him their true colors.

“Bill Russell got tagged with being antiwhite and rude and everything else,” former teammate Tommy Heinsohn said to Boston Magazine. “But all he really wanted to do was be recognized as an individual. He had been slighted several times, and he was smart enough to recognize it.”

Russell’s prime on the court synced up with the civil rights movements of the 1960s. And he used his platform as one of the country’s premier athletes to shine light on the injustices that he saw his peers suffering through.

“It is the first time in four centuries that the American Negro can create his own history,” Russell penned in the 60s. “To be part of this is one of the most significant things that can happen.”

When a restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky refused to seat Russell and his black teammates in 1961, they boycotted the ensuing game. Russell walked in the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights and frequently called out ways in which he perceived the NBA to be limiting its population of African-American players. He used to reference Jackie Robinson and a desire to continue the work that he started in the 1940s.

In the same way that Robinson was a pioneer for baseball, Russell eventually became a pioneer for basketball. The Celtics named him head coach in 1966, as he became the first African-American head coach in NBA history. And the best part was that he was still playing. And then the icing on the cake was that Russell led his team to two titles as a player-coach. But the haters couldn’t get out of their feelings.

“I remember at the press conference,” Russell told The New York Times, “probably the second or third question one of the Boston reporters asked me, ‘Can you coach the white guys without being prejudiced?’ Now, I didn’t recall anybody asking a white coach if he could coach the black guys without being prejudiced. All I said was, ‘Yeah.’ ”

The city of Boston finally paid their respects to Russell in 2013, 44 years after he capped off one of the greatest and most ingenious careers the NBA ever saw. They gave him a statue at Boston City Hall Plaza, praising a daring, innovative and unapologetic hero.

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Getty.

The post BHM 2019: Bill Russell Is a Basketball and Civil Rights Champion appeared first on SLAM.

Kyrgios, the international tennis superstar, and Irving have linked up to create a special edition version of the Nike Kyrie 5, a collaboration between two of Australia’s most well-known athletes.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWoKMAARwT/

The Nike Vapor X Kyrie 5 will be on-foot for Kyrgios at the Australian Open later this month. It’s a project that Irving says was a match made in heaven.

“I loved the Vapor X ‘Kyrie 5’ from the moment I first saw them,” Irving tells SLAM. “The connection of Australian roots and that we have respect for one another’s games makes the blending of these two shoes a perfect match.”

Kyrgios is from Canberra, Australia and Irving was born in Melbourne. Kyrgios’ lifelong fandom of the Celtics was just a happy coincidence.

“I was looking at some articles about Nick and I saw this quote,” Michael Hui, the Vapor X designer, remembers about the start of this project. “It sums him up pretty well.

‘This is the life on tour as a Celtics fan. Wi-Fi is a legit top-five priority in my life. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried to stream an NBA playoff game on your phone in China.'”

Hui and Alex Restivo, Product Director for NikeCourt, put things in motion, linking up with Ben Nethongkome and the Nike Basketball team.

Hui, after speaking with Nethongkome, realized that the technology in the Kyrie 5 could easily be translated to a tennis silhouette.

“The Flytrap that you see on the Kyrie 5 made a lot of sense for tennis,” Hui tells SLAM. “We thought it was a match made in heaven. Not just from a story standpoint, but also from a performance standpoint.”

“The outsole and midsole on this shoe are identical to the Vapor X I’m used to wearing,” Kyrgios says. “But the uppers on both the basketball and tennis shoes are pretty similar. The Flytrap lacing system that goes over the Vapor X ‘Kyrie 5’ helps lock down my foot in the shoe so I’m able to confidently move indifferent directions like Kyrie does on the basketball court.”

Irving draws everyone’s attention on the hardwood. And all eyes will be on Kyrgios when the tennis world is focused on Melbourne later this month.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWz7TiAO6E/

“I wanted to create something that was a marriage of tennis and basketball, but married into this Australian Open culture,” Hui says. “Australian-inspired art to create this pattern that expresses the idea of basketball and tennis in Australia.”

Hui says that can be seen on the sockliner, as well as the colorway. The lava-like hues are a callback to summers in the land down under. It’s hot in Australia right now, the middle of the summer. Adding the white base was a conscious decision to keep Kyrgios cool during his matches in the tournament.

And Irving and Kyrgios aren’t done yet.

“Yes, there’s more energy to come from tennis and basketball in the future,” Kyrgios offers.

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The NikeCourt Vapor X “Kyrie 5” drops on January 14. 

The post Kyrie Irving and Nick Kyrgios Unveil the NikeCourt Vapor X ‘Kyrie 5’ appeared first on SLAM.

NB’s back in the basketball space, with Kawhi Leonard and Darius Bazley on the roster. We caught up with Bell, now an assistant coach with the Iowa Wolves of the G-League, to talk about his time working with New Balance.

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SLAM: Whether or not it’s justified, there’s definitely a stigma attached to New Balance by people who love basketball sneakers. Why did you decide to sign with them?

Charlie Bell: Being a guy that came from overseas, I didn’t have a lot of companies wanting to give me a shoe deal. My agent was like, ‘New Balance is trying to do basketball. If you’re interested we can have them send you some shoes.’ And they sent me a pair to test out and I was like, ‘Man, these things are probably some of the comfiest shoes I ever wore.’ I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ They didn’t really give me any money, but they gave me a merchandising contract where I got so much money a year to order shoes and apparel. I still wear them today. All the shoes that I got that I didn’t wear during my time in the NBA, I had in a box. I still wear those shoes now.

SLAM: What do you think people should know about New Balance?

CB: It’s a comfortable shoe. I think it’s very well made and especially for me, I had flatter feet, and wider feet. It was probably one of the best decisions I made. New Balance is a company that’s been around for years. They look at it as a dad shoe but it’s a lifestyle shoe. The 574s, shoes that you can wear with your jeans. They make one of the best running shoes around. New Balance has been around for a long time.

SLAM: You mentioned the 574s, which is probably their most popular silhouette. What was the name of the kicks you were hooping in?

CB: I don’t even know if they really had a name. When I did it, I think Matt Bonner was also wearing them, but I think they were just their first basketball shoes. Some of them had numbers on them but some of them were just shoes that they sent and they personalized them for me. They had my name on them. I thought I was hot stuff, especially a guy coming from overseas. You’ve got all the superstars with their name on their shoes. And for me to have a personalized shoe with my name on it, my team colors, I just felt like I was the man. You couldn’t tell me nothing.

I remember one time we were playing against the Washington Wizards. I’m out there with my New Balances on. I know Wale is a big shoe guy. Wale was sitting courtside and he was like, ‘Man, you got New Balances on? What are those?’ Everybody started laughing. I was like, ‘Man, you could laugh. I don’t care what you say. These are good shoes.’ I was a little sad when they stopped making shoes, around 2010, 2011. You see a lot of these guys sign with these Chinese companies that nobody’s ever heard of. I don’t know why people laugh about New Balance.

SLAM: So you had teammates talking a little bit of trash? 

CB: They did at first. But at the same time other guys were wearing Chinese shoes that were tearing up. I never had one shoe tear up on me. I know a lot of NBA guys that only wear shoes one time and they discard them after one game. I like to break my shoes in and wear them for, like, a month. That’s why I got so many of them still left. They made a quality shoe. To this day, if I do wear Nikes when I’m playing pickup, I’ll be like, ‘Man, I need my New Balances.’

SLAM: New Balance just signed Kawhi Leonard, as you know. The other thing they did this year is bring Darius Bazley on-board for an internship. It’s very different from any other brand. Did you see that type of forward-thinking when you were working with them?

CB: Not really. They were just getting into the basketball field. I never really talked to them, personally. That was my agent. There was a guy I would talk to from time to time but I doubt he still works with New Balance. But they were very good to work with. If I ever needed them to send me some gear or other shoes, they were right on top of everything. They were definitely a first-class shoe company. With them getting back into basketball, I need to reach out to New Balance, see if I can be an ambassador. I loved them.

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Getty.

The post Former Bucks Shooting Guard Charlie Bell Talks Playing in New Balances appeared first on SLAM.

BMX star Nigel Sylvester used to be one of those kids who made Laurelton his playground. He’d ride his bike up and down Merrick Blvd. or hang out on his grandmother’s street or hit up P.S. 176 to hoop or play football.

By the time he was 25, Sylvester had established himself as an elite athlete. Riding around Queens evolved into riding around the globe, and he built a following, an audience that was captivated by his biking videos. It was at that point that he decided to switch things up and he hopped on his bike in a pair of Air Jordan Is.

“The I became my go-to sneaker for biking around 2012, 2013, when I was like, Man, I really love this shoe. I’m gonna start rocking it to ride,” Sylvester says. “Prior to that I would always ride in [Nike] skate shoes.

“I’ve always been a fan of the Jordan I,” he adds. “It’s always been a grail shoe for me, something that’s always been coveted. Like, Oh shit, that’s the Jordan I. You can’t ride in that. You can go outside and catch a stunt, not on some I’m-gonna-rock-this shit-on-my-bicycle-and-fuck-it-up. But then something clicked. I just wanted to make that statement. People used to trip on it but I was like, Man, fuck it. It looks good.”

Though Sylvester’s not a hooper, he was always around the game. He used to play with his friends and he was able to catch the tail-end of Michael Jordan’s career. Being exposed to basketball helped him fully understand MJ’s impact on and off the court.

He would see the I all over New York City, and as a testament to Jordan’s influence, he began to see it across the world.

“That’s one of the coolest things about it,” he says. “Everywhere I’ve been in the world—and I’ve traveled a lot—I’ve seen people embrace the Is. That’s how you know it’s a true icon, a true classic. Whether it’s in BMX or action sports or just culture, in general. You see it across so many lines and so many cultural barriers.”

Sylvester made sure to include the AJI in his GO video series, a POV-style adventure where he illustrates what it’s like to be behind the handlebars. London, Paris, Dubai, L.A., Tokyo—the son of Queens brought the AJI with him throughout his travels.

The energy that Sylvester was bringing to the I didn’t go unnoticed. Frank Cooker, one of Jordan Brand’s head designers, was watching. He and Sylvester linked up and spoke about collaborating on the Air Jordan I. Their chemistry was immediate and they decided to honor the fact that Sylvester has no problem fucking up a pair of Is while he’s on his bike.

“As soon as we sat down, he was like, I love what you do in the [sneaker],” Sylvester remembers. “I’m actually doing my thing in these shoes. Landing tricks, I’m taking spills, I’m traveling the world. The idea of doing the distressed Jordan I happened throughout that conversation.”

Cooker wanted to capture the spots that would usually get beat up on Sylvester’s pairs. The toes and heels tend to catch the brunt of the tricks and that’s reflected in the colorway.

The rest of Sylvester’s colorway includes a mini Swoosh on the lateral forefoot, a reflective medial Swoosh and a varsity red outsole. The last touch came on the collar, where “Jordan Biking Co., Est. 2017” is written, a callback to when the project started.

It took about a year and a handful of design sessions to finally land on the right one. Sylvester says he was in the editing studio, finishing one of his GO videos, when Cooker hit him up on Facetime with the completed product.

“It was crazy, man,” Sylvester says. “I couldn’t believe it. It looked exactly how I imagined it in my mind.”

Launch events in New York and Los Angeles were organized a few months later. The 31-year-old says it was critical for him to be able to talk to the people who were copping his colorway, to spend time with them. He wanted to show them love for all of the love they were showing him. He had even more planned, but timing prevented him from bringing the shoe to international cities.

“Connecting with the people who support what I do, the people who embrace my wild-ass ideas and what it is that I’m doing out here, they’re so important,” Sylvester says. “For a moment like this, definitely one of the biggest moments of my career, to launch a Jordan I, a shoe that’s so personal to me, I wanted to celebrate that moment with the people.”

Before the NYC and L.A. drops, Sylvester went back to Queens for a photoshoot. He was on Merrick Boulevard, sitting on a stoplight, wearing his Air Jordan I. Still just another kid running around the neighborhood.

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos by Terrell Drayton and Ralphy Ramos. 

The post RIDE FOR THIS: The Story Behind Nigel Sylvester’s Air Jordan I 🚲 appeared first on SLAM.

“After the Knicks picked at 36, I kinda knew I was gonna go undrafted,” Trier remembers. “They had called right before they made their pick. They had basically offered me the deal. I listened to a few teams call at, like, 41, 43, 46, and they were all places that I didn’t feel were great fits. My agent told me ‘You can have the option of hearing your name called tonight and you can go to a situation where I don’t know what it’ll be like for you. Or you can be undrafted and go play with the Knicks. Unfortunately you won’t be drafted. You won’t hear your name called tonight.’ We gave it thought and we turned those other teams down and we accepted the Knicks deal.”

It was the latest fork-in-the-road for Trier. The 22-year-old has been in the spotlight since 2009, when The New York Times published a lengthy feature on him, detailing his early accomplishments and already insane work schedule. He was dominating his sixth-grade age group in Seattle at that point, his long braids dancing in the wind whenever he’d carve up defenses. In the years that followed, Trier would go on a basketball odyssey, destroying every opponent that tried to stop him. He would hoop in Oklahoma, moving there at the age of 14 and playing his AAU ball with the OKC Storm. He decided to relocate to Montrose Christian High School for his junior year, the same school that Kevin Durant starred at. He played so well — averaging 25 points per game — that he wanted to find even better competition. He spent his final year at Findlay Prep, a basketball factory that has produced talents like Avery Bradley, Tristan Thompson, Kelly Oubre and, most recently, Bol Bol. Trier did what he always did, pouring in 26 points a night.

Wherever he was playing, and whatever uniform he was rocking, Trier was a guaranteed bucket. And he still is today.

He mixes a combination of ball handling and agility together to create a dizzying offensive arsenal. He loves the in-and-out, utilizing it to create separation to hit off-the-bounce jumpers. He’s quick to explode to the rim at any opportunity and he’s a knockdown spot-up shooter. He’s got one-two dribble combos, a tough stepback option and a fast behind-the-back move. He’s also got a mature patience when going one-on-one. He operates at his own pace, attacking and reading the defense all at the same time. He makes it look simple.

“At a really young age I really just knew how to score the ball. I don’t know, it was just, like, really easy for me,” he says, matter-of-factly. “I just was advanced in that area, understanding angles, understanding ways to get my shot off, how to make a shot from anywhere on the floor at any time.”

After his high school career, Trier continued to attract attention. The Jordan Brand Classic belonged to him when he put up 28 points and collected the showcase’s Co-MVP honors, beating out a crop of other elite talent.

He continued to score at the University of Arizona as he began to rack up the individual achievements, consistently delivering whenever the pressure was on. He notched 18 points a game as a junior, leaving Tucson with First-Team All-Pac-12 (2018) honors and the Pac-12 Tournament MOP award in 2017.

Yet he didn’t hear his name on June 21, 2018.

“I’ve been through adversity for reasons I can’t control,” he tells us. “Obviously it didn’t go the same path that we thought it would be but that’s how things happen in life sometimes. I know I’m in a good place.”

“A lot of teams missed the boat on him,” Sean Miller, Trier’s coach at Arizona, told SB Nation. “The NBA is made for a guy like Allonzo because he’s such a great scorer and he loves the game, and he’s going to work tirelessly on his game. And with the space on the court and the way it’s being played, he’s going to be able to score for a long time.”

Trier had gone from a nationally known, five-star prospect to a draft night afterthought. But he kept all of those receipts. After being counted out, after going undrafted and after balling out through Summer League and the preseason, he’s been proving, once again, that he can perform under the bright lights. He’s provided signs of life and high-energy to a struggling Knicks team with a potentially bright future — a future that Trier figures to play a part in.

The young guard, who’s been electrifying Knicks fans, has a lot of creativity in his game.

“I have my own style, my own flavor of coming up with things,” Trier says. “I have a creative imagination. I love to watch players and how they do things. There may be things that I add in on purpose, some things that just naturally come to me as a basketball player. Me being able to have an imagination and be able to create things on the fly is kind of my gift. I try to put that to use on the basketball court.”

He’s now averaging 11.4 points per game through his 21 appearances. He’s had three games of at least 21 points, highlighted by a 25-point outburst against the Pelicans in which he shot 9/12 off the bench, helping New York secure the 114-109 victory. Trier put the whole repertoire on display that night. He continuously found his way to the bucket, beating his man off the dribble. He hit open threes and set his teammates up, finishing with 4 assists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbxRZd2K3Yk

Seattle, WA. Oklahoma City, OK. Rockville, MD. Henderson, NV. Tucson, AZ. It all led to opening night at Madison Square Garden, when Trier skyrocketed up to the rim for a signature poster dunk, sending the World’s Most Famous Arena, and the rest of the country, into hysteria.

“We went crazy when he dunked that one,” Kevin Durant told The New York Times. Durant knows Trier from his brief stint with the Seattle SuperSonics. “We’re so happy for Zo. We’ve seen Zo grow up. We had a little hand in raising him, a little hand. So it feels good for him to have this success. He’s a pure baller.”

Trier somehow found Nate Robinson, another Seattle native and a former Knicks player, in the mayhem just moments after the dunk.

“I had seen him courtside,” Trier says of Robinson. “He hit me up a little bit earlier saying he was there. Some people had asked him about me because I was playing well in preseason. He showed some love, one Seattle guy to another. I didn’t know he was actually gonna be at the game. I happened to have the dunk and I was running back and he ran up to me. That was cool to see my guy.”

Robinson isn’t the only guy to recognize how far Trier’s come. And how far he may go.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpDuVXphgC7/

“He’s actually handled the waves very well,” Knicks head coach David Fizdale says. “If he has a bad game, his routine never changes. If he didn’t score a lot, he comes in here with the same attitude, the same work ethic, [being] the same good teammate. He’s just focused in on trying to come in here every day and get better.”

The improvement is showing. Every few games, the rookie will clock in either a big-time scoring total or a timely bucket. His opening night performance, with 15 points, was followed up by a 23-point effort during a road win in Dallas. He then hit the Bulls and Hawks for 21 points and 16 points, respectively.

Trier tells SLAM that he’s “battle-tested.”

“They tried to crucify me,” he wrote on his Instagram after the first game of the season. “All the pain I had to go through, they created a monster!!!!!”

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Getty Images. 

The post On The Rise: Allonzo Trier Is Proving All the Doubters Wrong appeared first on SLAM.