History of the NBA Draft and Signature Sneakers
Posted by George Kiel III | Jun 25, 2009 The NBA Draft, which is held today at 7ET, is obviously a special day for many gifted basketball players and fans around the world. It is always entertaining to go back into the draft archives and see which players were chosen or skipped over during that specific year.
With that said, our Nice Kicks staff visited the NBA draft archives as well; however, we wanted to find out which specific draft years produced notable signature sneaker lines. A couple of draft years, namely 1984, 1996 and 2003, produced some of our favorite signature sneaker collections to date! Click here to view our History of the NBA Draft and Signature Sneakers |
1951 NBA Draft - Bob Cousy
Shoe Brand: PF Flyers
Most Notable Shoe To Date: PF Flyers Bob Cousy All-American High
Click here to view the Bob Cousy Player Profile Page
Oct 4, 2009 at 3:06 pm
kobe wore adidas jack ass
Jul 5, 2009 at 1:55 am
Some minor corrections:
- Hey, Rodman wore Reeboks and Converses right?
- As for Malone, he wore LA Gear, Converse, and Dada in order.
- And Olajuwon also wore Etonic, LA Gear, Spalding, and briefly, Nike in order. (Yes, he wore Nikes, just search it on Getty and let’s see)
- Carter wore Puma and Adidas briefly
- Kobe also wore Reeboks, Air Jordans, and AND1 briefly.
Jun 30, 2009 at 7:15 am
cryptonite is not a signature shoe its just a special colerway of the foamposite lights
Jun 27, 2009 at 12:36 pm
daaaaaamn c-webb’s black/navy air unlimited! must be retro’d!
Jun 27, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Nike Air Shake Ndestrukt need to be retro’d.
Jun 27, 2009 at 11:11 am
@ K: Yes, you’re right. BUT Sheed is only known in the sneaker world for rocking Air Force 1’s… And he wasn’t the man who brought those into the game back in 82.
Jun 26, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I am very upset that Rasheed Wallace was not on this list considering that he hands down rocks some of the hardest shoes on the court period.
Jun 26, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I am very upset that Rasheed Wallace was not on this list considering that he hands down rocks some of the harders shoes on the court period.
Jun 26, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Yooooo, that steve francis picture is OFFICIAL.
forreal.
Jun 26, 2009 at 5:05 pm
They didn’t use BRS shoes back then?
But they used PFs?
Jun 26, 2009 at 3:00 pm
And for ‘96 you left out Antoine Walker and the Adidas AW8…
Jun 26, 2009 at 2:47 pm
@Nice Kicks–your response to Rep96st above, about only picking true sigs not team shoes that a particular player wore, makes sense– BUT you don’t follow your own standard. The Converse Weapon, for example, was not Magic’s sig. All kinds of NBA players (we’ve all seen the ads on youtube w/Magic, Bird, Isiah, Bernard King, etc…).
So since that rule is out the window…KG’s most notable shoe to date has to be the TS Commander. Fantastic shoe, he won his ring in it, and it has his face on the side!
Also, clearly the Starbury, whatever you think of them, has to be Marbury’s most notable shoe.
Jun 26, 2009 at 11:36 am
Yeah Spreewell had a signature shoe or two with Converse. The Acropolis was one of them.
http://www.theconverseblog.com/2008/02/converse-blogs-friday-flashback.html
Jun 26, 2009 at 10:08 am
Anyone think those Shaq Attaq III’s look like the 7’s, or is it just me?
Jun 26, 2009 at 10:04 am
Yeah I’m with ol boy Wall St. The Converse era was in full swing during Sprewell’s days with Golden State.
Jun 26, 2009 at 9:59 am
wat bout da cryptonite????
Jun 26, 2009 at 8:54 am
Good lord this was detailed. Big ups to the staff for this article. You guys are on point.
Jun 26, 2009 at 8:09 am
What a treat NiceKicks!!! Great shoe history in the league.
Jun 26, 2009 at 5:35 am
@ Wall street: Did Spree wear Converse? Are you sure? Never seen it…
Nicekicks: cool feature, and nicely done with the photos and all. But about Sprewell, remember that he was one of the players who really helped AND 1 get to the level they were at a couple years ago. In my opnion, his most notable sneaker was the AND 1 Spree Mid. It is also still one of my all time favorite basketball shoes.
Jun 26, 2009 at 12:11 am
nash= most def jet flights
Jun 25, 2009 at 11:21 pm
T-MaC ADIDAS
Jun 25, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Spreewell wore Converse for about two seasons as well. Look it up, bonafide sneaker head here!!!
Jun 25, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Shaq’s most notable shoe is NOT the Shaqnosis!!!! It’s his first shoe the Shaq Attaq 1, get a clue!!!!!
Jun 25, 2009 at 9:39 pm
A lot of kicks
Jun 25, 2009 at 9:22 pm
this was a great post by nicekicks! bravo lol
Jun 25, 2009 at 8:46 pm
tons of great sneakers
Jun 25, 2009 at 8:27 pm
the PF flyer gotta be number 1
Jun 25, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Its nice to know you guys interact with the community on here and reply to people’s comments. You guys are 1 up’N other blog sites on that lol. I believe you on the Jordan 11’s but the pic with him in the Infrared’s against Magic is sick.
Jun 25, 2009 at 8:00 pm
DAMN. THE LINEUP OF ‘84, ‘96 and ‘03 LOL. @_@
‘03 have great players but the kicks arent that good. pennys beat all in this.
Jun 25, 2009 at 8:00 pm
^ SICKEST Jordan PE’s. especially the 2’s and 10’s
Jun 25, 2009 at 7:59 pm
was Ray Allen here?
check out Carmelo’s player page, he has the SICKEST!!
Jun 25, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Chris Webber wore: Nike, Fila, Converse, Reebok ( Iverson Answer III) and Dada in that order.
Jun 25, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Shaq had a WB shoe and his Dunk.nets that he wore for EVERY Laker championship.
Jun 25, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I’m sorry for being negative but the shoe research reads like a bad term paper.
Jun 25, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Hey George,
The Mailmain wore Converse, LA Gear, Apex and Dada in that order.
Early
Jun 25, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Shoe Brand: Adidas, Nike, Next Sports
Most Notable Shoe To Date: Adidas Attitude Hi ‘86
Click here to view the Patrick Ewing Player Profile Page
MOST NOTABLE SHOE: THE NEXT SPORT EWING
FAIL! X 100,000,000
Jun 25, 2009 at 6:02 pm
lebron VI i thought i was gonna be the lebron II…
Jun 25, 2009 at 5:43 pm
PF Flyers was a sneaker they actually wore on the court? Did not know that at all. I learned something here. Great post!
Jun 25, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Hey!!
The Chris Webber shoe was called “Air Max CW” and not “Sensation”!! Those shoes were amazing with the CW on the heel as a rim with the net hanging… Nike changed the name to “Sensation” to retro the shoes with CWebb being signed with other shoe maker… I been hunting down the black/whites with no success the last 2 years…
Jun 25, 2009 at 4:24 pm
I gotta go with the Penny II, mainly due to the fact its one of my favorite sneakers. I wish they would release that Sole Collector colorup. I’m patiently awaiting the release of the Atlantic Blue Retros.
Jun 25, 2009 at 4:13 pm
ULIKEMYKICKS,
The Melo 5.5 released in 2005 and 2006…those shoes are long gone except on eBay from time to time.
Jun 25, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Is that Fred Savage in the crowd behind James Worthy on page five?
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:59 pm
all future hall of famers if they have not already been inducted
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:56 pm
hey nicekicks u guys have 5.5 for most notable sneak to date. tell me how i cant find them in stores than?
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Yo those PENNY 2s look tough on ANFERNEE HARDAWAY feet, makes me wanna go cop em rite now
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:47 pm
them rodmans are hella dope wish they would re-release those
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:45 pm
YEA NICE KICKS !! WOOO WOOOO, SHAWN KEMP doin da jordan jumpman logo. LOL
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Rep96st,
We with the most notable of their signature lineup. Trust me, tons of debate about that in the office. Frankly I think the most notable sneakers for many of the guys were team shoes they were known for wearing, but overall the point of the article is to celebrate the draft picks who had their own signature line.
Love the debate though. Keep the comments coming!
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:42 pm
We’re missing a lot of people on here…
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:32 pm
WHAT A GREAT ARTICLE, GREAT TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE!!! DAMN I WANT THOSE PAYTON’S AGAIN LOL
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Penny II as the “Most Notable Shoe To Date”?? Not the FOAMPOSITE??
Wow.
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I’d have to go with the BB4 for Vince and the Total Foam Max for Timmy D…but otherwise a nice list.
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:11 pm
all the way.
Jun 25, 2009 at 3:10 pm
First.