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1996
Player: Allen Iverson
Drafted: 1st overall by the Philadelphia 76ers
Best Shoes: Reebok Question, Reebok Answer Line
Player: Ray Allen
Drafted: 5th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves (traded to Milwaukee Bucks for Stephon Marbury)
Best Shoes: Nike Air Max Uptempo 97, Jordan Team One, Air Jordan PEs
Player: Kobe Bryant
Drafted: 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets (traded to Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac)
Best Shoes: adidas EQT Elevation, adidas KB8, adidas The Kobe, Nike Zoom Kobe I-VI
The 1996 NBA Draft was deep. Way deep. Allen Iverson started off the draft and then started the season in his own signature, the Reebok Question. His Answer line would have great success spanning to 13 models. In addition to AI, Stephon Marbury and John Wallace laced up signatures from AND 1 and Karl Kani as rookies. Kobe Bryant?s name wouldn?t grace a sneaker until his sophomore season, but he would win the NBA Dunk Contest in PEs. Lines from adidas and Nike would put Kobe in to kick hierarchy while Ray Allen would be later known for his Air Jordan exclusives. Antoine Walker, Steve Nash, Jermaine O?Neal, and undrafted Ben Wallace would all later have their name attached to sneakers.
