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6. 1990
Key Players: Dee Brown, Gary Payton and Derrick Coleman
Retro releases are built on nostalgia, and nostalgia is built on memories. Dee Brown won’t be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, but he sure has cemented himself in sneaker history. Brown’s endorsement of the Reebok Pump line in the 1991 Slam Dunk Contest put the technology on the map and still sells sneakers today. On the other side of the map, Gary Payton was writing a roundball resume with the best of them in Seattle, doing so in the top shoes from the Nike Flight Camp and eventually his own signature line. #1 pick Derrick Coleman also contributed to this class, hitting the hardwood in the first basketball shoes from British Knights.
