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Nice Kicks: What was your favorite and most comfortable Jordan shoe to wear on court?
Richard Hamilton: It would have to be the Air Jordan 2, hands down. I just love that shoe because it’s so soft. It feels like you’re running on pillows. Here’s a memorable story: During the year that we won the championship, Jordan Brand was making the player exclusive versions of the Air Jordan 2, and I remember them sending each one of us Jordan Brand athletes a limited number of like six pairs at a time. So they’d send you six pairs to wear for a month, then they’d send you six different pairs for another month and so forth. Well one day, when I first put them on in a regular season game, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m saving these for the playoffs’ because I might’ve had like 40 that night. I didn’t wear them again until the playoffs like I promised myself, but by the time I got to the Finals, all of them had broke down. I called my people at Jordan Brand them to see if I could get some more 2s before Game 1 of the Finals, and they said, ‘Yo Rip, we kind of moved on to the next sneaker.’ But my guy Rav at Jordan Brand went through walls and randomly stumbled upon another six pairs of 2s. So he overnighted them to me before Game 1 and all was good.
Richard Hamilton defending in an Air Jordan 2 PENice Kicks: Describe the sneaker setup in your house. Is it just stacked up in a closet? Display shelves?
Richard Hamilton: Well, right now I’m creating something awesome. That’s all I can say. I actually just moved to Florida, and I’m creating an experience based around my sneakers in my new house. It’s going to be something really, really special. Right now, I have most of them in storage because I can’t fit them all in my house. Years ago, I started in one closet, then moved them into my guest closet, then into another guest closet, then into other rooms in the house, then into the bedroom space until my wife said I had to get them out of the house.
Nice Kicks: Oh, so that’s why we’re holding off on a Sneak Peek episode right now?
Richard Hamilton: Exactly. I can’t even get to all of them right now. But after I get this experience set up, I’m inviting you over. You might just have to spend two whole days. It’s going to be amazing. I will say The Perfect Pair’s edition that you did was awesome. Absolutely incredible. He’s messing up the game right now. But basketball-wise, you need to hook up Mike Bibby. Mike Bibby. Mike Bibby. Trust me. Mike Bibby. Him and Ray Allen. But Mike Bibby might be on a different level. I remember he took his four-car garage and turned it into his sneaker room. It was crazy.
Nice Kicks: When was the last time you counted your sneakers?
Richard Hamilton: Oh my goodness. Six years ago after the season, I tried to count every shoe and after about 1800-1900, I stopped counting. I just couldn’t count anymore, and mind you, that was six years ago. I’ve obtained so many more since then. I stopped counting because it just got ridiculous.
Special thanks to Gillette. Rip had the following to say on both their product and the basketball watch party they hosted together:
“I’m doing a Gillette clear gel deodorant college basketball viewing party in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Cafe. It’s just a great opportunity for me to interact with the fans and talk basketball, my sneaker collection and other things. They have a great product – it’s a 48 hour odor and wetness protection called the Undefeated. It’s great for college basketball right now because you have to go undefeated to win a championship. You can’t have any slippage. Wetness protection, and it doesn’t burn like other products do.”
