The second half of the NBA season begins tonight.
Over the course of the season so far, we’ve witnessed a number of intriguing story lines in regards to the kicks worn on court. We’ve seen Nick Young become the player chosen to debut Kobe Bryant’s highly anticipated new signature shoe, LeBron James sparingly wear his most technologically advanced shoe to date and custom designs/iDs become just as popular, if not more so, than player exclusives. Oh, and what about Matt Bonner’s change of footwear?
With the awareness of what players wear on court growing almost every day, we formed a new panel of experts in the NBA and sneaker multimedia world – from NBC Sports, SLAM Magazine and other publications – to get each expert’s take on scenarios and themes that have been prevalent throughout the first half of the season.
Following the discussion below, be sure to visit the last page to get familiar with some of the experts and learn more about their love for sneakers through each person’s bio.
RELATED: Kicks On Court Diaries: Preseason Panel with NBA Experts
1. What has been the biggest moment during the first half of the season when it comes to kicks being worn on court?
Brett Pollakoff (@BrettEP), NBC Sports’ ProBasketballTalk.com: I think it was Nick Young debuting the Kobe 9s. Not only was the shoe highly anticipated, but the fact that he was allowed to be the first to wear the signature shoe of someone like Kobe Bryant made it a unique and special occurrence. A close second was P.J. Tucker breaking out the Kobe Prelude IVs at Madison Square Garden in a game against the Knicks. I went into the Suns locker room pre-game just to get an up-close look at them in person.
Abe Schwadron (@abe_squad), SLAMonline: It might not have come with big headlines, or the retail shock value of a new release, but easily the coolest moment of the first half of the season, for me, was Ray Allen wearing the “He Got Game” Air Jordan XIIIs with matching “J. Shuttlesworth” jersey when the Heat played in Brooklyn in January. Sure, Ray is well past his prime, but for any basketball fan who lived through the Jordan era, the release of those particular sneakers (my favorite Jordans of all-time, along with the XIVs) and the release of that film, that was an incredible real-life convergence of pop culture, basketball and sneakers. It was a not-so-subtle wink to that cross-section of us that love basketball AND sneakers, but one that might have gone unnoticed to diehard sneakerheads who don’t understand the basketball significance, or to NBA stat-crunchers who don’t get sneaker culture. Admittedly, I was only nine when He Got Game came out—but trust me, I’ve watched it enough times in my adult life to make up for that fact. Shouts to Rick Fox and Tech U.
Casey Holdahl (@CHold), TrailBlazers.com: For me, it’s Andre Drummond writing the names of 26 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victims on a pair of “Old Royal” Jordan 10s. I love sneakers, but sometimes, [focusing] so much [on] shoes makes me feel a bit shallow. Drummond honoring the victims of a horrific event through the canvas sneakers provide is a reminder that it’s not all trivial. And I was at that game at the Palace at Auburn Hills, so this one has a little more sentimental value to me.
George Kiel (@geokthree), NiceKicks.com: I’d say it has been a combination of two of the league’s biggest stars, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, not wearing their signatures shoes. The latter getting his free-spirited teammate Nick Young to debut his highly-anticipated new signature is something we’ve never seen before (though I think it made sense) and LeBron opting to wear a shoe from his secondary line instead of his most technologically advanced and most expensive shoe to date has raised a few eyebrows.
Chris Cason (@C4DUNK), Examiner.com: Aside from Nick Young’s debut of the Kobe 9, the biggest moment for me has to be LeBron James’ issues with the LeBron XI. You would think the problem would have been solved quicker than it has and he hasn’t been happy about it at all because he loves the shoe. It hasn’t hurt sales of the shoe, but it’s just been odd to see the game’s greatest player not finishing games in his signature shoe. If he switches to the Zoom Soldier VII during the All-Star game, it’s just time to scrap wearing it all together until it gets time for the Elite XI.
Nick DePaula (@_NDP), SoleCollector.com: The one that is hilarious to me is the fact that Nick “Swaggy P” Young debuted the Kobe 9. Just knowing how much thought and time goes into a signature shoe of that magnitude, and being in LA for the huge unveiling event in December that included Mark Parker, Eric Avar and Kobe to explain the shoe, it makes it that much better. There was a reporter that had a really long question after the game to Nick about how meaningful it was for him to debut the 9, why they picked him and how it felt. All he said was, “It’s just that swag,” which is perfect.
