Future Hall of Famers, like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry might have caught your eye with numerous colorways of their celebrated signature shoes – each has worn more than five colorways of their LeBron 13, Kobe X and Curry Two, respectively – but there are three other players who are competitively in the running for our 2015-2016 Kicks On Court Champion Award.
Gilbert Arenas essentially started the craze of nearly wearing a new shoe every game back in the 2010-2011 NBA season in which he wore more than 40 different shoes that year, and since then, players such as Nick Young, Tony Wroten, P.J. Tucker and others have expanded on Arenas’ approach to footwear in NBA games, something that was unheard of back in the early 2000s.
Usually, we kind of get a clear picture as to who will win the Kicks On Court Champion award after the first month of the season, but with only three days left in November, this season is shaping up to be one of the closest races ever.
The following is our three-player list, followed by reasoning behind each ranking.
1. Jared Cunningham – For the first time, King James is getting overshadowed, footwear-wise, by a teammate (but it’s James’ shoes at the end of the day so not really). Cunningham is currently showing us a themed lineup of on-court footwear that we’ve never seen before in our years of covering Kicks On Court. He’s reaching deep into his closet and pulling out an abundance of vintage LeBrons, such as the LeBron III, the 20-5-5 and the LeBron VI. These are sneakers we haven’t seen on court since James’ first tenure with the Cavs, so essentially we’re getting the pleasure of seeing King James’ latest – a slew of LeBron 13 colorways on his feet – and LeBron classics by way of Cunningham, simultaneously. He’s not just wearing any old general release either; instead, he’s bringing out limited releases and PEs, such as the “Area Code” pair and the “Hong Kong” 20-5-5 that he wore at the very beginning of the season. Not to mention, squeezing in a few other non-LeBron sneakers, namely the Black/Yellow Kobe II and the “Stealth” Air Jordan XX3. We’ve always said, if given the playing time, Cunningham would compete for the Kicks On Champion award year in and year out. Right now, he’s #1.
Jared Cunningham’s rotation so far: “China” LeBron III, Black/Yellow Kobe II, “Area Code” LeBron III PE, “Hardwood Classic” LeBron VI, Kobe IV Black/Red, Air Jordan 13 Black/Red, “Olympic” Nike Zoom LeBron 20-5-5, “West Coast” LeBron III, “Hong Kong” Nike Zoom LeBron 20-5-5, “Pro City” LeBron 20-5-5, Nike Zoom LeBron Soldier III, “Bordeaux” Air Jordan 7, “Stealth” Air Jordan 10, LeBron IV Red/White, LeBron III Black/Gold, Air Jordan XX3 Stealth/White, “Midnight Navy” LeBron III
