I Love GRs...

I am not a sneaker elitist...I am a sneaker lover.

It doesn't have to be rare or limited for me to like it. I don't care if I wear a shoe that only I have or everyone else has....as long as you love it, thats all that matters.

I love GRs. I really do. I love general releases, even though many of the sneaker afficionado public thrives on "quickstrikes" and "hyperstrikes".

Sometimes the best colorways are the ones you can walk up and buy at your local FootLocker. No hype, no gimmicks, just shoe. You can buy them at anytime. You don't have to wait in a line on a certain release day or pay a premium for after release day on eBay. You can't knock a good looking shoe that is readily available to purchase.

I used to be one of the biggest Air Jordan nuts ever. I used to buy most everything and would opt for the limited edition, hard-to-find models over the GRs. As my interest waned on Air Jordans, my interested turned to Kobe & Lebron's signature lines. I don't know if it's because they are two of my favorite players to watch & follow, but I always look forward to seeing what they are wearing (D Wade & K Durant just don't do it for me).

In terms of a Lebron or a Kobe shoe (or any shoe for that matter), I'll get it because I like it. Or because of sentimental reasons (if I wore it during a particular event or if Kobe/Lebron wore during a historic event). I won't buy a shoe because someone tells me to. Or because it carries a cool nickname. Or because it's rare & "will go up in value".

I recently passed on several harder-to-obtain Lebron VII shoes (Moon Cake/Chinas & All Stars) and opted to purchase a general release shoe that you can find at any FootLocker...

The white/navy GR LBJ 7. It's a simple & clean colorway. I'm not someone who has to have every colorway, nor do I have the wallet for it...so I am selective and get what I like. And these I really like.

I had to wait in line for this colorway of the same shoe...

Limited & numbered to 123 per city, it carries the premium SVSM HS colorway and a bullsh*t $40 mark-up (SMH). I love both of these pairs, but I actually love the GR white/navy better. Why? Because I think it looks better.

Now take the Kobe V "Away" shoe...

A GR that you can find at any FootLocker, House of Hoops or Niketown with ease. A simple Laker colorway. This is my favorite Kobe V so far. Not only do I like the look of these, but Kobe broke the Lakers all-time scoring record in this shoe...

Nike did this event right; they made a shoe from a historic moment accessible to the general public. Remember this Nike Zoom Kobe I "81 point edition"?

They took the player exclusive colorway of the shoe of his 81-point outburst vs. Toronto and celebrated it with a 81-pair scavenger hunt across Venice Beach. Thats all. C'mon Nike. Eff that.

So the Away holds sentimental value as well as looks good. I even like the "Away" Laker colorway more than love the "Bruce Lee" quickstrike...

This shoe has the prerequisite to be a sneaker classic: a cool nickname, a flashy colorway, only available at certain stores across the country. But in the end, it's another gimmicky colorway that lives and breathes hype.

Did you know minus the Dark Knights Kobe is winless when debuting a gimmicky V colorways? Blown out Christmas Day in the Chaos V vs the Cavs and taking an L at home vs the Nugget in the Bruce Lees. Yikes.

My message is simple: buy what you like (and wear them!). Don't buy a shoe because it's limited or someone says they are a must-have. Buy it because you like the way it looks. Get it because it invokes special memory or moment in time...

I passed on All Star Kobe Vs for this GR ^ . The all red ASG's are very hot, but I must say Kobe sitting at this weekend's All Star Game kinda dampered my feelings on the shoe...

Have a good weekend, all!