Slam Dunked

Kobe & Company took care of business last night, beating the Celtics 102-89 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. In the kicks world, the NBA Finals is like the Super Bowl; its the best time for the footwear brands to showcase upcoming products or reveal eye-catching/water-cooler player exclusives (PE's).

Here's what everyone wore...


Kobe Bryant wore his Nike Zoom Kobe V "Home" Finals Edition, also nicknamed "The Big Stage".


Designed by Erick Goto of Nike Basketball, this simple white & gold colorway features detailed printing on the upper that features statistics and details of his regular season, almost emulating a tattoo.

The shoe looks boring at first, but after seeing the attention to detail, it's quite a nice shoe. Derek Fisher and Shannon Brown were also wearing this colorway last night. More on this shoe can be found by my man Nick at SC.


Rajan Rondo wore a PE version of the upcoming Nike Hyperfuse and Rasheed Wallace wore a mind-blowing patent leather Nike Air Force 1 High. The Hyperfuse looks to be the next chapter of the "Hyper" basketball line, replacing the Hyperize & Hyperdunk. Sheed's AF1s, well....speak for themselves.


Jordan Brand endorsee Ray Allen wore the Jordan Icons team shoe in a patent leather black/kelly green colorway. I'm hoping he sports a nifty AJ retro, a AJ 2010 PE or at least one of the fall team shoes to mix it up.



Andrew Bynum (#17) in his nasty Proteges (thanks, Clarence). These are the same hunks-of-junks he wore in the regular season. These things are nasty...and not in a good way.


Ron Artest in his Peak PE's. I actually like these. Kinda reminisce of the LA Gear styles of Karl Malone back in the day.


Paul Pierce in his Nike Air Flop....er, I mean Nike Air Legacy.


Kevin Garnett in his adidas Super Natural Commander PEs. Garnett will wear adidas for the rest of the playoffs but will wear Chinese brand ANTA next season.


Not the best pic, but Lamar Odom's Hyperdunk was my favorite shoe last night. I hope that colorway drops...


Pau Gasol in a Laker colorway Nike Hyperize.


Luke Walton sports the Nike Air Zoom Kobe V GR in the "home" colorway.

Game 2 Sunday!!

Now that I got your attention...

Ahem! Check out the upcoming navy/aqua colorway Asics Gel Lyte III, worn here by model Joli Robinson. Designed by Ronnie Fieg, this shoe is.....OK, I'll shut up and give you more pics.




OK, can I talk now? Fieg has some of my favorite colorways for Asics. You can get a peek here.

No release date set for the navy/aqua GL3s. But with as quickly as these Fieg "Super Red" GL3s moved in May...


...you'll need some help with snagging these. I actually grabbed my first pair of GL3s recently...


Super comfortable and light! Given the recent quality of Air Max retros recently, you might see more of these on my feet than Nikes!

And since I know you liked the pics above, peep the "Super Red" GL3s with model Tanaya Henry...




OK, back to the navy/aqua theme: let's tip our (Mariners) hat in honor of Ken Griffey Jr, who retired from baseball yesterday.


One of the greatest non-roiding players of our generation, Griffey Jr. (even at 40 years old) still had the sweetest swing in baseball.


Thanks to Nike Sportswear the past couple of years, the Swingman line has enjoyed a resurgence. I currently play in these Swingman Remix cleats in my Thursday softball league...


Anyways, check out this piece on Jr Grif by my boy Nick DePaula from Sole Collector (shout out to B1lly Hoyle!)

So, if you have been following the Twitter feed of Nike Sportswear, you will have noticed the teaser messages like this one that have sent the sneaker message boards going crazy. Well, here is the end result...


An AF1 x Foamposite, slated to release in the fall. Not sure how I feel about this one.

I am sure an outrageous MSRP and limited tag should make these coveted by hypebeasts abound.


If you are wondering what Kevin Durant has been up to since the Thunder's loss to the Lakers first round, he's been in China promoting his KD2 shoe. Here's a peek at the China exclusive KD2 in blue...a blue Creamsicle, if you will? Thanks to Matt Chan for the info/pics.





And tipping off tonight...


NBA Finals 2010 - Celtics vs. Lakers! KB24.com revealed this morning what Kobe will wear Game 1...


(YAWN!) Kinda pedestrian, IMO. I'll reserve final judgment till I see the lasered print, but initially I am far from impressed.



We'll have more on what everyone wears Game 1 in tomorrow's entry.


Let's go Lakers!

Air Toews

The United Center is the shared home of the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks. Since the 'Hawks are still playing with a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals, they felt it was necessary to decorate the Michael Jordan statue outside the UC with some appropriate garb...


How about a Jonathan Toews jersey and some AJ IX Bauer/Nike ice skates!? More on the story here. Game 3 tonight in Philly. Let's go Blackhawks!

Title IX

This is the summer of the Nike Air Jordan IX. With the AJ 9 Powder retro dropping last weekend, the Bin 23 Premio AJ 9 this month, the AJ 9 Citrus in July and AJ 9 OG c/w in August, this signature Air Jordan model is enjoying a resurgence in 2010 with solid colorway treatment and timely releases.


With June also featuring the AJ 6 Infrared Pack, the AJ 6 white/varsity red GR and the Black/Charcoal AJ 2010, one might go broke. But if you have any money left after those releases, Jordan Brand actually has some sweet stuff dropping in July & August.

Thanks to Sneaker News, we get a peek at these releases. Here are my 5 most anticipated releases for July & August.

July 2010 - Number 5
Nike Air Jordan 1 Retro High
Wolf Grey/Spice-White (332550-006)


Reminisce of the UNLV BTTYS Dunks from 1999, this might be the only AJ 1 Retro that I purchase this year.

July 2010 - Number 4
Nike Jordan Alpha Trunner
Black/White-Varsity Red (407582-002)


An updated version of a classic model. Hopefully these won't get recalled - LOL.

July 2010 - Number 3
Nike Jordan One6 One 7
White/Metallic Silver-Black (407587-102)


Basically a low-top version of the Air Jordan 16.5 team shoe that dropped last year. The midsole is the same at the 16.5, but the upper resembles more of the AJ 17 Low. These should be a beast on the court.

July 2010 - Number 2
Nike Jordan Pro Strong
White/Dark Pine-Black (407285-103)


Also dropping in a black/white colorway & a white/blue colorway, the OG Vin Baker Sonics colorway is where it's at! I had the originals and loved them.

July 2010 - Number 1
Nike Air Jordan IX Retro
Black/Black-Citrus


Probably my favorite IX retro dropping this year. No need to dye some Olive IX OGs anymore!

August 2010 - Number 5
Nike Air Jordan 1 Retro High
Black/Cyber-Black-Blue Sapphire (332550-005)


I know I said the UNLV AJ 1 from July was going to my only Jordan 1 Retro this year - I lied.

August 2010 - Number 4
Nike Jordan CP3 Tribute
Cement Grey/Black-White (407451-002)


Biting off the AJ3 Flip from a few years back, this is a tribute shoe done right.

August 2010 - Number 3
Nike AJF12
Black/Blue Sapphire-Cyber (317742-001)


I hate Fusions, but I like these AJF 12s. I know I'll get plenty of hate mail for admitting it. I especially like this colorway. Drops August 12.

August 2010 - Number 2
Nike Air Jordan 2010 Playground
White/Varsity Red -Black (407744-101)


I actually think this shoe looks better than the regular AJ2010. Worth a look once they hit outlets.

August 2010 - Number 1
Nike Air Jordan IX Retro
White/Varsity Red -Black (302370-102)


I know we just saw this colorway a couple years back with the Countdown Pack, but you can't fade a classic! Dropping August 7th.