Wait, what's up? Gods, y'all know what it is? KG certified. You know I'm a sneaker here, right, you know I love shoes right, had to come down here and check out Flight Club, chop it up with Nick on the latest and greatest and trending and shoes. Y'all check this out? Ah, what's up man? How you doing great? So they was trying to give me. They were trying to give me notice, and I had to quickly remind everybody but that this
is my show for its probably my favorite. Jordan shot on e Loo he's right here, the black and reds. You was that dude? If you had those? You feel me? Right? This model right here was the first one I bought on my own, and my mom thought I was dumb. I'm crazy. I was at burri Keen at the time. Shout to BK. You can have it, cho way, baby, you can have it cho waight. My homeboy, who was bow legged as shit, used to always have these on. He was a little risk kid. Drakes ugly ass.
The only nine players in league history that had a shoe series that went had on Mama Bottles, really, mj Ji, Kobe, lebron kd Mellow, CP Derrick Rose Mellow, I love Mellow, and then most recently Steph Curry.
I need a wall like this in the Crier. I gotta put a wall in front of this wall. Who's been dead? Ash? I want to let nobody test nothing in here like club? When'd y'all get this idea to put the shoes on the wall like this? I went over to Japan and had to break dance again. I met a joint even get done eating, and this kid walked right up on me. I was eating. He was like I had to go in like a whole yo,
sweat and everything like I had. I had to shoot him out here like get out like I don't know what just happened when there was a real battle walked on me in battle, Yo, collap is important? Oh yeah today?
I mean this whole wall right here is collapsed. This OVERO, that's the Kentucky UK on the top.
Sup Price, Damn say word where Cory Rax for some shoes? Damn fifteen in this when walkin the flight club is this? I feel like a whole little kid coming in here. And that's why you love coming in steaker stores all that on the.
iPad ship, I can't. I need to feel my shit. I needed I need to smell my shit, right, I need to damn being my You know what I'm saying the fun now, I'm not an iPad God, you put on fresh teams. You need to put the teams on them. You know what I'm saying. I'm to them from the old country. Man. First off, its great to see you, man. I see all the stuff you're doing. Man, it's do fuck. I was talking to my homie over the way over here. You know, he was talking about Morris Blackman. Okay, it's
talking about how Morris Blackman put commercials on the map. Yep. I think I said Morse black Men than him. And then he shot back, He's like, what about the weapons member conversion? I ran and right with the envy, and I was like, oh so it got need to thinking. Man, Just let's go back in history a little been like, what to me, what is your favorite shoe and shoe history?
And you can bring it up today today, but if you go through the timeline of all the dope commercial and stuff, what's what's one of your favorite shoe memories?
So I consider the Converse weapon the first to bring like Superstars together, right, Okay, and Mars Blackman was like the first to touch like MJ shoes culture and going to a character, yes, right, And obviously Spike was as big as it gets.
To that touch. So first time seeing street culture other than run DMC, Adidas, Nike and rock Camp are being Rock Camp. But it's the first time I see culture come together and it's like a character, right.
But my era is really the Zoom Flight ninety fives, the Penny Twes, Little Penny Fun Police, that whole chapter where the ship was fun. It was, you know, and it wasn't as serious, and you got to see personality everybody, and then the designs and the technology was just all out there.
So for me, that's where it really starts. Nike. Being with them five years, I learned that through storytelling, you can put equipment, You can tell eccentric and fictional stories through characters, almost like you're doing like a comic book. But they did a great job of putting utility. They did a great job of telling the story of how that utility would work in the fantasy world cold jumping over a car and the moon, having Zoom having air.
Mike was dunking on a hundred foot hoop. I mean the concept of where commercials shoots to be in selling technology. Why do you think it's such a lost start or while we don't see it so much.
Today, that's a good question. I think now everything is on social media first. So this idea of like a ten million dollar campaign that's on TV for a whole month, like, stuff goes so quickly that it's a little different.
Lending a TV ain't the same, no more, nobody parts different. And then or people are getting the information from.
Straight from the players too, right, so the players want to post stuff their own way. Yeah, Bronz on the fly just posting hissues every day on Instagram. Story, Like the whole dynamic changed personally. I like the old school where you have like stuff that's really well thought out. You have like, you know, a little penny hosting a Super Bowl party.
You know some ship like that is coming in. You know, to me, that was more fun. Do you think that we can ever get back to where players are not only having signature shoes or part of you know, shoe campaigns. Where's fun? I think so.
I think we saw the Rebok announcement. I think that's what Shock's trying to do now.
Trying to bring a little resurrection to the brand of this yesteryear's.
Because I don't know how much he you know, sometimes he probably embellishes the ship a little bit. But he says he wrote the first ever commercial that he did a Rebok and that was where he had he had all the all the guys come back in. So he's like, I will be hands on. I want to have you know, say, I could drop this on you now. Actually, but he's gonna sign Angel Reees first athlete the Rebok, so it's like, let's do something different.
She's at LSU. Of course he went to l s U. She's getting it too though.
She instead of just getting the guy in the league, let's take an NIL player off top.
So I think it's gonna be stuff like that that's going to be really like unique and creative that they've come together with. Who's your favorite shoout right now? I'm excited to see what Kyrie does. Yeah, shout to Kyrie and answer.
Obviously you were with Antwa, but they got I would say they've evolved a business.
You started out there a little bit. It was a little rocky for a little bit, a little bit and I've actually been over there.
I didn't even realize they had like ninety six hundred stores in Asia.
Like the volume was crazy. My draw to answer was not just the freedom. I learned so much by being with Nike those early days, so I took it to and One. I learned so much being with and One from a street culture that I took it to Adidas. And when I got to Adidas, THETAS was really a soccer soccer company, at least it felt soccer is. There was ahead of dry Fit, There was ahead of sweating apparatus and using Clima coal control. There was ahead of
all of that. Technology wise, they had actually technology they wasn't releasing yet that was speaking back to you. I don't know if you followed the league now. I think I saw something and something to where a camera now has AI in it, to where it can tell you at Starbucks if someone's out working you and you're making something right, well like the heat map and shit. Listen
to me. It's crazy because I think twenty fourteen fifteen I got with the Nets and they were using technology to see the productivity in which he was put into practice, and the days of I ain't gonna call it free loading or what we call gliding and chilling. They was able to see if guys were putting in certain times and when they went and they was putting them on to some I'm saying all this that and THEESUS was ahead of that, and now I'm starting to see it
in today's stuff. I know, since you got the curry stuff on them. Talk about the evolution of his brand. I've followed him since he's started this. I know the underground people came in and helped them with some of the stuff on the inside. Talk about history. Yeah, it's his growth of all that.
I mean, obviously he was a Nike first, right, and he was having his ankle problems and in twenty thirteen I did an interview with him. I didn't know this Brand Black offered him equity have been the first guy at Bran black the web sign of Jamal Crawford instead, but he had Brand Black, Adidas under Armour and then a couple of Chinese brands as well, and under Armour was liked.
Yep, we're gonna kick this bottom way. They're not this out of the ship. I should like this in parts and we were doing the little atmosphere. I love it because this is the reality part some it. Yeah, we're in La fas facts right, get it.
And so for him, it's like they took the bet on him. He wasn't an All Star yet and they were gonna give him his own shoe, and then everything kind of came at the same time. He got MVP, first shoe title, all that twenty fifteen run. And so more recently when we just talked about Shaq and Rebok him being president, but Steph just did a lifetime deal this last spring. He's now president Curry brand. He's running that whole thing. They're going to be signing athletes as well.
Wow. So it's exciting to see.
I think, you know, shoe wise, like you know, they had their little struggles a little bit, I would say early on, like the chef Curry was obviously like some legendary jokes. But then Curry for Curry ten now and the flow they got like it's starting to get there.
Is the plan is the MJ model, the MJ structure, a more realistic structured TV these days, not just so much of having a signature shoe. It's all about having a brand now. I think everybody's realistic.
They know, like the MJ thing is like going to be impossible to replicate. Like I think MJ's at like almost seven billion now, which is bigger than the whole under Armour company itself.
So I think, which is crazy right today today is about waves?
Yeah, So I think from Steph's angle, it's like, you know, I almost look at it like Live Strong. Remember how Livestrong had like the give back component. Like, I think they're a little more realistic on like the revenue targets. Maybe they can get it to a billion, but they have all these other elements of it where there's like give backs and building out courts that kind of stuff.
Think about this too, man. You know when stuff came in the league, stuff came in the league went to thirteen to twelve, drafted somewhere around there nine nine, So we say signature shoe or our brand to where fifteen it hit. Look at Giannis, honest is in the league about five years. People forget he was in the lead about four or five years before it became feel me.
So when you speak on MJ being seven b today, you got to say, man, that the wave is so different than I'm watching street brands, the A life, the Supremes, the joints. That was. I mean, I'm much older than you, but I'm sure in history here in my age, but A life used to be in the corner. Supreme used to be out of the back of a van. They
were just hustling, you know what I'm saying. And street brands now with the ability to speak for the culture, to represent the culture, I'm seeing a lot of commercial brands and traditional brands do collapse. It's only right that I got to say that. Just like you expect players to evolve, and it takes time for them evolved. Man Curry has something. Not only has he embarked his his mark on basketball, but it's mark on the shoe brands,
and so are creative. If I may just shit light up or you used to levitate right now, I probably about three of these and get you know what I'm saying. You feel me. So I got to think that the street brands have made them mark into the shoe coach. Can you talk a little bit about Well.
That's what's the instrum nout Jordan Like, as successful as they are, they have Travis off White, they've done stuff with Drake like, they've probably been more open minded than most to have a lot of collapse that they like maybe it wasn't even necessarily.
I want respect that though. It's Jordan. Think letna give you one Jordan. First thing you think of Jordan black red elevenslave, black black. When I think of Adidas, I think of Adidas, I think of his brother, I think a Puma. I think of soccer. If I said nike Ya, I say Phil Knight, I would say jogging, I would say running. Jordan's excuse me for all the non black people in him, but my nigga, I feel me. If
it's one brand that's gonna represent the culture. If it's one brand, it's gonna come from the neighborhood, it's one brand, it's gonna flow through the air. Yeah. Yeah, I would expect Jordan to go sign Travis Scott. Expect Jordan to go sign you know, like, Yeah, I would expect that.
And that's where I think Reebok has a lane coming in that's gonna be unique.
Yeah Yeah. Ai has street Yeah, yeses and a I always made dope shoes too. He always had a combination of shoes that outside of my own that I that I had some appreciation talking about some of your favorite shoes and shoe history. You got to bag them. I'm all over, yeah, all right.
Zoom Flight ninety five for sure, remember the hyper flights hyper Flight. You might have a bad memory of this shoe because it was the all patent leather ones I grew up in Sacks or j Will Warlows. I think it's the shoot to Rell Brandon busting.
Yeah, I know exactly what.
Yeah, so they were kind of flimsy, but I love that design. They were just real fast.
So you're like lighter zooms, like you're more you more, you're more guard, you more speed. Right, So you know you know what Nike creator right with the air, with the zoom and the force, right, that was supposed to be like the whole this depiction of garde arts forwards and yeah, I know what people knew that those airs and those zooms and those ghosts looks actually meant something as a categoration of players, and Flight was always my favorite.
Flight to me went right into alpha projects, okay, okay, and that's where they're just the technologies went to a whole other level.
And they start to be really creative without for two. I feel like, you know, you know, I was the first person to get the opportunity to represent the Boings and you passed. Yeah, it looked like some ship. Yo, so I Nike brought some ship. Listen, this is crazy. Two thousand Oakland ninety nine. And do I have a right two thousand, two thousand All Star Game Oakland. Yeah, I'm in San France. You go jointing Nike on the on the Nike TWN right there, dope, event come in
the bag before I go out. They're like, Yo, we want to show you something. You know, night you always got the right to come out. The bag is blowing. Whoo people. I see some ghosts start doing the three sixty in the room. It's like, you know, they poured this ship out and they had the camera. I was like, oh hell what what what the oh no, turn the camera on for I fucked that up. Anyway, the gain that the Vince called the shot to VC, so you
could have were the shocks be before them. I wasn't feeling it though, you know, like as a player, I needed more cushion in the toe. I was whenever I would I would I would be whenever I handled the ball. I was on my toes. So when I went to go give you whatever, I need to be on my toe So I need the cushion of the front cap to be very cushionated. And then I was pushing off so much that the zones which was great, but probably a little thick for for the for the for the
rendition of the side of it. So I like that even even kill of of of utility on the on the at least on the side of the rim, at least to protect my heels and my achilles because I was jumping and I was landing on one feet and all that type type of stuff. So when I went in to actually constructing my own shoe, I would actually sit with engineers, with these creators, and after give my two cin on what I needed, we could throw the shots under the bus.
Because two weeks before my senior season in high school, tore my acl on that show.
So the white, black pat and leather one, it was a rap. Those are the Jason Kids Jason Kidd shoe very famous. I love these. I want to bring these out for you though. Bring them out, man, listen. These are remember the original jump Man Pro jump Man Pro, and I was in jump man for about maybe two seconds today, show me Cky. Were these in the first playoff run? Right? These are in ninety six ninety six award these This is probably one of the more comfortable shoes.
They showed me the jump man check to us. I jumped out of these.
So, like my favorite thing is untold stories. Right, So shocks you could have had you didn't want them. But with these, the idea was that they wanted you to be the first Team Jordan athlete.
Right. Well they well they had a Team Jordan already with Vin Baker, Eddie Jones. I want to say, Derek Anderson, Yeah, Derek Anderson, yep, yep, Mike Finley, Mike Finley early on uh Ray ninety five, raised ninety six, they a little later and then this. I just kept, you know, no, no, no, no contestant Jay and none of that. Man, I was arnored through wet this. But yeah, I had aspirations of having my own and I wanted my own signature, and
I wanted my own shoe. And I thought that under what they was telling me a sports performance and you know the four, that if it was there, then I could have the opportunity to and I did so you know, I passed on being able to be part of a group of something that was special at the time and have my own and create my own you know, Garnet brand and Aaron Cooper was a designer shot there and Coop on the way yet in the world, but salute torn in Hawaii right now. I talked to him last
night over there at Ringo. You know what I'm saying, live in as neighbors on a banana joint. Okay, IM holler at you y'all over there on that Donnie, Donnie, I know, y'all. You know what I'm saying. I got y'all and hit you right. But that was my guy. Man, Me and Anne Coop came up with some dope ideas. Man, he had a he had a he thought outside the box. We were huge gien utility, you know, air bubbles and and in elastic cushions and stuff that wasn't out at
the time. Really grew grew my knowledge so that I can build something like this. You know what I'm saying. This right here, This was like a one take. Usually they give you like three different redition remissions of this and you have like and then you can see and you can see the steps of it. This was like two. They brought the sample out, we did the sample, and then this was it. You know what I'm saying. I loved the tide out the tide that was so different.
I started flow with the Minnesota colors. Although we wasn't in this blue. Uh, some of the Orlando guys would actually play with this, and I've seen guys playing this at the time. Cleveland had a dark kind of blue. You know, you remember Cleveland went black, blue and orange and it was like, yeah, yeah they were remember that. Yeah, I see a couple of guys. But this is probably the most comfortable show I've ever worn. The White the White Woman was probably my faceaite pair. I want to
do more colors than Nike wasn't feeling it. Later on they would take my name off and put this in the same ship. So yeah, so good. But yeah, this is probably one of my the favorite or one of my favorites.
Do you remember the air Max plus the running shoe A Max that had like the mesh fade to air Max is probably the air Max one is my favorite shoe of all time.
So he said the air Mass one plus yes, yes, with with the lightning yes, that connected at all. If you're asking me, I can say that this was on the wall as inspiration. I can't speak for the designers that put what into what, but I do know Nike shares a lot of notes throughout the whole course of it.
It's a one it's a one revolving circle, so who knows, you know, it's so many and then they pulled from so many different elements of inspiration that yeah, they Nike is probably one of the best at conceptualizing in in their renderings that I've that I've seen, I've been with a one, I've been with a didas, I've been with an answer. When Nike come and sit down, it's like it's like it's like the president here, boom come, haircuffs,
security guards, fucking you know what I'm saying. Earpieces. It's weird. But but when they poured that, when they pulled the shoe out, man, you're you're you're, you're excited and you're amazed every time.
So at that point it was probably what season four for you? How much were you aware of just like the money, the business, like all the all the financials going on around you, Because I think that's the interesting part with shoes for me is like, so I was some of the players are really locked in on that learn so.
I was very aware of all of the information. I'm coming from high school, so I felt like I was behind. So when it came to the collecting bargain agreement, I wanted to know the ins and outs of that. I want to be in those meetings. I want to hear the realness behind the curtain shoe comes the same thing.
I would go through these negotiations with Nike, you know, and and I want to hear the realness of how the company actually hurt me through a negotiating standpoint, and yeah, it's brutal, and you know it's negotiating, you don't, you know, you program yourself not to take it personal, but yeah, you hear it. But then I started learning how to build a shoe. I actually start wanting to go to these factors and see how my shoe was being built.
And you know, Nike had a uh, not the best reputations for how they was making shoes, the way they was making a map, and they cleanked it up just by letting players go in, you know, do the insight, go in and see it for themselves, you know what I'm saying, Like it it says something for us to speak on that experience and for it to not be what's out here. So it helped. But then being part of that, man, you learn last you learn how shoes
come together, the glues, everything. Man. I appreciate my time with the Swoosh Man. It was a very educated experience, so much that I was able to take that experience and go to different places and have a no, no, no, I don't want that. I want that dinna done on this. I don't put you know what I'm saying. You know, I was creating director at the Air one for a little bit for about three years. What happened with that? Uh? Covid?
Ah yeah, covid. COVID hit everybody like you know, like like Mike Tyson and the business kind of you know, physic. But that was a dope experience too. What are the trending shoes? Man? Man? LaMelo's on fire right now. Really he makes some hot ship though. I like young Fellow, Young fella, he's saucy.
If you're in middle school, you want to be loud out there, He's got like the crazy loud colors you saw like the Ricky Morty where like got the red with the neon. So he's right now. He's been doing really well.
He makes dope shoes too, man, Yeah, who else has a dope show that that that you're looking for that's coming up the ship.
The line's been a little up and down, but I really like the Heart and seven, the last one.
I don't know if you see those, you know what. I haven't seen him up close always. I always see him in colors. He went like super like it feels like something like Prada or something that hid designer would do right. And it almost looks like a Bugatti how it like wraps around. I haven't seen it, but on his foot it looks crazy.
From those are fresh and I and some of the hardens before that, I wasn't crazy. And then the one that's coming is the ant shoe. Oh yeah and Edwards, Yeah, he got like that fresh like so that's probably immediately one of the best Adidas shoes they've done. Really yeah, Like I'm gonna put that in the top ten, like off top wow.
So and they've had up and down on some.
Stuff, you know, but but for me, the a Edward's shoe, like if they can't get that to work, then that's another conversation.
I've always liked Adidas collapse with Derrick Rose. The Rose has always been solid, He's never made a bump shoe. I've always liked the stuff they do with Beckham and all the stuff, the soccer stuff. I've always wish they would take some of that spirit and bringing them to But the DDAs is so big, they got so much too. I wish they would throw some of the Why three interact some of the you know.
Why three Basketball did a Y three shoe with James in like twenty sixteen.
Really what it look like? It was four hundred bucks. It just kind of came and went.
Really Yeah, they were a little out there, but I love the why three stuff.
So you asked me about the business of basketball. A lot of these kids actually in tune with the business of basketball, and I know the business have changed a lot too. Talk a little bit about the current of signature shoes. Who has Them's not what they used to be.
So this season will be the most signature shoes on the court for any for any season. Twenty three twenty three signature three players spread it through how many brands, ten brands, ten brands. Yeah, so that's you know, Nike under Armor indeed is Rebok or not rebocked, but Puma. And then you have your Chinese brands like Leaning and Peek and Anta and Austin Reeves with Rigor, so you've got you got a wide spectrum. But twenty three guys, which is a lot?
Wow? Is that the most ever? Most ever? Wow? Yeah?
Back in the late nineties you had like Alonzo Morning, Tim Hardaway, like some guys had like some one off shoes, so it was like seventeen or eighteen players that season, But twenty three is a lot wow.
Yeah. Who do you have as the top five in that twenty three as your best? Are your favorite fucking best? This is all a pin intotional fuck, y'all ain't feeling you know what I'm saying.
So the top five business wise is probably Lebron Giannis Steph. So these are KD and then wherever Kyrie is gonna end up landing, right, it's probably going to be in that mix. I think off top again, but I think Lamello is right there.
He's coming. Yeah, he has that young LaMelo has the young g Z behind him.
Right, and then the guy that I'm gonna be curious to see what he does because his new shoe is totally different than the last few, and now he's on the Bucks. But I'm curious to see what Dame does.
He was wearing something last night. I saw him in the Lakers.
Yeah, he's in the day Mates again, which he wore last year as well. But the Nines that he's got coming, I think are a whole different vibe.
It's almost like a skate shoe vibe. It's a little different. Are the anticipation of these drops in these shoes still the same as they were yesteryear? Are kids outside? I don't know, Man, hold on here, you answered, hold on, let me get it out. Man, Goddamn, I've seen kids around the corner. And you know, I'm even thinking with y'all, like you know, it ain't music, They ain't on the drops, bro.
Like so when we were coming up whatever, the newest Saturday, the newest shoe, like that was the thing if you were on East Bay and it said like discontinued style, like you didn't want the old shit like it was old.
It was an outlets at that point.
Now everything's different, like we're here at Flight Club, La and like almost everything on the wall is from you know, five, ten, twenty years ago sometimes, So I think it's a little different in that regard where all the new shoes are competing with kids that could buy any shoe from any year on a couple of clicks, right, So that part is totally different, Like if I want the new Lamellos or what if I want some dunks. So I think
the competition of it all has changed too. And if you're a brand and you're a guy that has a signature shoe, like it's that much more pressure to like have the right campaign, have the right design, have the right rollout to really capture that audience. Otherwise we see some shoes they launch and like the very next week, it's like they're out of mind already, like they're out of sight.
But the dope part about a shoe to me, and I've told marketing people this, it's only one LaMelo. So so that's your campaign there. You don't focus on who hates LaMelo, you don't focus on who ain't feeling LaMelo. You focus on LaMelo and his and who fucking we that's the campaign. I think sometimes man shoes get too gimme key, it'd be so much on the gimmicks of the shoe that you forgot who shoe it was and why to wear it. You know. I like what Yay
did man when Ye came out. Man, he brought back James to be you know, functional with your every day to be able to wear it in corporate America. He walked in the meeting with a tie in a And you know what I'm saying, the backpack on with with jury on the Jesus Beast with Jordan's on and laid down a cold you know what I'm saying, like campaign on how we're gonna come out with this part. So I just listen, the world is changing as it should.
I'm watching the wave and how we see shoes. Are you seeing more interest in the past and shoes versus what shoes are coming out? Yeah?
And I think that's part of it too, is like the last five years basketball shoe sales been down a little in terms of like performance shoes. So it's like the brand that could kind of unlock that code. Like that's the thing I liked about that hard and seven, Like I actually wear that shoe on purpose just walking around, right, And you don't necessarily say that about a lot of
new hoop shoes. So I think when brands could kind of build out more of like that hybrid look where it's not just like this is my hoop shoe and I'm going to go to the gym in it. Like that's where you could have some stuff that extends off court. And like we've seen that with a little with La Mellow. We've seen that with some guys. Obviously Jordan's have always had that dynamic, But that's the piece I think that brands are having a hard time figuring out.
Are you seeing capsules being dropped with these shoes too, like you know, Top Sweats, Tea's.
Head parrol wise, Yeah, merch not as much my capsule. Yeah, the Mellow stuff has a lot of apparel coming. Good Sabrina you know, has has all kinds of hoodies and
stuff coming. But I know, like signature apparel has been down a little and brands are more so having stuff like you see, Nike got a tech Flee in like forty colors, so they'll match it up with tech flee stuff rather than like the Yanni's signature apparel you know, so so different should Yeah, I remember that was like a big thing for you when you went to a one.
Right, capsules, because back then, you know everybody's dressing, how they dressing. Bringing it back right, talk about you know what I'm saying, Sometimes you don't even see somebody's feet. You see you see that, you know. So from that perspective, I was always weird about having my name on stuffs, me wearing with garnet. I'm looking at it, you know what I'm saying, Pee walking around with truth on his chest all the time. I mean, you know what I'm saying.
But yeah, to who's his own? But yeah, I think you should though for shure, I think you should. I think merch unless you got something in the closet that custom or something that goes back to whatever you rock. And are you familiar with the Nike story of how Nike tapped into the culture, because we all know the run DMC story right then DMC collaborated with Adidas, a lawyer about the name of Rob something I'm going to blank on. This name was and I think indirectly responsible
for a lot of the cultural stuff. And he was at a party in which he met Aaron being Rock Kim Rock Kim the God who was like a crazy MC, and he convinced him to wear this Nike sweatsuit in the I Moved the crowd. That was the first time he was able to how much of a shoe culture blends with hip hop, would you.
Say, man, especially with the b in the fifties anniversary, Right, you can kind of see all the chapters. So like you start with run DMC and Rock Kim, like you said, the gods of it, and then I think you get to like the early two thousands when air Force one song came out. Now all of a sudden, jay Z had his own rebox shoe, like just everything changed me.
And then I think you go to like the early twenty tens, and it became the artist maybe was bigger than the players, Like you could say Kanye overtook Lebron in a sense, and Yeezy's were almost as big as the signature shoes. And then from there he built his
own brand with Adidas. So there's kind of the little little steps where it went from like you're wearing stuff in music videos, We're giving you a shoe, so now you have your own brand, and like each of those ten years, it was a big, big step up across.
The way, would ya be the Jordan of artists? Oh for sure?
Facts, Yeah, obviously that shit fizzled out as bad as it could go. But at the peak of it, he was that right.
When you hit the LIFs, mister Broer, Yeah, it hits own.
Yeah, and you have you know, Travis and all these other guys around, But it's those are more colorways. Those are more one offs, like the design and ideas he was bringing to it, Like he had this whole phrase about like I'm building Rome, I'm not just building a shoe, like he was building a whole brand around it, And that just went to a whole other level.
When I'm watching Travis and I'm watching a lot of the different artists that come out with shoes. First off, they got some dope ideas, but it feels like a signature shoe doesn't feel like a brand, doesn't feel like I feel like when Kanye's building something, he's given me a brand similar to what Curry's building. With the emergency of the big man. What happens? You thought big men shoes did well because of the scottiness or the size or big men are not cool.
So you Jannis kd are like the only three guys at that height.
I know you won't say you're seven foot probably, but you no, I'm seven foot, Like am off only when you asked me before jump ball, you ask me and my seven foot I can't say it. I'm gonna give you an accurate answer off the jump I can't just been honest. But that's the only three guys that.
Like, the shoe wasn't a big man's shoe either, Like I think it's the style of the shoe.
Also, like it's the style of the play you guys had. But then the shoes were still like quick and like you said, light Barkleys, Barkley's did well. Barker's had a nice Barkley had an actually a fucking killer. He had a nice But Chuck is what six ' six, but he was Chuck is a big man, That's what I'm saying.
Yeah, he he was also like like for him and Shack to have any success, they had like a larger than life personality and they had like the role model commercial like they had like some different stuff coming in.
Whereas you know, some of the big men like w Tumbo had one shoe that was solid, but it was hard to really sustain that, Like we've seen some other guys come up and back and it's just like, I don't know, it's just hard because if you're ten to fifteen years old, like you want to go out front and do the moves that that guy is doing. You're not doing the jump hooks necessarily.
Right, you had to run. He's the biggest college player ever in New York.
Like I think that that was, Like, you know, the market helps for sure, So I think there's always different variables. Like I always kind of say with shoes, you kind of have like four variables.
And you need to have three of them.
Like the player has to be somebody that you want to emulate. The playing style helps. The shoes got to be fresh, great design.
I would go like that, the shoes got to be friends.
Hopefully the team is winning and they're having a good season. That matters, and then it's got to be a good price, Like the value of the price gotta be right. And if you can get three of those four, you got shot. If you get like only two of them, maybe it's
not gonna work. And if you have like you know, you can look at the cases of all four, like AI with the question and the answers, you know a lot of the Jordans, some of the Kobe stuff, like Kobe Four's where he's in the finals against you guys, Like that's where it's rare and feud and far between, but that's where you get like that lightning in a bottle.
First time you heard someone got shot over some shoes? What did you think?
Sports Illustrated had the Jordan five's on the cover. That was like a big moment. And we had a forty dollars budget in middle of elementary school, so I didn't have Jordan's growing up. But my mom was like, I think that was like the next level of like, yeah, you're definitely not getting Jordan's if that's where this is going scary.
Right, Yeah, it was wild. I remember having a job, you know, I can take my live checking, you know what I mean. And I remember my mom saying like, nah, like I noise your money, but safety is everything in that. And actually because I'm living in it and I'm I'm in the neighborhood, you know what I'm saying, And you know we're going to school and yeah, first time I heard someone get hurt over some shoes, that made go what like like what I can get hurt, I can
get hurt over the days. Yeah, his first three peet run like that's when that whole thing started coming up. And then when I was in high school, the drops were always on Wednesdays. The whole school would leave Wednesday morning, come back at lunch, and they moved it always to Saturday after that.
So his drops have been on Saturdays ever since because Jordan's used to always come out on Wednesdays.
When we ever see an impact like that again in shoes, I.
Don't know, because everything was new, Like Jordan eleven was like pat and leather on a basketball shoe, like you know, all the carbon fiber and then you know, the marketing was kind of new at the time, and he was just so aspirational from the way he played, like there's other players that have had great success, but it was never like anybody hitting that all times on one cylinder, like across the board like that.
Thank He's genius to me in marketing is that they gave the perception that if you wear these shoes, you can play like Michael Jordan marketing one on one talk about how nil has changed the whole campaign and just changed everything of everything. So I've been.
Covering shoe deals for a while and this is by far the most exciting time because you got, like we said, Angel Resa LSU right.
Shot Angel Reese doing the things LSU.
So the top three players at LSU all have shoe deals not with Nike. So like Haley van Lidt is Adidas flags with Puma, and now Angel's gonna be a rebox.
Okay, so hold on. So the days when you had to come in with Sean with Duke and Duke probably has like three four different Nikes in and out, or Kentucky got the whole different joint, or Jordan got that tar Hill's a whole new spread. The players have their own deals.
Now they still gotta wear Nike in the games, so they got to wear the team issue stuff for the game.
So in the game, I'm rocking Tar Hill stuff or Georgetown or whatever. But then when I'm outside of my stuff, I'm on Puma or whatever.
And that's what's great about nil. These players got a million followers on Instagram. So Haley van Litt is debuting like the Gucci Adidas collection, Flage is doing all kinds
of stuff with Puma. You know, we're gonna see Angel doing stuff with Rebok Like that part of it is totally new, And I mean at the end of the day too, it's like, obviously players in the league are impactful, but from a women's basketball standpoint, like they're probably three of the most influential women's basketball players on the planet, and they're all like twenty years old, right, So that part of it, like NL is at the perfect time because now a brand could really activate tell their story,
put out some stuff for them even though they can't wear it in the game necessarily, they could still be promoting and pitching that.
That's fun to me. Probably more bigger brands are now killing a lot of these big budgets, chopping them down, probably going to more multiple nil.
Deals, right Definitely, I think the nil deals are going to start to squeeze out some NBA guys right, Like, there's probably seventy five to one hundred guys in the league that don't have a shoe deal.
Right now, I was gonna talk, I was gonna my next question was to book a business in the NBA. Yep, that's great, go ahead.
So I think that's where it's going to get different because I don't have to send a bunch of money sign a guy that's ninth or tenth on the bench. If I could go and sign Page Beckers at Yukon, Caitlyn Clarkett, you know, Iowa things like that. So I think the brands is forcing them to get more creative, try a different model.
See what's going to happen. Saving money. I think they're still spending it, just other ways. But I'm saying versus a ten million dollar budget, I can take a million and go to yeah and get ten hundred.
You know what I'm saying, you can maybe spend the money in a better way.
That's what I'm saying. More, that's what I'm saying, more effective, and too. You're starting to see kind of college how that buzz like it used to have back in early nineties. I would say college was probably more exciting than the NBA. Young, Chris Jackson, Young, Shack Young. You know, I'm just I'm saying all these things to just times where I was watching college basketball just as much as I was watching the NBA. Seems like the women's college game has more
momentum than the men's. Are you saying the same things?
Definitely, And that's because the familiarity, Like Stanford's whole team is there, LSU's team is coming back. Like, guys aren't going one and done on the women's side, right, So they're staying for three years. Caitlyn Clark might end up staying for a fifty year because of the COVID year she's got. So you get to just follow them over
time and really like get built in. And I think that's what was great about like that Fab five UNLV, like that whole chapter, it was like you were really following these guys in their.
Schools and Shorty can play, she's nice. Yeah, and I heard these girls are making more money in college than they would be if they was in the WNBA in some cases.
Yeah, like for the top ten players in college, they are probably making more right now than if they went to the w.
Just yet, I asked somebody this question. This ain't really gotten nothing to do with nothing, But how far would you say, and just you know you've been around us for a while, how far do you think we are from a structure where colleges can come back and try to resign their own players two three year deal, say it's gonna be an option to where say, like you're in college, you say going forward, you got g League, you got WNBA, you got a minor league, and then
you have a major league or you have Spanish on it, which is a much your major leagues in other countries. But I'm saying, for the most part, these girls make money in WNBA and then the Russian League since to bringing grinding stuff. I think the Russian stuff kind of Turkey infh'sn't out. That was a huge part of those girls' financials. That money's going to get allocated somewhere now. And Juise, I think I heard her say this, Ah, I'm making more money in college and doing less than I would
in the WNBA. So I'm just configuring that from college and guess what, we're winning. Our teams have been together five years. That's saying something. So the investment has been made. How far do you think are we from college coming up with a new structure for players to be a little longated or stay at college for four or five years longer.
I think that if you're a top star in college, like you're going to stay all four years and you have to stay three to be draft eligible, which is different too. With the w you can't go one and done. You got to play three years, but a lot of them are just going to stay a fourth year. And then I think the new TV deal in the W is probably going to like either triple or quadruple to where they will make a ton more on the W side.
And then I don't know if you've seen but Brianna Stewart and the Feast of Collier trying to launch their own league.
I've seen that, and it's going to be like.
Thirty players, the top players. They'll play like three on three, one on one, all kinds of like unique formats kind of that. I think they're going to have like a whole new format and how to get sponsors in on that. How you you know, maybe you can make a million off of that. So I think that's going to be a thing where maybe you won't go play overseas and
you'll play in that. They're going to play it in like Miami, so it'll be nice and you know, that could be a whole new front here that's a different, like something we never seen before.
I wins basketball. Wow, that's crazy. The basketball game used to be out, you know, guys playing outside. How much of I think that's part of basketball culture, But how much of outdoors and playing outdoors having kicked someone at the court, does that even mean something? To show up with some dope fresh kicks don't mean shit. I think it's different. Man. These kids got it nice.
They're all in the gyms, they all got a trainer, they're all doing you know, dribble drills.
On Conso, like we used to just.
Go to the park and play from twelve to four and play against grown men, and that's not really a thing anymore.
Yeah.
So when you think of brands like Reebok has above the rim, which is like the outdoors you know, basketball shoe and one obviously is outdoors for the most part. But how many people are really playing outdoors in the park.
I don't know. Very little. Yeah, that's that's gone away, I think done. I think so a big part of how we saw basketball, a big part of how we celebrated, a big part of you know, I'm watching in the corner right here with some fly ass fours on right That told you a lot about who was coming on the court. Yep. Then I see a little cat like Nate here come in here with some hose in his jone. They have a sock out. You know you you know you're just seeing them. You know Nate, you know he
you know what I'm saying. But then Nate got that pat you know, like he might be there to lock up that short. So I'm saying to say that a lot of the commercials to culture when you watch some of them and one commercials, when you watch some of the mixtape stuff, when you watch some of the Nike stuff with the with the dribble on beat and alone going into all of this.
Yeah, listen, like the commercial for these, you're playing against like the gardener, like the random people coming off the sideline, like that was an outdoor commercial.
I called these to Bruce Wayne's man. These was like they gave me these on on on the night and you know, usually got a practice in. I played the spurs and some white and some and some white and black ones. Listen, this is this is probably look this shoe had. Technically, no, I was not supposed to wear this shoe technically, but this shoe was one of the lightest and one of the coldest. This I felt like I was Batman and this shit. We got to be by the spurs and them ships. Man. I got these
at the crib. This is one of my favorite studio.
But that was, like you said, commercial wised like it's a high performance indoor shoe, but you took it to our outdoor park for the commercial, which was a whole different vibe for us.
Man, Joe, I just, man, some of the things that brought us to Love Yesteryear are just kind of dying out. But you know, a lot of the spirit that goes into these shoes come from basketball culture, being outside and a lot of this spirit comes from, you know, being playing against the no name guy, the homeless guy that you you know what I'm saying, or the guy that just got a name on the street. Man can't remember five most iconic commercials time in your opinion.
Little Penny comes to mind right away. I just because Penny himself was kind of quiet, so for them to bring up that alter ego, it was like the perfect balance.
That's why they created a little Penny. Little Penny. The real Penny had more to say, but it's more kind of reserved from or quiet, and so they did that through you know, and Chris Rock did Little Penny.
Yep, the Jordan commercial where he's walking just down the hallway to the game, but he's talking about.
Like I've failed over and over in my life and that's why I succeed.
Because the one thing that was funny about that was like MJ was the greatest, so you would never think of him even failure, you know, or losing games or missing shots. But that commercial made it relatable because if you're a normal person, you're bricking shots, so you're missing, you're losing. Now you could think I could actually get to that level if I just stick with it. So that was like a great insight from Nike's standpoint. I
loved like the light and the fun stuff. So like the fun Police to me with like the yellow trench coats. I don't know if you still got the trench coat, but the trench coat, got the trench coat and the whole. I got the whole.
I got the whole spread together up and put yeah, I can't. I couldn't. I couldn't, you know what I'm saying.
So what was it like when they told you, like we're gonna have you guys like going into a burning house and that's how we're gonna sell some shoes.
First off, I thought it was genius to be able to kind of jab at the establishment. Anytime I got a chance to jab at stern or I got the jab at like you know, the NBA as a corporate then I took the opportunity. You know when they I think the one one of my favorite, one of my
favorite parts of that. And they's like, uh, fans in the fans and the rich people something in the cheap seats, fans into something something no no no no no no no no no no, And then you just look up and I think trum grasps the joint and it goes off. That was probably one of my favorites, just seeing in the room when they was like, oh, yeah, we're gonna hear starting Trump like Donald Trump, Like yeah, hmm okay as well, by the way, I was good saying it was a fun It was a fun time. I got
to bring uh guys into it. Tim Hardaway, got to bring some of my own person Trent. You got Gary Payton in it. Uh yeah. It was just a fun time to be able to bring all of all of our friends into it. My own personal friend Bug was in it. It was a good time.
The other one that stuck out was the n one one where you're across from the table from yourself. The interrogation interrogation one, and that one I remember at the time was like kind of a big deal you were talking about like the contract and the playoffs all the other stuff.
I had a I had a very emotional conversation with John Thompson that was on tape, and they want to tap into these two people that was that was kind of inside of me. You know what I'm saying, I'm a tourist, but for people who know me, I'll have Gemini ways. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but but yeah, I would. You know, I'm a nice person in life as it results to life itself. But when we hit the court and it's a kiltic be killed, then yeah, you're gonna know what
side I'm on. So in that whole banter, they came up with a campaign to where these two were interacting and one was speaking to the other and it was and it's kind of my chance to see it through both us like, oh, you know what I'm saying. But I thought it was dope and creative. You want to
come outside of the box. A lot of stuff I was seeing just in Creations was kind of similar and I wanted to do something that was different and it was edgy enough to go there with me and you know, be really edgy when you know what cool to be edgy. One of the things where I want to use styles p and another commercial because I love to play outside and they was like, you play outside and the rain man,
the rain ain't shit, just warn ain't going life. So they you know, we was able to put together and stuff. But yeah, anytime you're able to step outside of the box almost like those creations and people get it.
I'm trying to think of more recent ones too, but like the one that stuck out that I didn't like it at first, but you were in it, The Brotherhood with Adidas.
Oh yeah, that was about more team Adidas was a Jesus's take was that things were becoming too more individual and you know, basketball ain't golf, it's not boxing, it's not some of the individual sports. Not shipping on none of them sports. But stop trying to be individual in a team sport and be about the team. And you know it's team first, and you know when team is
put in place, the impossible, it is nothing. And that was the idea, and we wanted to almost have a camp, you know, because we felt like that was a dying breed and that thought and that understanding at least from
younger kids on younger generations. They were going in a different direction and what we were seeing, and Adidas wanted to bring them back and really stand on it, making a campaign so much that they got all of us to participate, and that should be be that because we all come from that and that five you had.
I remember it was Chauncey, gil T mac, you and Tim Timmy right now, we.
Want to smoke too, because Nike was like all right, okay, okay, let's let's like let's play. Gave him like fifty million, and Adidas against and did that ever like the smoke? No Nike. He didn't want no smoke period. Who would the Nike side have. I don't even know. We wanted it. We wanted all comers, Paul, you know what I'm saying, real shit, real ship. And then they came out with the Air Force joint. When they was on the joint,
we wanted that. I don't cold that man. Y'all should have brought that over to where we was at.
Because I'm looking at it, it would have been.
Paul Kobe and maybe now I don't even know. They had like a million guys over there, you know what I'm saying. We had five who want to jump out here and get some of this smoke. I couldn't get a call back, but thank you for this, Nick Man, last one for you. Oh what do you remember about this? What you got? What you got over there? The original listen and the real ship. I hated this what I hate to say, the shout, the kicks and the photographer new to this. I didn't. I hate. I hated pointing
at myself. He's like, yo, can I get one of these? And I was like what And you took it? Look look look, God said it all like, and I gave him one and then I was off this like I'm not like he was like not the most natural post. No, no, no, I wasn't into like anything that had to do with myself. So but I remember this cover. I have this cover. I have a damn that every cover I've been on I had to thank Slam and Kicks for this. Man.
This is part of history right here. Man. This was like the first magazine that you can go through and find different kicks and different features. And this is when you know companies used to do ad campaigns and spreads like this. This is kind of a dying breathe right here.
So this was the first ever sneaker magazine. I was thirteen when this came out. Same word, and this is why I write about shoes. Holy and I've been wearing a rubber band every day.
You know what the rubber band come from, right, I got to give it to you, right, let's hear it. The rubber band comes from Dawn Stanley. Don Stanley, thank you very much for encouraging me. The rubber band is a sense of discipline. Yep, missed something, I didn't get a rebound, Gotta run again. Pop. So that was that was kind of my little right here, you feel me.
I never snapped it, but like you were always wearing one, and then when I saw it on this that was like the reminder that always tied me back to that magazine doing Stanley.
So yeah, don't got to give it up. Where's supposed to be respect. That's awesome, Thank you, man, I appreciate it. This is great man flight club. Thank y'all, man, seriously, thank y'all for letting us come in here, man, one of my favorite places to get shoes at. Man, straight up, Flight Club ain't got it. It don't exist, payge, certify, we out. You know what I man, keep on, keep straight up. No, y'all got some heat in here. Just a couple just say look, I ain't got all day.
Just a couple there. Hey, listen, you come to Flight Club, be careful, know what you want when you come in here. If not, these niggas gonna sell you two hundred pairs of shoes, You're gonna spend a million, like in seconds on right hand. I'm telling you, man, you come the Flight Club. Man, come in here knowing what you want. Leo, I come in here for these deeds and these let me get okay, let me show you all here and put these on here. And I walk out here like
fifteen pairs of shoes. Man, That's what I told church, A church, just what I want right here, nothing else Church. But then I come in here, it's like six pairs of shoes I'm looking for. I ain't got time today, but I'm gonna go ahead and take a picture of my eyes and sit it and shit it back to you guys. Okay, I'm gonna sit these back. You know what I'm saying. Good looks these. So you talked about these the other day and then we got these two. But you talk about these the other day. So that's
why I talked about these. Oh I was, I remember, I don't like I need a glout on. I don't want to ask you to test these with my hands. Oh yeah, these are the rich grays right here, point shout the rich grain ooh, they got these and fifteen? What is this? This is what's the name of this? Photon dust? A photon dust? Listen, man, So I was telling a friend, thank you, Yeah, we're gonna put these up. Hold on, that's this story has to do with these.
These are what I asked for. He's right here. Those I mean, you just mentioned those, but those are just your life which once the is a cements? Is that cements? Well? My favorite four is the cements. These are great. Two Listen. I could go through my closet and show you ninety seven when I bought the cements. Oh one when I bought the cements. Four. I have like maybe seven pairs of of times where I bought the same shoe. Thank you, Jordan I don't know what what if I'm like elated
or what. Yeah, something something's going on with me that I'm buying the same shoe ever. Really yeah, I got like six of these, but probably like twenty five. Okay, so nothing's wrong with me. You have the same problem. I got a problem. Yeah, no, no, no, listen, one of these days, I don't know what day it's going to be, but you and I got to go through my shoe closet. I got a shoe closest in Minnesota. It's probably about yeah, about yeah, my shoe claws about
I don't even know. I don't even know. I've seen mellow Ship. I've seen mellow Ship. I was like, oh yeah, because mellow got shipped the Jordan game, you know what I'm saying. So, yeah, I got a bunch of yesteryear stuff that was. You know what I'm saying that my homeboy and my younger boys be like, oh man, relax, but let me know. Yeah, I would love to get your perspective on that, because I know you're the dawn of shoes, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, I'll have a lot of memories around each one and questions I can ask you got some of the old game war and stuff too.
I do. I do. It's non collectible stuff, so I don't get any idea non your breaks. I see your wheels up and bopping ship. I remember eighty five, brother, remember that I was around in eighty five. But thank you, man. I can talk shoes all day, man, I can talk kicks and this ship all day. Man. I like actually being a shoe free agent. I was gonna ask you that too, man. Who are the shoe free agents out here that we that we I know Kyrie just left night right now in the league right now, is coming
up in these past. Jayalen Brown Jaylen Brown Shoes Jalen Brown would be a good one for any brand. He might actually look to launch his own signature shoe really, kind of like what Big Baller brand did. Okay, t Mac has his own team. Mac is not with Adidas anymore. He started his own tam Max working on his own thing too. Yep. All the stick of deals like they used to be, meaning like guys can get six to seven year, seven year, seven figures, eight figures.
Oh yeah, there's probably six seven players making ten plus Oh really?
Yeah? Wow?
You know between Lebron and Steph KD. James, you know, even Gianni's Dame, you know, Dame two, Like they're they're all ten plus.
What about this new generation where Zion LaMelo? Really? Yeah? Did you still got to go to China? The China Tours do that? Yeah?
I went with Klay Thompson one year. We went to eight cities in nine days. Answer with answer? Does it they rampant? And it being a million people?
I thinks think Yeah, the smallest city went to was like six mill It was crazy. Yeah, that was my first time getting to see China and all this, all all this great cities. I didn't know some of these cities had cities that was bigger than New York. You know. You know what I'm saying begging in La But man, thank you man, thank you flight Club for letting us come through again. Man, I could talk all day. Let's do this again, bro, y'all. Let me know y'all want
me to come back and do this again? All right? M hm