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Courtside Kicks

Courtside Kicks

A Lookback At Some Of The Game’s Prolific Forerunners

Thanks to ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’ – a docuseries that depicts the mesmerizing star power of five-time MVP Michael Jordan and his team the Chicago Bulls in their ‘90s heyday – basketball’s bygone era has never felt more relevant. With that in mind and given the UK’s new-found affinity for the NBA, we’re digging through our portfolio to shine light on the shoes that first made their debut on the court, comprising the notorious Nike Blazer and adidas Superstar.

Courtside Kicks – History of the Nike Blazer:

In 1973 sportswear newbie Nike was a mere nine years of age when it launched the new kid on basketball’s block, the Nike Blazer. Dubbed the ‘Nike Blazer’ in tribute to local team the ‘Portland Trail Blazers’, the sneaker was specifically tailored to bolster game play, possesing supple leather in its upper, nylon and breathable mesh in the tongue and a robust vulcanised rubber sole underfoot. It’s construction, which employed the vulcanisation process and done so to superlative standards, was deemed hugely popular with players of the era, leading San Antonio Spurs shooting guard George Gervin to link up with the Swoosh and subsequently become the first player to front the Nike Blazer courtside.

Cool by name and by nature, George ‘The Iceman’ Gervin possessed the kind of star power that could transcend a silhouette from the hardwood and into favour with global popular culture. In fact, it’s thought that Nike and George Gervin’s partnership initiated the logistics of ‘player exclusive’ deals back then which of course are so ubiquitous these days.

Nike Blazer San Antonio Spurs NBA

Former San Antonio Spurs shooting guard George Gervin sporting the Nike Blazer during a game.

Nike Blazer Mid Vintage 77 Sketch

Nike Blazer Mid Vintage ’77 in White/Red and White/Black colourways, available now at Aphrodite.

 

Nike’s quick off the march approach to identifying players and utilising their likeness in such a way would become the cornerstone of the brand’s global operations. Just 12 years after the Nike Blazer debuted, a new courtside crep was preparing to take the NBA by storm; named the ‘Air Jordan’ after gravity-defying Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan. This immensely lucrative and longstanding partnership is responsible for MJ’s title as the richest athlete on the globe and although the Nike Blazer’s basketball invasion was short-lived, it did lay down the foundations for future successors such as Mike’s Air Jordan.

Having paved the way for player endorsements and Swoosh-bearing status on the court, the Nike Blazer gave up shooting hoops and skated into fresh tenure. Turns out, the design’s tremendous traction came in super handy for skaters, and so the Nike Blazer was reincarnated. These days though, the sneaker doesn’t require a specific purpose to make it a modern necessity – it’s now welcomed worldwide thanks to its unwavering throwback feel and logo-laden look.

Courtside Kicks – History of the adidas Superstar:

German heavyweight adidas had already built a great rapport with NBA greats way before rival Nike and its famous Blazer hit the scene. In 1969 the adidas Superstar launched as the first low-profile basketball sneaker to feature an all-leather upper and a rubber shelltoe, this making way for the shoe’s myriad nicknames since, including the ‘shelltoe’, ‘shell tops’ and ‘shell shoes’.

Given that sneaker innovation in the ‘60s was still very much at the inception stage, the shoe’s rubber shell toe and non-marking outsole were in every way unprecedented. The striking nature of the design quickly began to garner attention from some of the game’s most accomplished players, one being Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers, whom some claim is the greatest player in NBA history. But these 3-Stripes sneakers weren’t solely reserved for the unstoppable feet of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, as by its third year of production the adidas Superstar was donned by over 75% of all NBA players. Pretty impressive.

adidas Superstar NBA History

NBA players of the past repping the adidas Superstar, including former New York Knicks power forward and Chicago Bulls Head Coach Phil Jackson.

adidas Superstar Sneakers

adidas Originals Superstar Trainers in Black/White and adidas Superstar WS2 Trainers in White/Black, available now at Aphrodite.

 

Just like the Nike blazer, the stellar adidas Superstar eventually, and gracefully, made its way off the court and into the city streets, picking up recognition from Hip Hop’s elite rap group Run-D.M.C. – with the trio paying tribute to the design in a song titled ‘My Adidas’ which aimed to redefine b-boy culture. Later down the line the 3-Stripes label struck up an advertising deal with Run-D.M.C., in turn, marking the first major sports company / hip-hop partnership of its kind. In the decades since this fundamental link up, adidas has frequently employed celebrity industry crossovers as a formula to its success, notably with this very Superstar style and rapper Pharrell Williams, not to mention Kanye West’s dollar seizing Yeezy line.

So there you have it, two of the globe’s most crowd-pleasing footwear styles unearthed from their basketball origins. Shop the featured colourways by checking out our Nike and adidas departments now.

The Worst Kits In World Cup History

10-Panama 2018

Edging both Honduras & USA in a tense final CONCACAF qualification round should have afforded the plucky Panama team a prestigious kit to match their prestigious feet. What they got in return was New Balance’s best attempt at a Pro Evolution unlicensed kit missing any kind of tribute to Panama’s heritage that other teams were rewarded by their respected kit sponsors. If your 5-a-side team is in need of some new kits, pick these up on discount after the finals. No one will know the difference.

 

9-England 2006

When a golden generation comes along there needs to be a kit to match the hype. Belguim got there’s this year with a classy design courtesy of adidas, even Errea did their best to bring a unique offering to Iceland team. This wasn’t the case with England in 2006. A timeless squad headlined by one name talents, Beckham, Owen, Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdinand, Terry, Rooney, Crouch amongst a literary of others were besieged with Umbro’s first attempt on Photoshop. Placing a manipulated St.George’s cross to the arm, it was more spice boys than Spice Girls.

 

8-Cameroon 2002

Messing with established designs such as jerseys and kits never ends well. Just look to adidas’s recent fiasco with sleeved Basketball jerseys for a reference. Puma decided to go the other way in 2002, providing Cameroon with sleeveless jerseys for their Africa Cup of Nations. More fakers than Lakers, FIFA soon clamped down on their bending of the rules and forced the national body to fix the fiasco. Their solution, stick black sleeves to the jerseys for the upcoming World Cup, and by stick, we mean the sleeves looked literally glued on to the vests to hit regulation. Not deterred by their run-in with FIFA, Cameroons next kit was introduced as a onesie. We look forward to their next showing at a World Cup purely for the kit.

 

7-Spain 1994

The 90s were a wild time for football kits.  More than half of our listings for worst kit in World Cup history have come from this period of technicolour nightmares, and 5 of them from 1994 at that. Starting our 94 bashing is the Spanish national team’s pitiful attempt at an ‘edgy’ design, and by edgy we mean the diamond cascade that found itself located to a singular side of each garment in the kit (right-hand side for the top, left for the shorts). The weird kind of polo, sorta shirt served as an influence for Spains 2018 offering. To put it bluntly, it shouldn’t have.

 

6-Belguim 1982

Ever wondered if BDSM and Football could work together? Look no further than Belgium’s pitiful attire in the 1982 world cup with their incorporation of Admiral branded suspenders into the design of the kit. Awful.

 

5-Republic of Ireland 1994

Our second 94 kit to appear on the list is from the ever-plucky Irish team. Unfortunately known for their famine in the 1800s, adidas decided to replicate this moment in time by starving the fans of a decent kit to represent the country at the World Cup. Consisting of 3 stripes that barely make it to the end of the kit, Ireland’s chances faded quicker than the stripes on their shirt thanks to the brilliance of Dennis Bergkamp and the dutch.

 

4-Mexico 1994 Home, Away & Goalie

To some, this year of Mexican football was a golden year, and that’s just the outrageous on-field stylings displayed by the Mexican team from home and away jersey, even managing to incorporate a Joeseph and his technicolour dream kit homage for the goalie. The traditional kit stylings were thrown out the window, thanks to their unusual all over embossing on the home jersey (don’t ask, we don’t have a clue) and their recreation of a bicep muscle being torn apart on the away kit.

 

3-Nigeria 1994

Looking like someone stapled a bunch of George Washingtons to a white t-shirt, it’s the usually interesting kit designs of Nigeria on the chopping block, their effort in 1994 being a particularly interesting spectacle, more than their football at that. The kit was so garish that they had to borrow the block coloured green shorts from their change kit so that they didn’t look like they’d stepped on the field with their pyjamas on, which would have been fitting as their football was lethargic at best.

 

2-Jamaica 1998

When it’s your first World Cup as a nation you have to make a spectacle of it. Jamaica, who’s one and only appearance in the finals came in 98, made a spectacle for all the wrong reasons. Their kit, incorporating an unusual statement C-shaped pattern that echoed the aesthetics of a headache or a QR code looked like a rejected Norwich kit from the 90s. Somehow the pattern managed to hypnotize the Japanese into giving them a win in the group stages.

 

1-USA 1994

Not saying anything more than a nation that has been at the forefront of fashion and design for the best part of a decade for denim stars and stripes were a great idea. For shame, ‘Murica.

 

Nike Air Force 1 LV8 | Black/White ‘Statement Game’ | Available Now

One of Nike‘s all-time classic sneaker styles — for some, the greatest sneaker ever made — the Air Force 1 basketball shoe returns here in its low-top form, as part of a commemorative NBA collection. Featuring premium tumbled leather throughout the uppers, this rendition changes up the classic formula in some subtle ways, with oversized Swoosh detailing (borrowed from the Blazer) to the sidewalls, embroidered ‘AF-1’ branding to the tongue and heel, and laces adorned with repeating Nike logos providing the boldest twist on this legendary silhouette.

Nike Air Force 1 Laces

Elsewhere the story remains the same as always, with the perforated toebox, chunky sole unit with encapsulated Air cushioning and Pivot Point outsole all intact, with a small woven NBA logo tab to the heel finishing the look off nicely. All in all this is a fantastic take on the icon, perfect for collectors and newcomers alike.

The Nike Air Force 1 LV8 Black/White ‘Statement Game’ is available from Aphrodite Clothing now.