#SneakerWednesday - February and March

Explanations

On fedi, I have been writing weekly posts under the hashtag #SneakerWednesday, they are just small-ish posts talking about a specific model or color. A friend of mine suggested for me to do these, and I decided to do them on fedi, and later compile them here, monthly. This first one covers February too because the first post was on February 25th. These are copied verbatim from fedi, if I made mistakes, they are copied here.

New Balance P740 - February 25th

alright, so, the sneakers of the week are the new balance p740. do NOT confuse these with the current 740, which isn't interesting. released in 1985 as the signature shoes of James Worthy of the Lakers, these got the nickname "Worthy Express". this was back when new balance was cool and did these KILLER high tops.

the EVA midsole and the padded ankle collar look primitive today with the whole zoom and lightstrike stuff, but it was peak tech in 1985.

this black and white colorway was the OG, it was re-released in 2014 in a collab with Packer Shoes, there is also a purple and yellow colorway! tho honestly these look just... amazing. new balance is too busy with their boring runners nowadays to remember their basketball stuff, sadly, maybe one day they move out of that trend.

Air Jordan 1 "Shattered Backboard" - March 4th

it's still Wednesday and time for #SneakerWednesday. we will go from the obscure (nowadays) of the new balance basketball shoes, to the most famous sneaker out there, though a very particular color of it.

it is the Air Jordan 1 OG High "Shattered Backboard"

this is not an original colorway, it is in fact from 2015 (the picture is from the 2025 re-release). in August 25th, 1985, Michael Jordan was playing a nike-sponsored exhibition game on Trieste, Italy. he played for the then Stefanel Trieste (now Pallacanestro Trieste), scoring 41 points.

but perhaps most memorable was when on a fast break, Jordan did a dunk so powerful the glass backboard of the hoop shattered. this colorway, released 30 years later, references this moment, the colors are the same of the uniform Jordan used that night.

fun fact, he was not the first, nor the last to do this. shaq was reportedly a problem for doing this, and nowadays the entire assemble is made to not shatter even if you use a lot of force, shattered glass isn't great on a game of basketball after all

Nike SB Dunk Low "Staple NYC Pigeon" - March 11th

today for #SneakerWednesday

we have one of the greatest sneakers in terms of cultural impact, specially outside of the niche of sneaker culture, the famous Nike SB Dunk Low "Staple NYC Pigeon"

designed by Jeff Staple in 2005, it was part of the city pack, a collection of 4 Dunks released through 2003 to 2005 (the Nike SB Dunk was all the rage in the 2000s), Paris, Tokyo, London and Pigeon. yes, the last one is called Pigeon, not New York.

this entire line was super limited, 202 pairs per colorway, but even more special are the 30 numbered ones sold by Reed Space (owned and operated by Staple Design, Jeff's company) in NYC, those are the characters of this story.

in February 2005, over a hundred people piled up near Reed Space, desperate to grab a pair, what ensued was the famous "Pigeon Dunk Riot" as it was called, arrests were made, cops had to escort buyers to cabs to avoid them being robbed, it was insane (video here)

this moment is significant because it was HERE that sneaker culture reached mainstream, when normal people learned that there are some freaks out there camping two nights in front of a store to buy a pair of sneakers, it wasn't here that sneaker culture started, but it was here that it became notorious.

the pigeon dunk nowadays goes for roughly 50,000 dollars, if you are curious

Rebook Pump Omni Zone II - March 18th

today, on #SneakerWednesday we have the Rebook Pump, in the particular the Pump Omni Zone II

the year is 1991, the Pump line has been out since November 1989 to a good success, this was the 90s when there were more brands competing for basketball shoes, and the "Pump it Up" motto was so successful that even Nike tried to follow the trend to little success (maybe subject for another post). Rebook was fine, but the $170 price tag in that year was steep, and Dominique Wilkins' endorsement wasn't doing the heavy lifting it needed.

the pump had an internal air bladder mechanism, the person could "pump" the little orange ball at the tongue to inflate them, essentially creating a "personalized fit". it was a super cool technology, designed by Paul Litchfield.

but then, one of those moments that no one can explain happens. Dee Brown, Celtics guard, on the 1991 Slam Dunk contest, a last minute call to the event. Brown was already sponsored by Rebook at this time, and he was wearing the Pump Omni Zone II. he gets up, pumps the sneakers, and does the "no look dunk", where he closed his eyes and covered them with his elbow while dunking. absolutely legendary, rebook pumps IMMEDIATELY skyrocketed. Rebook sold 4 million Pumps in 91 alone, and went on to build a long lasting line of sneakers not only for basketball, but for cross training and tennis too. you can watch the dunk (sadly no pump) here

the wildest thing? he wasn't paid for that, he just wanted to get the crowd excited, as he had done on the first round. Rebook didn't tell him to do it or anything, but he went on to be a star on commercials with Rebook, the king kong jam! watch it here

rebook still sells the pump line, including the Instapump, should you be interested, subject to availability

Air Jordan 1 "Bred" - March 25th

today, on #SneakerWednesday, more air jordan 1! because i now love these dumb things. i bring it to you, the air jordan 1 "Bred", which I'll point out is a retroactive name, because colorways didn't have names back then

and if you are like me and think "wait, bred? like..." no, it's a portmanteau of black and red. bred. it's dumb, yes.

what makes this pair important is not exactly what it did, but what it didn't, and this story is perhaps the most famous one in sneaker (and to a degree, basketball) history. the year is 1984, the then rookie Michael Jordan signs a contract paying 2.5 million dollars in five years.

contrary to adidas and converse, nike offered jordan his own shoe, something also unheard of, specially for a rookie. the air jordan. this is an ungodly amount of money for a NBA rookie at the time, we would be making fun of nike to this day if it wasn't also the best bet they ever did. as the story goes, nike made revolutionary new basketball shoes, but nba BANNED the sneakers, asked for 5000 dollars every time Jordan wore them, but you could still buy them! and everyone did!

except 95% of that isn't true. except that everyone bought them.

here's the thing, the shoes weren't ready when the preseason started, so nike's solution was to make him wear a lookalike, the already existent Nike Airship, but in a crazy color: black and red. he wore those for the first time in October 9th, 1984, on a preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks

the black and red shoes calls attention of the league, that had, at a time, a rule that said the shoes had to be 51% white, and those were maybe 15% white (the midsole).

between that and the next appearance of the Bred colorway (on different shoes), Jordan was already wearing the AJ1, but not in the Bred colorway, but the Chicago! and the Black Toe. both of those did not violate the 51% rule, on purpose.

then, 1985 Slam Dunk contest, on Feb 9th, which has no uniform rules, Jordan wears the AJ1 Bred, fully rocking the "bad boy" look, he has golden chains even!

the letter the nba sent is, reportedly, from february, but it specifically mentions the games on the preseason, so the letter was talking about the Airship. but what Nike does? they completely do an 180, they twist the story to say the NBA banned the shoes, releasing the infamous ad with black bars over the sneakers. master play of advertising (and a lie)

on april 1st, the air jordan 1 officially releases for the public, sold in the chicago, bred and black toe colorways (later followed up be the royal, shadow, and the metallic series). nike was hoping to sell $3 million worth of AJs for the first three years. instead they sold $125 to $150 million on the first year alone. moved 4 million shoes before the end of the year, reportedly 1.5 million just on the release

bred is also known as "banned", for a reason, and perhaps the funniest thing of all: jordan never wore those on a NBA game, at all. all the footage of him is with the airship or some non-nba game.