The 30 Most Iconic NBA All-Star Sneaker Moments of the Past 30 Years

Year: 2012
Sneaker: Nike KD IV "Galaxy"
Player(s): Kevin Durant

Nike's initial Galaxy pack of All-Star sneakers made a lot of sense, seeing that the game was played in Orlando, just a medium-length drive from Cape Kennedy. And no star shone brighter in the 2012 game than Kevin Durant, who scored 36 points en route to MVP honors. (To be fair, fellow Galaxy-wearer LeBron James also scored 36, but Durant's West squad took the W.)

Year: 2011
Sneaker: Nike Hyperdunk 2011 "Earthquake"
Player(s): Blake Griffin

Vince Carter wasn't the only high-flyer to win the Dunk Contest on Saturday and then try and finish off the rims on Sunday. Blake Griffin ended Saturday night by leaping over a Kia, then started off Sunday by leaping over half the Eastern squad. And actually, his game-day Earthquake Hyperdunks were flyer than his Dunk Contest Flybys.

Year: 1995
Sneaker: Reebok Kamikaze Low
Player(s): Shawn Kemp

There was a time when Shawn Kemp was one of the best players in the NBA, and, even more surprisingly, there was a time when he wore lowtops. Kemp's first All-Star Game in his signature Kamikaze was in the low-cut variety, when he contributed to a well-balanced Western win in '95.

Year: 2010
Sneaker: Nike Air Max LeBron 7 "All-Star"
Player(s): LeBron James

They may have since been lost in all the Galaxy/Area 72 madness, but Nike's woodgrain All-Star makeups for the 2010 game in Dallas were on-the-low awesome. And for our money, none were better than LeBron's vibrant blue VIIs, which he wore en route to a traditional 25-point, six-assist, five-rebound, four-steal stat line. The East got the W, and soon-to-be-teammate Dwyane Wade took home the MVP.

Year: 2011
Sneaker: adidas adiZero Rose
Player(s): Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose may have been quiet his first few years in the NBA, but he sure wasn't subtle when he debuted his signature adiZero Rose on All-Star Sunday in 2011. The banana-yellow patent leather popped crazy alongside the East's blue uniforms, ensuring that no matter what Rose said - or didn't say - he would stand out.

Year: 1986 and 1987
Sneakers: Nike Air Force II, adidas Abdul-Jabbar, Nike Air Force 1
Player(s): Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone

What, you thought NBA guys wearing lowtops was a new thing? Back in the '80s, even the biggest of big guys wore lows. Kareem switched into lows early in his career and stayed there, while Charles Barkley eventually transitioned into strapped-up mids. As for Moses, he wore whatever the f*ck he wanted.

Year: 2008
Sneaker: Nike Air Force 1 "Sheed"
Player(s): Rasheed Wallace

If this was indeed the last time an Air Force 1 would appear in the NBA All-Star Game, it was an appropriate one. Sheed once again turned in a lackluster performance (1-5 from the floor, all threes) in his final ASG, but his traditional AF1 highs - white and blue patent with his "Sheedman" logo - did their job just fine. New technology, who needs it? (His 2006 ASG joints with the ostrich were crazy, but this event was more significant. Sorry.)

Year: 1980s
Sneakers: Assorted
Player(s): Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish

The Celtics wore black sneakers because it was mandated by Red Auerbach, which meant that it was treated as a commandment handed down by God himself. (Or at least original team owner Walter Brown, who got the black sneakers cheaper.) Michael Jordan wore black sneakers because he was Michael Jordan. New cool and old tradition never were so closely intertwined.

Year: 2004
Sneaker: Dunkman Shaq PE
Player(s): Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O'Neal's All-Star shoes have always been a bit of a running joke, one year having one that doubled as a phone, another year a remote-controlled car. But for ones he actually played in, the light-up 2004 pair in Los Angeles were tough to beat. As if his size 22s weren't billboards already.

Year: 1995
Sneaker: Nike Air Lambaste
Player(s): Penny Hardaway

Penny Hardaway is best-remembered for his signature line, but for his first All-Star appearance he donned the lowtop Nike Air Lambaste, a budget-minded Flight shoe that inexplicably has yet to see a retro release. Penny posted a double-double in the game, with 12 points and 11 assists.

Year: 2002
Sneaker: Nike Air Max Elite
Player(s): Paul Pierce

It's crazy to see superstar athletes sign things for each other - it's like, dude, you're supposed to be signing autographs, not getting them - but it happenes every year at All-Star. And why not? It's not like these guys are all together in one place all the time. And while no years were quite as crazy as 1997 in Cleveland when the 50th anniversary of the NBA brought together the NBA's Top 50, it's a tradition that still takes place. Paul Pierce took things to a new level in 2002, though, having everyone sign his green patent Air Max Elites before the game - then playing in them. Chauncey Billups did the same exact thing with his adidas in 2008.

Year: 2007
Sneaker: adidas Gil Zero
Player(s): Gilbert Arenas

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Unless it happens with Gilbert Arenas and it's during an event that's broadcast on national television. Not content to simply play in the All-Star Game, Gilbert flew out of the Eastern Conference bench area to throw down a dunk with the trampoline squad. His signature adidas Gil Zeros had more than enough bounce to do the job on their own - but better safe.

Year: 2000
Sneaker: And1 Tai Chi
Player(s): Vince Carter

All anyone remembers now of 2000's All-Star festivities is the dunk contest - which is fair, since Kenny Smith's impassioned "it's OVER!" could have applied to the whole weekend - but Vince Carter didn't just wear And1 Tai Chis on Saturday. He went with the white/red on Saturday night, then broke out a black/red pair for Sunday's game, during which he more or less won the Dunk Contest again. Still not entirely freed from his Puma deal and not yet signed to Nike, Half-Man, Half-Amazing gave a stupendous amount of publicity to a company that wasn't even paying him. Er, that we know of.

Year: 2002
Sneaker: DaDa CDubzz
Player(s): Chris Webber

Around 2001, 2002, sneaker companies and All-Star players lost their damn minds. Maybe it was because guys got to play in their team uniforms, but everything all of a sudden turned to patent leather and candy colors. And if any one sneaker epitomized that whole era, it was Chris Webber's chrome Dada CDubzz from the 2002 game in Philly. But hey, at least they weren't spinners.

Year: 1997
Sneaker: Nike Zoom Challenge
Player(s): John Stockton

John Stockton always marched to the beat of his own drummer. When shorts got longer, Stockton stubbornly stuck with an inseam length that hadn't been in style since the Jazz left New Orleans. And while his fellow Dream Teamers got laced with signature shoes, Stock stayed in generic Nikes. That is, until the mid to late '90s, when he switched to a signature shoe of his own - Andre Agassi's signature shoe. Too bad he never grew a mullet to match. (Stockton, who was famously unbothered by paparazzi in Barcelona while with the Dream Team, apparently wasn't photographed much in the All-Star Game either, hence the non-ASG flick.)

Year: 2001
Sneaker: Reebok Question
Player(s): Allen Iverson

Allen Iverson was supposed to wear the Question in the 2000 All-Star Game, done up in Warriors yellow and blue. Reports varied as to why he didn't, but Reebok was left with a ton of shoes to sell and no Iverson highlights to back them up with. So it figures that in 2001, when the Answer IV became the most sought-after Iverson shoe SINCE the Question, AI went back to his original shoe for the big game in DC. He wound up leading a ferocious fourth-quarter Eastern Conference comeback, scoring a game-high 25 points in 27 minutes and winning MVP. Plenty of highlights there.

Year: 1987
Sneaker: Converse Weapon
Player(s): Magic Johnson

Sneakers that match no part of All-Star uniforms are nothing new. Witness one Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who wore his everyday Converse Weapons with his patriotic All-Star uniform in 1987. To be fair, people like Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, who had red in their actual game-day uniforms, had it easy. But you'd think a company as big as Converse could have done something special for a player as big as Magic. That simply wasn't how it was done.

Year: 1998
Sneaker: Nike Air Foamposite Pro
Player(s): Tim Duncan

As if it wasn't bad enough that Mike Bibby debuted the Nike Foamposite One on-court, Penny Hardaway didn't even get to be the first to wear them in the NBA All-Star Game. In fact, no one wore the Foamposite One in the '97 ASG (Penny was still in the Penny II). And so when Tim Duncan broke out the pearl - or were they actually white? - Foamposite Pros in New York in 1998, he became the first player to wear Foams in the midseason classic. Too bad there weren't sneaker blogs then, or Timmy might have a different rep.

Year: 2000
Sneaker: Nike Air Force 1 High "Sheed"
Player(s): Rasheed Wallace

The 2000 All-Star Game in Oakland was all about rebirth. The previous year's All-Star Game had been lost to a protracted lockout - sorry, Philadelphia - and Michael Jordan had re-retired after the 1998 NBA Finals, presumably for good. But there were new things to celebrate. Like Rasheed Wallace, selected to his first All-Star Game at the age of 25. He only scored nine points in the game, but his black leather Nike Air Force 1s harkened back to a time when men were men, and those men wore massive hightops. And both teams played hard.

Year: 1994
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan IX
Player(s): B.J. Armstrong, Latrell Sprewell and Mitch Richmond

Before Michael Jordan retired for the first time, no one else dared wear his sneakers. Considering this was a guy who could twist nearly anything into motivation, there wasn't any need to provoke him so overtly. But once he walked away to give baseball a try, the Jumpman appeared on other NBA feet. In the '94 ASG, three guys - Mitch Richmond, Latrell Sprewell and OG Baby Bull BJ Armstrong - thought they could fill MJ's shoes. Meanwhile, Scottie Pippen won MVP. But we'll get to that.

Year: 2003
Sneaker: Air Jordan Retro III "True Blue"
Player(s): Kobe Bryant

Don't tug on Superman's cape, don't - well, you probably know the rest. While Michael Jordan played in his final All-Star Game in the latest and greatest Air Jordan XVIII, a between-deals Kobe Bryant took to the court in the "True Blue" Air Jordan III. Kobe finished with 22 as the West won in double OT - ruining Jordan's ending. Oops.

Year: 2001
Sneaker: Nike Air Force 1 High "Sheed"
Player(s): Rasheed Wallace

After sporting a pair of black leather Air Force 1 Highs in 2000, Rasheed Wallace returned for his second All-Star Game in something a bit more fitting. His red patent leather 1s immediately jumped to many a collector's grail list, and it wasn't because of his 1-of-7-from-the-floor, two-point performance (Sheed never really had a good All-Star game). Nike put out some red patent lows with Sheed's logo on the heel, but it wasn't the same.

Year: 2001
Sneaker: Air Jordan Retro XI "Columbia"
Player(s): Glenn Robinson

Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson played in just two All-Star games, not quite what was expected from a number-one overall pick. But he made the second one count, as he became the first player to wear a pair of Air Jordan retros in an All-Star game. He went with the "Columbia" XIs, which Mike himself wore en route to MVP honors in 1996. Big Dog wasn't so effective, scoring eight points off the bench in 18 minutes of play. But he still made history.

Year: 1985
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan 1
Player(s): Michael Jordan

Before the introduction of the newest Air Jordan became an All-Star weekend tradition, Mike wore the classic white/black/red joints in his first-ever All-Star appearance. Whether he was frozen out or not is still subject to debate (he did attempt the fewest shots, 9, of any Eastern Conference starter), but what isn't is that his kicks made everyone else's look old and tired.

Year: 2004
Sneaker: adidas TMAC III
Player(s): Tracy McGrady

By the time the 2004 All-Star Game rolled around, no one was feeling themself quite as much as Tracy McGrady. And why not? The 24-year-old forward was in the midst of a successful defense of his scoring title, and if he hadn't made it through the first round of the playoffs yet, so what? He had all the time in the world. So when he wore clashing patent leather versions of his TMAC III in the big game, he had to do something special to mark the occasion. No problem.

Year: 1988
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan III "Black/Cement"
Player(s): Michael Jordan

This is how you debut a shoe. First, you wear the white version while defending your Slam Dunk title in front of your hometown fans in the most hotly contested dunk contest ever. Then, the next day you sport the black version while dropping a game-high 40 (in 29 minutes) en route to MVP honors. Nobody did it better than MJ.

Year: 2004
Sneakers: And1, DaDa Supreme, Nike Zoom Huarache 2K4, adidas a3
Player(s): Ron Artest

What do you do when you make the All-Star team without a sneaker deal? If you're Ron Artest, you maximize the opportunity. Ron-Ron wore four different sneakers over the course of the 2004 game - two at a time - repping for And1, DaDa, Nike AND adidas all in one game. Efficiency like that can't be measured.

Year: 1996
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan XI "Columbia"
Player(s): Michael Jordan

With the exceptions of 1985 (his first) and 1987, Michael Jordan played his All-Star games in black sneakers. It was just how he got down. But in 1996, after a two-year hiatus, he returned to the mid-season classic in gleaming all-white Air Jordan XIs. The resurrection has never looked so good.