A trip to the NBA All-Star Game must be the event of a lifetime. And it is, for some. It seems like the closest thing to Outkast's "Players Ball" video, centered around a celebratory game for the league's elite.
I've never been to an ASG or raged on All-Star Weekend—although it is on my bucket list. But as a sneaker aficionado, I have no interest in this year's festivities. I'd rather be wading, chest deep, in a bog of fried seafood and alcoholic slush that lines the streets of New Orleans, the Weekend's host city, than tuning into the game to see what the players wear.
Everyone used to wait for the ASG because they wondered what sneakers Jordan, Kobe, or T-Mac would break out during the perennial event of light defense and highlight-reel fast breaks. But it just don't feel the same. For starters: We already know which sneakers Melo, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and Stephen Curry are going to wear during the game—Jordan Brand and Under Armour have already shown us (or made them available). Footwear brands use the ASG as an advertisement in hopes that we latch onto its nostalgia and make a purchase, rather than a believable vessel for brands to debut new footwear. It's like watching the spoilers before seeing a great movie.
I'd rather be wading, chest deep, in a bog of fried seafood and alcoholic slush that lines the streets of New Orleans.
The best sneaker releases during All-Star Weekend have nothing to do with actual basketball performance, though. After last weekend's melee of releasing the "Sochi" Flyknit Trainer Chukkas, "Tiffany" Dunk Highs, and the "Red Octobers," sneakerheads are cashed out. But the White/Infrared Air Jordan VIs are releasing this weekend, along with the "Infrared 23" VIs, too. Adidas is also setting up a special pop-up in New Orleans and selling its 2 Chainz "Too Good To Be T.R.U. Top Ten. Very few are waiting for this All-Star Weekend to buy sneakers. They got everything they already wanted, and are scrounging up funds to see if they can buy the VIs - if they didn't get the "Infrared Pack" in 2010.
I spent $200 ($217 with tax) on the Flyknit Trainers this past week. Even if Blake Griffin reverse jams from the free-throw line, I won't be purchasing his PE pair of Super.Fly 2s. Sneakers from a one-time,
unimportant game don't have as much appeal when you've seen them a handful of times already - no matter how good the color scheme is.
But it's more than that: adidas doesn't even have it's biggest player, Derrick Rose, in the game. That makes it two years in a row that he hasn't laced up for the Eastern Conference. LeBron's sneakers for the occasion, although glow-in-the-dark, aren't as powerful as his Big Bang 9s from 2012, and Kobe, even though he's been named a starter for the game, has a limited-edition version of a sneaker he's never played in due to injury. To further complicate the matter, LeBron has hardly been wearing his own signature sneaker this season. It would make more sense to make an ASG version of the Zoom Soldier VII than to sell us on a LeBron XI we know he'd rather not wear. It's hard for us, as fans, to get hyped on a one-time pair of his sneakers that we're not even convinced that LeBron himself likes.
Sneakers from a one-time, unimportant game don't have as much appeal when you've seen them a handful of times already—no matter how good the color scheme is.
The NBA has also become an everyday haven for colorful sneakers. Long gone are the days of Michael Jordan getting fined because he wore sneakers that weren't white enough. Every other game, or at least it feels like, stars and non-stars alike will wear PE sneakers, a pair of Jordan retros, or even a pair of sneakers given to them by a rapper. The ASG, while an exuberant and enjoyable celebration of basketball culture, doesn't hold the same potency as it once did when T-Mac wore two different sneakers or Jordan laced up a pair of Columbia XIs to go with his Southwest-inspired uniform.
Even by today's standards, this weekend feels weak. No sneaker this year holds the same hyped status as the "Galaxy" Foamposites from 2012.
Still, that's OK. But the ASG, from a sneaker standpoint, lacks star power. If more people are lining up for a sneaker that released 23 years ago than the newest technology in Nike's arsenal, then the
excitement of the game has been sucked out. It might be better to keep the sneakers under wraps and drop them as quickstrikes, a la the "Red Octobers," and see how customers react.
Until then, I'll sip my imaginary hand grenade and pretend to slurp fresh oysters as I root for the U.S. Olympic Men's Hockey Team— while wearing the "Sochi" Flyknit Trainers—as they face off against the rest of the world. This ASG's round of footwear? Haven't been there, but already seen that.
