As the NBA’s best players prepare to roll into New Orleans for All-Star Weekend, it's worth taking a look back at some of the most memorable moments the festivities have brought us over the years.
Whether it's the Rookie Challenge on Friday, All-Star Saturday competitions, or the All-Star Game that caps off the weekend on Sunday night, there have been plenty of great moments supplied by each night of All-Star Weekend. Aside from the games, another major piece of All-Star Weekend is the plethora of limited edition sneakers that players break out throughout the festivities.
Over the years brands like Nike, Adidas, and Jordan have laced up their athletes in limited edition shoes that are exclusive to the All-Star Game, with themes and collections usually inspired by the host cities. Perhaps the most memorable was Nike’s 2012 collection that dropped at the peak of Nike Basketball’s hype during All-Star Weekend in Orlando. The sneakers caused mass hysteria, and featured the likes of the highly coveted “Galaxy” Foamposite One, “Big Bang” LeBron 9, and “Galaxy” KD 4.
Despite all of the great sneakers NBA All-Star Weekend has given us over the years, there are also a ton of shoes that didn’t hit the mark. Sometimes the shoes worn by the players just don’t live up to the All-Star caliber talent that they are supposed to represent. Whether via a terrible model, a terrible colorway, a questionable brand, or even all of the above thrown into one, there have been some above average players lacing up below average footwear.
There are a ton of terrible kicks to choose from over the years, but we have narrowed it down to what we believe are the 10 worst sneakers worn in NBA All-Star history.
11. Spalding The Dream 2
10. Dada CDubbz “Chrome”
9. Adidas T-Mac 3
View this video on YouTube
Year: 2004
Worn By: Tracy McGrady
Tracy McGrady was one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA in the mid-2000s. At the time of the 2004 All-Star Game, his signature line with Adidas was on its third rendition, and the brand wanted to be noticed during the weekend's events in LA. They got their wish because T-Mac showed up to the All-Star Game rocking a mismatched—one red and one blue—patent leather pair of T-Mac 3s. The shoe was fit for the circus, but thankfully T-Mac did Adidas a favor by giving fans the highlight of him tossing himself an oop off the glass to remember alongside them, and overshadow how atrocious they really were.
8. Reebok Answer 9 "All-Star"
7. Dada Spinners
6. Reebok Pump Showstopper G2
View this video on YouTube
Year: 2007
Worn By: Gerald Green
This Reebok shoe may have never made it to the big game, but it did appear in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Relatively unknown up to this point, Boston Celtics guard Gerald Green showed up to the contest (and won it) in a PE version of the Reebok Pump Showstopper. This already mediocre-at-best model was outfitted with a green patent leather upper with yellow and white accents. The whole back portion of the shoe features a green and yellow etched graphic—a far cry from the lasering we have come to appreciate on Air Jordan retros. Not even John Cena would rock this Boston-inspired Pump.
5. GR41 Warner Brothers Sneakers
4. Adidas Kobe 2
View this video on YouTube
Year: 2002
Worn By: Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant has carved out a nice spot in signature sneaker history for himself with some impressive Adidas models and classics from the Nike Kobe lineage, but the Kobe 2 with Adidas was a definite low-point. These oven mitts for your feet certainly were aiming for a futuristic look, and possibly accomplished that in the sense that they don’t even look like shoes at all. It almost makes you wonder if a Yeezy cosign could have saved this flop back in the day.
3. Adidas KG Bounce “Vegas”
2. Reebok Zig Slash
