Sixers Sneakers – Decade in Review
As 76ers fans (and Philadelphia fans as a whole) a lot went down in the past 10 years. The team had a intriguing young core to start the decade, then came Sam Hinkie and The Process™, and now here we are – a blossoming title contender.
On top of the wins and losses (many, many losses) there were some notable sneaker highlights from the 2010s. At the time some of this didn’t get a whole lot of press, but if I were doing this throughout the whole decade, these are the things that I would have focused on.
Let’s go
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Allen Iverson Plays his Last Game for the 76ers in Reebok Answer 13
With fairly little fanfare, Allen Iverson played his last game for Philadelphia in a meaningless game in Chicago on February 20, 2010. His stat line was a mediocre 5-13 shooting for 13 points in 29 minutes. Iverson wore the Reebok Answer 13 in a primarily red colorway. This particular version of the model never hit retail as the Answer line (and Reebok basketball as a whole) were not having the financial returns that they did in Iverson’s heyday.
Elton Brand has a Signature Converse Sneaker
The current 76ers GM played two different stints with the team during the decade. During his first go-around, he was signed to a sneaker contract with Converse and had a three-year run of signature sneakers. The line was exclusive to JC Penney stores and were sold at a reasonable price point.
He wore the Converse EB1 during the 2008-09 season. The Converse EB2 was released the next year. The final model of the EB trilogy was released in 2010. He wore the Converse EB3 throughout the 2010-2011 season. It is wild that Elton Brand had three signature sneakers. Kudos to him for making them available to the masses at a lower price, but did Converse really think that hitching their wagon to a 29-year-old Elton Brand coming off a season where he played 8 total games was going to keep them relevant for the long haul?
Evan Turner signs with Chinese brand Li-Ning
The 76ers drafted Ohio State wing Evan Turner with the 2nd pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. The thought was that Turner and Andre Iguodala would be cornerstone pieces to lead the team into the future.
To the surprise of many, Turner eschewed the major players and signed a sneaker contract with Chinese brand Li-Ning. Li-Ning is a more prominent player today with the likes of Dwyane Wade and CJ McCollum on their roster, but back in 2010, the only players wearing the brand were Barron Davis and Shaquille O’Neal (Li-Ning made Shaq-branded sneakers with his logo).
Turner played his rookie season in Li-Ning’s base-level basketball model. He was given his own signature sneaker going into his second season in the league – dubbed the Li-Ning TurningPoint. A ‘Year of the Dragon’ make-up was created to be worn during All-Star weekend. Turner wore other various models from the brand throughout his tenure in Philadelphia, but the TurningPoint line never took off. He remains signed with the brand to this day. Turner may not have lived up to the standards of being the second pick, but good for him for making his money and getting a signature sneaker. There are a lot of all-stars who can’t say the same.
Nerlens Noel signs with Reebok (and never wears them)
Nerlens Noel was a potential #1 pick in the 2013 draft. He ended up falling to 6th due to injury concerns but was thought to be a big enough star in the making that Reebok targeted Noel as their next endorser. The brand had signed #1 pick John Wall a few years prior and was looking to make a stable of young players.
Noel showed up to Media Day prior to the season wearing an unreleased prototype of a Reebok Zigtech basketball sneaker (photo above). These have a similar cut to John Wall’s first signature shoe with the brand – Reebok Zig Slash – but are noticeably different. This model never saw the light of day. He was also featured in a commercial along side Jason Terry and Frosty hater Isaiah Thomas. In the ad, Noel wore the Reebok Pumpspective Omni.
In an odd twist, Noel asked to be released from his contract with Reebok in October 2014, before his rookie season had even ended. As we remember, Nerlens was the first in the tradition of Sixers’ players not playing one game during their true rookie season. Noel never stepped on court in a pair of Reeboks. I don’t know the details of his contract, but I would guess that wearing an unreleased model for Media Day and appearing in one commercial for the brand didn’t help Reebok sell any sneakers.
Process Sixers Look Good Losing
The middle of the decade brought a lot of losing to the Wells Fargo Center. And while, the team didn’t play very well, it did help make careers for some guys who might not have otherwise gotten chances (see: McConnell, TJ). Those teams were constructed to lose with young, inexperienced players who were just not as good as other teams. Yes, there were some nights where everyone was going through the motions, but by and large, they played hard.
There were two particular players during this time period that showed out with some flavorful sneakers night in and night out. Jerami Grant and Tony Wroten proved that even if your team stunk, you could look good losing. If @SixersSneakers was a thing back then, there would have been a ton of content. They wore everything from Kobe’s to KD’s to Foamposite models that had no business being worn to actually play basketball.
I’m going to focus on the numbered Air Jordans that the two of them wore. I could have honestly done a whole post just on this.
Air Jordan 2
Grant – ‘Wing It’
Air Jordan 4 ‘Toro Bravo’
Air Jordan 5
Wroten – ‘3Lab5’ (above) and ‘Raging Bull’
Air Jordan 6
Wroten – ‘Sport Blue’ and ‘Carmine’
Air Jordan 8
Wroten – ‘Doernbecher’
Air Jordan 9
Air Jordan 10
Wroten – ‘Red Steel’ and ‘Countdown Pack’
Air Jordan 11
Grant – ‘72-10’
Air Jordan 12
Wroten – ‘PSNY’ (above) and ‘French Blue’
Air Jordan 13
Grant – ‘3M Reflective Silver’
Air Jordan 15
Air Jordan 18
Air Jordan 19 ‘Midwest’
Air Jordan 21 ‘Red Suede’
Joel Embiid Signs with Under Armour
credit: NBA.com
Embiid wore adidas for his first few years in the league. Unfortunately for Joel, adidas was looking to smaller faster players (Harden, Lillard, Lowry, etc.) and he got lost on their roster. They failed to capitalize on his unique skill set and unmatched charisma.
Before the 2018-19 season, Embiid left adidas and signed with Under Armour. In his first season with the brand, he was outfitted with some nice player exclusive versions of the HOVR Havoc. UA put him in a pair of custom UA Anatomix Spawn for the All-Star Game that were made in collaboration with the Boys & Girls Club. For the 2019-2020 season, Embiid has been wearing the HOVR Havoc 2.
While Embiid is firmly entrenched at number two, behind Steph Curry, in the Under Armour pecking order, it remains to be seen if he’ll get his own signature sneaker. I have heard some rumblings that he might, but I don’t have enough evidence to confirm.
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I know that was a lot of content to unpack, but I hope you all enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Hopefully we have another decade of great sneaker content that I can bring to you in 2029. More importantly, I hope there is a championship or two thrown in that we can all celebrate.
