What They’re Wearing – Coldest Time of the Season
credit: Sixers.com
It’s the time of year in Philadelphia when things get cold. This past week we’ve seen the temperatures drop into single digits (As an aside, don’t tell me that the temperature is 22˚ with a wind chill of -2˚. That just means it’s -2˚. I don’t care what temperature of the air is; I care how cold my body is. Sorry, rant over).
This time of year in the NBA tends to be a cold period, too. We’re post all of the Christmas hoopla, but pre all of the All-Star Game hoopla. And while the Sixers are in the midst of their toughest stretch of the season, the games all kind of run together. Yes, we’ll all remember the OKC game with the dramatics at the end. And the Houston game where Corey Brewer supplanted Spencer Hawes as the greatest 00 in team history, but don’t tell me that you’ll have one memory of the Mavs, Knicks, or Hawks games from January 2019.
The same can be said about the sneakers. Besides a few highlights here and there, the 76ers sneaker offerings have been cold as of late. Jimmy Butler’s Air Jordans have gotten stale. Joel Embiid has worn the same neon yellow “Trust the Process” Under Armours since Christmas. And Ben Simmons continues to wear boring Nike Hyperdunks. Let’s take this time of year to review what some of the other players on the team are rocking.
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First up is from January 11 against the Hawks. Mike Muscala is shown wearing an all blue model of the Nike Hyperdunk X. Ben also has a pair of Nike Hyperdunk X on, but he gets a little bit more love than Moose does from Nike. Jimmy is wearing an understated light gray pair of the Air Jordan XXXII low. To round it out, Wilson Chandler is on court in the Nike KD 11 “Chinese Zodiac”. In the background, the 15-year-old kid the Hawks let suit up was wearing the Nike Kyrie 4 Low, and John Collins had on an all red version of the adidas Dame 4.
Next up is a shot from the game in Madison Square Garden vs. the Knicks on January 13. Joel has on his previously mentioned Under Armour HOVR Havoc “Trust the Process”. His Under Armour cohort, TJ McConnell, is playing in the HOVR Havoc low. JJ Redick has been playing most of the season in the adidas CrazyLight Boost 2016 low. Jonah Bolden and Wilson Chandler both have been wearing the Nike KD 11 all season. Bolden opted for the gray and black “Still KD” version, while Chandler is wearing a navy blue pair that were created via NikeID.
Finally, we have a picture from the Minnesota game from January 15, which we’ll only remember because it was Jerryd Balyess’ first game back in Philly. TJ is wearing his UA HOVR Havoc low in this one as well. Newly acquired Corey Brewer has on a gray pair of the adidas Crazy Explosive low. As previously noted, Jonah wears the Nike KD 11 on court. This time he is rocking the EYBL version. Rounding out the group are Landry Shamet and Furkan Korkmaz who are wearing the 2017 and 2018 version of the Nike Zoom Kobe A.D. respectively. Timberwolves guard Jeff Teague is wearing the Air Jordan X “Cool Grey” in the foreground.
Other Sixers Notes
Jimmy Butler
In the humiliating blowout loss in Washington, Jimmy Butler played in the Air Jordan 30 Q54 “Cosmos”. I’m not a huge fan of the Air Jordan 30, but of all the colorways, I’d put these near the top. The second most interesting this Jimmy wore this week was his blue Roger Federer/Leonardo from the Ninja Turtles headband against the Thunder in Saturday afternoon’s instant classic. He didn’t play against Houston or San Antonio, so who knows if it’s here to stay.
Ben Simmons
Ben continues to trot out the same few pairs of Nike Hyperdunk X each game, so there isn’t much to report from him. I’m mentioning him here because he gave his sneakers and headband to some kids at the Knicks game. Two things – 1. You’ll notice at the beginning, he takes his orthotics out and gives them to a team official. Smart move. 2. One of the kids is wearing a Knicks jersey. WTF, bro?
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Opponents Notes
Atlanta Hawks
Ageless veteran Vince Carter plays for the Hawks. He signed a deal with Nike to wear the Nike Shox BB4, which he made famous back in the early 2000s, for the remainder of the season. I remember thinking that Shox would be the future of sneakers when they were originally released. Oh, how wrong I was.
New York Knicks
Knicks Rookie Kevin Knox played on January 13 in a nice pair of orange and blue Puma Clyde Court Disrupt. It’s nice to see Puma starting to release these in team colors. Don’t forget that Zhaire Smith is a Puma cat, so hopefully we’ll see some Sixers’ models if and when he ever plays.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Most of you probably forget that at one time Derrick Rose was the face of adidas basketball. Adidas continues to churn out signature models for the former MVP. He wore the adidas D Rose 9 in Philadelphia. Truth be told, I wear a pair of adidas D Rose 7 that I got at Ross for $35 when I play at the gym. They may look weird, but it is a well-constructed sneaker. No hate from me.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Russell Westbrook released the newest version of his signature sneaker a few weeks ago. The colorway of the Jordan Why Not Zer0.2 worn against the 76ers wasn’t my favorite, but I like the look of these overall. They are a good canvas for a multitude of options in regards to colors, patterns, and materials. I think there is a lot more to come from this sneaker, and I’m here for it.
Houston Rockets
Thus far this season, PJ Tucker has been the sneaker champ. He has what seems to be an endless supply of rare and custom sneakers to pull out on a nightly basis. During warm-ups in Philadelphia, he wore a pair of custom all red Air Jordan 3 “Tinker” created by The Shoe Surgeon. They pull the split swoosh design element from the Supreme x COMME des GARÇONS x Nike Air Force One. For the actual game, he switched into the Nike LeBron 3 Retro “SuperBron”.
San Antonio Spurs
Spurs guard, and native Australian, Patty Mills played on Wednesday night in a custom pair of the soon-to-be-released Under Armour Anatomix Spawn. They featured a brown base with the word “Invasion” on the left shoe and “Survival” on the right. The backs of the left sneaker said “100%,” while the right had “3%.”
Mills’ family is Indigenous Australian and, after some research, I was able to piece everything together. The sneakers clearly represent Mills’ feelings towards the centuries of struggles of the Indigenous people of Australia. The numbers are the percentages of the Indigenous population pre-British arrival (100%) and presently (3%). I won’t comment on the plight of the Indigenous people of Australia, but kudos to Mills for honoring his heritage.
The Sydney Morning Herald published a nice piece on the sneakers. They also did a much better job of examining the intricacies of the relationship of the Indigenous people and the celebration of the day the British arrived than I ever could.
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Nike introduced their self-lacing basketball sneakers last week – dubbed the Nike Adapt BB. I wanted to wait until they made their debut on court for (wishful thinking) or against the Sixers before giving my thoughts. Nike seems to be having their younger roster talent wear them, which I was hopeful might include Ben Simmons. Alas, my dreams were shattered once again by this team.
One last thing. Last week I posted a leaked photo of this year’s All-Star Jerseys. A photo has surfaced showing the white jerseys and shorts associated. As anticipated, the white uniform looks much better with the red, white, and blue trim than the black.
Stay tuned.
