I wasn't a big Air Force 1 person until I started buying custom ones.
That whole era of Chris Webber with Nike was, to me, the golden era. Everybody was getting their own signature shoe.
To be able to represent Nike as a brand is one thing, but to also represent the great players that came before me means a lot.
If you have market power like Nike, you can set terms that are much tougher because athletes value the endorsement of Nike - it means as much to them as it does to the company.
You were cool if you had on a pair of Air Force 1s. It's still a staple for me while on tour.
Collecting shoes is my biggest hobby. I've got a couple hundred pairs of Nikes and Jordans. I got a lot of hats, too. I like to play basketball, but nothing competition wise.
I wore that same shirt yesterday playing golf. There goes the Nike account.
Any style that Nike makes in all black, shoe, sweatshirt, onesie, doesn't matter, I pretty much need to have.
Nike was the essence of sports, transcendence through sports.
My favorite sneakers, growing up, were always the Air Force 1 and the Air Max line. I started collecting when I was 13 or 14 years old.
Nike SF Air Force Ones are hands down my absolute favorite sneakers.
