Once I heard SLAM was turning 30 this yr — man, first off, I felt outdated as hell — however in fact, I used to be additionally hyped.
Ever since I can keep in mind taking part in the sport, watching the sport, loving the sport — SLAM Journal has been proper there. I’ve been carrying a rubber band ever since that first KICKS situation.
It was the inspiration. The blueprint. The tradition. All alongside. For each basketball and sneakers. For the final thirty years, and nevertheless a few years it runs from right here…
I knew I may additionally contribute to the anniversary in a singular method.
To have a good time the influence of SLAM and its thirtieth anniversary, we’ve partnered with footwear manufacturers throughout the business. We’re wanting again at among the most iconic covers and gamers during the last 30 years, to inform the story of SLAM’s influence on the basketball world, all by way of some fireplace collaborative sneakers.
My favourite half about SLAM is the chapters. The eras. The best way that the journal and the platform meant various things to completely different individuals alongside the best way — every decade — however all the time made an influence and left its mark.
Tonight in New York, we’ll be previewing a few of our upcoming SLAM thirtieth Anniversary footwear to come back on the journal’s 30 YEARS OF SLAM social gathering, with a runway spanning all through all the remainder of 2024 of extra warmth on the best way. Right here’s an early have a look at what to anticipate all yr lengthy.
SLAM x LEBRON x NIKE
By the point the already-dubbed “King James” appeared on the duvet of SLAM #78 on the halfway level of his rookie season, probably the most hyped prospect in league historical past was already assembly, and even exceeding the hype.
“It’s solely the start,” learn the duvet textual content.
He was lacing up his first signature shoe, the Air Zoom Technology, all through his historic 20.5.5 rookie yr. It wasn’t simply the league that had stamped him as the long run, however Nike coined him “generational” off high with a record-setting $90 Million rookie shoe deal.
The historical past between SLAM and Bron is lengthy stamped. The textual content behind the tongue of the SLAM x Air Zoom Technology is up to date from the duvet and says as a lot: “Since The Starting…”
Flipping the hues of his first sneakers, a wealthy purple suede takes on the bottom coloration, whereas a collection of design particulars celebrating his debut signature all come to life. There’s a nod to his first PE, the “Laser” Generations worn on Christmas Day, which was additionally the primary lasered hoop shoe to hit the NBA hardwood. An in depth lasered graphic highlighting the SLAM emblem and James’ upbringing tells the story additional.
For the primary time, there’s a collar Swoosh placement, simply as Aaron Cooper initially designed them. The molded components on the shoe that drafted off of his much-discussed Hummer H2 are all chrome to honor his 18th birthday reward. We’re solely simply getting began with this one.
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SLAM x AND1
When SLAM #41 dropped in April of 2000, we had simply witnessed maybe the best Dunk Contest efficiency of all time. Vince Carter was famously a sneaker free agent in simply his second season, and he laced up the white and purple AND1 Tai Chi for that prompt basic array of dunks.
AND1 had been round for a couple of years as a rising attire firm by that time and their transcendent streetball Mixtapes had been shifting main, however now, their footwear was taking off too. VC laced up a easy black and white pair of the Tai Chi on the very subsequent cowl slot that was obtainable. The header was simple:
“The Best Present On Earth”
To have a good time the 2000s period of AND1 and the influence of the Tai Chi on sneaker tradition, we’re creating a brand new model that brings to life SLAM’s heritage colours of white, gray, black and orange, fittingly the precise shades from that cowl shot of Problem 41.
The mesh fade is a nod to a different mannequin from the period that I all the time liked, the Finger Roll, and a strategy to carry the Tai Chi’s authentic yin and yang impressed break up learn to the aspect of the shoe. As all the time, the shoe seems to be finest with a suede coloration alongside the within panel — a brilliant orange suede is seen on the SLAM version.
Our thirtieth anniversary crest may be seen alongside the inside collar, together with the three vertical stars discovered on the duvet textual content. The 3M hits all through tie again to the intense lights of All-Star Weekend, and the influence of The Best Present On Earth all these years later.
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SLAM x CURRY BRAND
Stephen Curry had simply signed with Underneath Armour a couple of months earlier than he was on his first cowl of SLAM in December of 2013. And man, what a run he’s had within the decade since. He’s now the President of Curry Model, his personal rattling model inside the Underneath Armour umbrella.
On the unique cowl, he’s carrying the Anatomix Spawn, a sneaker that marked a brand new period of design for UA, and the primary mannequin he wore with the model to start out the 2013-2014 season.
The actual story is the shoe that Stephen wore for the duvet shoot was a mixture of blue, purple and teal. In a full circle second I couldn’t have imagined, I truly photoshopped the unique image, shifting the purple midsole to royal blue, and the teal collar to a Warriors-matching yellow. This was lengthy earlier than the league let go of their coloration guidelines, in fact.
A decade later, and Curry Model has lately launched the Anatomix Spawn by way of its Flotro filter, remixing the corporate’s progressive Circulation midsole with a modernized model of the unique higher.
Whereas SLAM #173 was simply the place to begin of Curry as cowl man, the SLAM x Spawn Flotro celebrates all the covers that the 4-time champ has appeared on within the years since.
The design incorporates a collage of his covers throughout all the higher, with torn edges impressed by everybody’s childhood ritual of tearing out the pages of SLAM to tack up on their bed room partitions.
The idea can also be a nod to the generational influence that Curry has had on the sport, inspiring younger readers and gamers around the globe to reimagine how they strategy the sport, prolong their taking pictures vary, and expertise the enjoyment of hoops.
The heel cling tag options the SLAM emblem, whereas a pearlized midsole references the frequent thirtieth anniversary stone. The lace suggestions are a nod to each the milestone and Curry’s iconic jersey quantity, merely studying “THIRTY.”
Keep tuned for extra on the total SLAM x Curry Model pack to come back. We’ve obtained one other mannequin on the best way, too…
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SLAM x SABRINA x NIKE
A yr after being chosen #1 total within the WNBA draft, SLAM stamped Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu as “The Subsequent Queen of NY” for the magazine’s Future Problem.
The next yr, Sabrina was launching her very personal signature shoe with Nike, taking her starpower and influence on the sport to yet one more degree. An All-Star and All-WNBA PG in every of the final two seasons, the 3-Level Contest report setter will as soon as once more be working level this season for a loaded Liberty squad that reached the WNBA Finals final yr.
The expectations are rightfully excessive but once more as Sabrina enters her fifth season. There’s additionally equally excessive expectations for her follow-up signature shoe, the Nike Sabrina 2.
After her debut signature mannequin broke boundaries and noticed adoption in any respect ranges of the sport, inspiring “anybody, anyplace,” the momentum round her second sneaker makes it one of many anticipated fashions of all the yr.
We will’t wait to share how SLAM x Sabrina involves life in New York later this yr.
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SLAM x LAMELO x PUMA
Since he was a youngster, LaMelo Ball has been SLAM Fam. He was doing full-scale photoshoots all through his highschool run at Chino Hills, along with his starpower and basketball journey taking him across the globe ever since.
After his Rookie of the Yr begin within the league, the face of Puma Hoops noticed the launch of his first signature shoe coincide along with his first All-Star Recreation look throughout his sophomore season. It was on Problem #237 that he pulled up for the duvet of SLAM in his unlaced MB.01s, hitting the league’s longtime emblem pose in a customized LaFrancé jersey from his personal clothes line.
With an iced out, 3D UFO pendant on his neck, the duvet declared him “Out Of This World.”
With extra to come back later this yr, search for SLAM and LaMelo to carry to life his “uncommon” and “1 of 1” persona within the loudest method doable, as we crew up with Puma to have a good time Ball’s influence on the sneaker business and his place in the way forward for each the sport and SLAM’s subsequent chapter forward.
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SLAM x PENNY x NIKE
As we seemed again by way of the many years of SLAM covers over time, we additionally seemed on the numerous milestone points because the very first cowl went to print in ’94.
The thirtieth situation of SLAM featured none apart from Penny Hardaway, with a Scoop Jackson-penned cowl story that completely captured his rapid rise with the Orlando Magic and his mission to remain on high of the sport that he poured every part into.
Round that very same time within the late ’90s, Nike had simply unveiled one in every of their most progressive sneakers ever with Penny because the headliner. The Foamposite One has been probably the most distinctive and iconic sneakers throughout the business ever since, with its molded higher and clear backside making for an unmistakable look and a world following.
The SLAM x Penny Foamposite takes it again to one of many earliest sketches from designer Eric Avar, who in some way noticed the long run when first crafting the shoe within the mid-90s. The molded Foamposite higher discovered right here contains a printed graphic impressed by Avar’s idea sketch, with the small print dialed in from there.
For the primary time, there’s a Swoosh alongside the shank, simply as Avar had sketched it. The tongue logos alternate between Hardaway’s modern 1 Cent emblem and the SLAM emblem. The heel tabs characteristic the three vertical stars discovered on each cowl all through the journal’s 30 years, and a quantity 30 that additionally honors SLAM’s thirtieth Problem.
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SLAM x ADIDAS
While you ask anybody to select their favourite cowl of SLAM, it’s the fifteenth situation that includes a fold-out cowl of rising rookies “set to explode” that rapidly involves thoughts for a lot of. One of many deepest Draft courses ever posed in entrance of a brick wall, and SLAM was proper there in 1996 to stamp the gathering of future Corridor of Famers as subsequent up.
In partnering with Adidas, we’ll be bringing to life one of many model’s most forward-thinking designs in firm historical past. Sure, which means the Loopy Two is retroing sooner or later, for the primary time.
With a molded silhouette drafting from the automotive business, the sneaker was each bit as boundary pushing because it was polarizing when it initially launched.
You’ll be seeing the outsized proportions of the sneaker come to life in a wholly new method later this yr, as SLAM seems to be again to the shades discovered alongside the basic “Prepared Or Not…” cowl from the earliest days of the journal.
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SLAM x BUBBA CHUCK x REEBOK
You already know this was a should.
As Allen Iverson writes within the foreword of the “30 YEARS OF SLAM” guide:
“I’m SLAM.”
The bond and timeline of the 2 have been linked ever since Iverson was first featured on the duvet, whereas nonetheless in faculty. When Problem #32 dropped although, the influence reached past basketball.
It’s not simply an iconic SLAM cowl. It’s a picture that kickstarted a whole throwback jersey period for the 2000s, and cemented AI as probably the most culturally impactful icon that the league has ever seen.
All through the detailed Russ Bengtson characteristic interview with The Reply, there’s a format graphic that includes Iverson that’s centered round “The three of Diamonds.”
As everyone knows, there isn’t a lot rationalization wanted to elucidate Allen’s affinity for ice.
The throwback “PHILA” jersey he’s carrying was customized made by a neighborhood close by producer named Mitchell & Ness, to spotlight the historical past of the league in an “Previous College Problem” because the NBA was coping with a lockout that yr. It was the chains, the tats, the watch and the earrings that allow you to know this was nonetheless a contemporary icon of the following millennium.
Impressed by “frosted” diamond watches, the midsole of the SLAM x Reebok Query Low contains a metallic frosted texture that extends up into the shoe’s iconic toe cap. The SLAM emblem seems on the heel, whereas the lettering up the eyelets have been switched out to learn Allen’s longtime nickname amongst his closest associates, “Bubba Chuck.”
The “3 of Diamonds” emblem from the unique cowl story format hits off each the heel of the shoe and the outsole by way of a transparent outsole, bringing probably the most impactful covers in SLAM’s 30-year historical past full circle, celebrating as soon as once more that “Allen Iverson is Soul On Ice.”
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