Sports / Basketball |
NBA All-Star fiesta to be on weekend(USA Today)Updated: 2007-02-16 15:34 Las Vegas is going to be hot, or so say the players descending on the city for NBA All-Star Weekend. And players and retailers hope fans say the same thing about the specially designed shoes they will unveil during the festivities. The NBA removes color-scheme restrictions on footwear for All-Star Weekend and players take full advantage, wearing sneakers that reflect their personality and the free-spirited nature of the showcase. Players in Friday's T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and All-Star Saturday Night get into the act. Boston Celtics high-flier Gerald Green, a Sprite Slam Dunk participant, will wear a special green edition of the Reebok Unanimous Mid. But it's the All-Star Game where the competition heats up. Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat will strut around in a limited-edition pair of his Converse Wade 2.0 ($100), available in stores today. "The All-Star Game is a great opportunity to debut my Wade 2.0 shoe," Wade says. "It's the biggest weekend for basketball and one of the biggest weekends in sports. The Wade 2.0 is totally different than any Converse shoe we've put out." But it's impossible to talk signature shoes without discussing the one that started it all, the Air Jordans. Richard Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons will unveil the 22nd edition of the shoe, Air Jordan XX2 ($175). The latest Jordans go on sale Saturday. Hamilton's All-Star edition will be red, white and blue and inscribed on the tongue is CV4LIFE - "Coatesville for Life." He is a Coatesville, Pa., native. "Growing up I had to have the latest pair of Air Jordans, one to play ball in and one to show off my style," Hamilton says. "Now Jordan has created the Air Jordan XX2, and I will be wearing an exclusive color of it during the All-Star Game." Tracy McGrady will don a red, white and blue All-Star version of his Adidas T-MAC 6 ($140) signature shoe, highlighted by a series of NBA All-Star logos. "I'm pumped about the Adidas shoes I'll be wearing in Vegas," McGrady says. "Some guys really get into it with all kinds of crazy-looking shoes. I think the game being in Vegas this year is definitely going to have an effect on some of the 'fashion' we'll see on the court." But this is more than a showcase for fans; manufacturers get a chance to showcase spring shoe lines. "The marquee shoe business has been tough," says John Horan, publisher of Sporting Goods Intelligence. "It hasn't been the real driver of sales it has been. It's a great opportunity. You know the announcers are going to talk about the shoes. If you put a gold pair of shoes on somebody, it's going to make it on TV. It's like any marketing thing, Super Bowl or anything else, everybody looks and sees what you did last year and says, 'Now we'll do even more.' There is definitely a competition that keeps getting raised every year." Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant will wear a special Nike edition of his Zoom Kobe II. |
|