The Year 2000: The world was in a tizzy because they thought all of the computers would die when they’d attempt to count past one-thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-nine on New Year’s Eve. I was in a tizzy because the NBA All Star Game was being held in Oakland and I couldn’t go. Vince Carter (pictured above) blew up the spot with a between the legs dunk that set Steve Francis and VC’s cousin Tracy McGrady packin’.
Carter’s aerial display was the most electrifying show put on at any dunk contest. Ever. Sorry Mike. Sorry Spudd. Sorry ‘Nique.
It’s OVER:
Vince was rockin some And 1 Tai-Chi’s and I think at that moment every kid in america wanted a pair. And 1 was an upstart company who would rise to fame as a grass roots “street level” brand. (For those not hip to the hoop terminology, “And 1” is a term when a player is fouled and they are confident the shot is going in despite their being manhandled). Their initial fame was with basketball shorts and shit talking posters and tees with a faceless dude that would adorn the arm of many big time ballers.
The Shorts:
This might be the shortest pair of And 1 shorts in existence
The Trash talk shirts:
The Tats:
Rashard Lewis:
Matt (traitor) Barnes:
Brad Miller:
The list goes on really.
Later they would move on to footwear and the Tai Chi’s was And 1’s biggest shoe by far.
Having gained admission into Davis, UCLA, but not Berkeley, Y2K would also find me kicking around the campus of Monterey Peninsula College. I was just exiting a 4 year relationship with the girl who I dated every moment of high school. Every Moment. She was a great girl with an awesome family, but I was ready to let loose a bit.
Life was good in the halcyon days of MPC. In addition to my studies I worked about 20 hours a week at a job that was dumb easy (sometimes John and I would literally spin in our chairs staring at the ceiling, chanting $12.65 our then hourly rate) After school and work I’d meet up with the homies Jim, Rick, John and Jason at the Monterey Sports Center. John’s mom hooked us up with a pass because she worked for the city. Jason always bitched that I didn’t have to pay because of my allegiance to John. These would be some of the fondest memories of my life.
The stomping grounds
2-4 times a week we’d show up and teams would look at us and laugh us off as a bunch of chumps. We were a rag-tag gang of unlikely ballers who would readily dismantle teams that were bigger, stronger, or faster. We were a cohesive unit. It also helped that I had just started lifting and the new found strength allowed me to have a 3-point shot whose range started just within half court. Jim could jump out the gym. Jason’s mid range game was firece. Rick created so much space he was like a tower of power, but only 5’11. John was always good for a clutch three or a crucial extra pass. My shot was silly back then. We were on fire for sport. Thrived for competition. I even had my car keyed by these jive turkeys we beat.
Knee deep in the shoe game, John and I put our heads together and thought “how dope would it be if we both rocked the Tai-chi’s but we swapped one blue and one red shoe each?
Red
Blue
It was like the crips and the bloods making a rap album together.
My mismatched shoes definitely added a certain swagger to my game. It made me stand out. It made me a target. Some dudes talked shit- others wished they thought of it first. It didn’t matter, if I was inside that half court line you had to guard me or you would pay 3 times.
John and I would later do it again in college with the Jumpman Camp 23’s, the red is pictured here:
Red
And blue.
Though the mismatched camps turned some heads, nothing could recreate the feeling we felt walking into the gym in those Tai-Chi’s. We earned respect.
The rag tag crew is now all but dismantled but the feeling from 2000 is something we’re still chasing to this day.
RIP
#15- Reebok Ice Creams, Diamond Flavor
#14- And 1 Tai Chi
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#1
Hear Me Roar... 
hahahahaha………….perfect