1994.
8th grade is a magical time. You’re emerging from childhood, starting to figure out who you are, and who you want to be (yet you are nowhere close), and more importantly getting comfortable in your own skin.
I was banking on this skin to stretch, A LOT. But in the mean time, I was content working to strengthen my vertical game. Enter Jump Soles! I’d go through the program driving my parents crazy jumping in the den and in the backyard. I supercharged the system by adding ankle weights. Any player worth his salt could grab rim. I had to get my fast twitch fiber game up!
When that growth spurt came I was gonna be ready.
I grew early in 8th grade- a power forward in terms of my school’s hoop squad- pretty much my adult height now, (but in 8th grade, or thereabout). I was filled with so much hope, so much promise. Grandpa was about 6 foot 4, and I wasn’t done growing yet so the prospect of growing up an NBA prospect was very much a realistic impossible dream. Chris Webber had just been picked up by my favorite hoop team (for a whole year then) the Golden State Warriors. His drop step to dunk was lethal. Wingspan for days (put a week on it!). I wanted his shoe. I mean, I was about to be 6 10 and NBA bound, I needed it! He was the hottest thing in 1993-1994.
I could see myself on draft day walking to the podium, grinning, moms crying, bending that draft day cap, shaking david stern’s hand.
I wanted his shoe to be him.
Speaking of Webber, this was one of my favorite Nike Ads of all time and I had it on the cover of my binder:
And the way he just poo-pooed on Barkley, it was just obscene:
And as every kid from my generation did- to be him you had to wear the shoes he wore (OBVIOUSLY!).
He had a few shoes before his signature shoe, and one of them was the Nike Air Strong Force.
I picked these up at my local Footlocker (Del Monte Shopping Center) and I remember thinking wow, these shoes are amazing. I think they’re the most obscure shoe mikej and I have both owned and share such a mutual fondness for. Not only did the color match all 15 of my Warriors Jerseys, the neoprene sock liner had your foot slide in like a glove.
This shoe was noteworthy because it was my first Nike shoe with an air bubble (Mervyn’s shoes just didn’t have air bubbles).
How about we hop in a time machine and see what Eastbay Catalog had to say:
“Something for everyone on the team, from the powerful player to the finesse shooter. An excellent combination of cushioning, stability, and light weight. Durabuck upper with supportive arch strap and Dynamic-Fit innersleeve. The most cushioning available is captured in the maximum-volume heel and forefoot Air-Sole units. Forefoot outsole grooves”
Yep, definitely need all of that. The scary thing is I had half the shoes on the page (LWP’s, Air Ups, and the Strongs)
They are also featured here briefly in this Nike spot:
Needless to say, my growth spurt saw it’s beginning and it’s end that fateful summer. Things didn’t exactly work out the way we planned in the NBA for Chris or for me.
But I still employ that drop step. Get’s em every time.
#15- Reebok Ice Creams, Diamond Flavor
#14- And 1 Tai Chi
#13- Nike SB Blazer
#11- Nike Air Strong Mid
#10
#9
#8
#7
#6
#5
#4
#3
#2
#1
Hear Me Roar... 