The Association

Review: Converse Weapon Evo

by Brett Pollakoff

Most of you will remember the Converse Weapon, the iconic shoe worn by the likes of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s. (In case you don't, here's a refresher.)

Today, Converse has gone back to what once was, by officially releasing the Weapon Evo, a shoe the company calls "an all-new, court-ready, basketball shoe evolved from the original Weapon, which was worn by superstars during the game’s 'Golden Age.' "

The shoes certainly look virtually identical to their predecessor from an era gone by. But with a redesigned upper and cushioning system, these are actually court-ready kicks, even by today's more demanding standards.

I was given a pair to try out, and have been playing in them for the last few weeks. Read on for a complete review.

Phoenix Mercury's Jersey Sponsorship... The Future of the NBA?

By Craig Kwasniewski

Trying to make ends meet in tough economic times the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA is putting a sponsor on the front of their jerseys. My first reaction?  Well this is the WNBA, do I care?  No really, do I care????  Of course they need to make money because in this economy the NBA is no longer subsidizing the WNBA and this looks like a last ditch effort to make ends meet in the fledgling women's league.  I get it.

But then I thought about it a little more... every major professional sports league has jersey sponsors except for the big three and a half (hockey of course) in the US.  Times are tough and the league is facing the first salary cap reduction ever and many of the non-playoff teams saw huge drops in attendance.  Television money is maxed out so a good way t make extra revenue is to sell jersey sponsorship.  Major League Soccer was able to pull it off with very little backlash so why not the other sports?  The timing is perfect especially with all the new exposure in places like China and Europe.  The NBA sold literally millions of jerseys in China the past  3 seasons, just imagine the exposure if the jerseys are sponsored.

So really this Mercury thing looks more and more like a test run from the NBA front office.  Let's see what kind of exposure and revenue this generates.  Will the very few WNBA fans fork out the dough and pick up the new jerseys?  Will the Phoenix Mercury be able to survive this season with the extra money?  It's all a test.

The way I see it, this will be a MAJOR bargaining chip in the upcoming CBA.  Will the NBA do revenue sharing or is this a team by team basis?  If so, will this create financial imbalance the likes of the English Premier League?  How much will this be shared with the players?  Will they continue to raise the salary cap?  And most importantly, how will fans react when they see traditional jerseys like the Celtics, Bulls, Knicks and Lakers with say AT&T slapped on the front instead of the team name? 

It works with european soccer leagues but will it sell here with fickle and tradition-happy fans?  Below is Josh Childress's Olympiacos jersey... the future of the NBA?  What do you think?

Photos: New Orleans 2008 All-Star Uniforms

by Brett Edwards

We love us our All-Star gear around these parts, here are some leaked photos of this year's uniforms. No official word from the NBA if these are the final versions, but we'll take what we can get for now. The kicks from adidas aren't bad, either.

[via Ballhype]

Ben Gordon Has Plenty Of Shoes

by Brett Edwards

One of the coolest things about being a pro baller -- besides the cash and groupies of course -- is the unlimited amount of gear that you have access to. Check out Ben Gordon showing off his insane shoe collection, which I'm sure is in no way unique among NBA players.

[via Jen's Free Throws]

Converse WADE 3.0: Limited Christmas Edition

by Brett Edwards

Another year has gone by, which means it's time for another special Christmas edition of Converse's Dwyane Wade signature shoes. This time it's a limited release Green/Black/Lizard-skin looking set of kicks, which despite having nothing to do with the Heat's team colors, are pretty damn cool looking. Here are couple of photos of the shoes, which you can expect to see D. Wade himself rocking on Christmas Day on ABC during the Heat's loss to the Cavs. Once I get a chance to play in them, you can expect some more pics and a performance review.

Starbury Crossover

By Craig Kwasniewski

Time to send some love to my favorite kicks in the Starbury Movement... the Starbury Crossover.

Basically they're the Starbury's very decent version of the Air Force 1's (even right down them running a 1/2 size bigger than their other shoes, like the AF1's). They run a little stiff and when coming out of the box they look a little cheap (what do you expect for $14.99?). But trust me, lace em up with a pair of jeans and they look pretty clean. And with Nike flooding the market with AF1's, there's something very indie-rock about wearing the Crossovers.

Plus, everyone needs a pair of white sneaks that they can thrash up without worry. I wore a pair last Friday, took them to happy hour, a Dodger game and to Deja Vu's to cap off the evening. Sure they got beer, peanuts and cigarette ash on them, but I wasn't worried at all. What's the worst thing that could happen, my $14.99 shoes are ruined? EXACTLY!

Much like the other Starbury's, these are not the most comfortable shoes. And don't ever consider doing anything athletic in them! The biggest drawback is that they easily get dirty. Just buy some of that shoe cleaning spray at footlocker and wipe them off with a towel and they recover nicely. But just in case, I bought another pair (hell, they're only $14.99!). Anyway, here's a few more pics of them (BTW - they just came out with an all black edition that unfortunately sold out.):

UNDRCRWN Gil Zero

By Craig Kwasniewski

Remember those special edition Gil Zeros that Agent Zero was rockin' back in April? He broke them out at the Clippers-Wiz game in LA. Back then I wrote:

It appears as though Arenas has a closer for his shoes. For the first three quarters, he was rocking the multi-colored Gil Zeros that he wore against Seattle. But in the fourth quarter he put on a pair of the light grey Gil Zeros to close out the game. Do they play "Enter Sandman" at Wizard home games when the light grey Gil Zeros come on?

Anyway, those multi-colored ones are the UNDRCRWN Gil Zeros. It's a special edition collaboration between the Adidas Remix Collection and Undrcrwn involving all five of the Adidas signature kicks. According to their website:

Adidas Remix Collection has partnered with basketball lifestyle brand UNDRCRWN on a limited series of 90’s retrospective-inspired shoes derived from the ‘06/’07 campaign coined adidas x UNDRCRWN It Takes 5IVE. All five sport silhouettes, initially created for on-court play by NBA stars Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups and Gilbert Arenas, have received serious redesigns giving new flavor to court style.

You can pick up a pair of these limited edition Zeros at Undrcrwn's website for $150. Good luck at copping 'em... they're limited to 750 pairs worldwide (the 12's sold out in seconds... damn! Brett got a pair, so expect a unboxing post along with me buying that hoops card off him.). Anyway, here's a few pics of the shoes:

This Is What The Spurs' Playoff Shirts Should Look Like

by Brett Edwards

Check out the new playoff t-shirts over at NBA.com, pretty stylish right? Maybe, but they certainly won't get any points for originality. A company called Undercrown started the trend of doing these types of shirts with a sports theme, and theirs are way more interesting. For example, some of their offerings include shirts honoring the Fab 5 from Michigan, the UNLV championship team, and the 80's Lakers. This was also picked up by some people around the blogosphere, the first one that comes to mind is this one by the people at Wizznutzz, honoring the 1998 Bullets' bench.

The ones that are currently being peddled on NBA.com aren't nearly as imaginative. They really should have taken a more creative approach. For example, in the spirit of the Kobe shirt, this is what I would have done with the Spurs' shirt.

This Guy Knows How To Sell Shoes

by Brett Edwards

Ah, eBay. The source of so many strange and wonderful things. While doing some random searches today, I came across this listing for some Neon Orange Chuck Taylors. The shoes themselves aren't my size and are nothing extra-special, but the way they are advertised sure is. The site now allows you to embed video in your listings, and some people are going to the trouble of making full blown short films to sell their products.

Check out this video for the Chuck Taylors, and try to explain to me why the hell I've watched it more than 10 times. Is it the music, the mustache, or some combination of the two? Whatever it is, get this dude some coffee, 'cause he can close!

Would You Pay $72 For This T-Shirt?

by Brett Edwards

Some fool did exactly that. The Golden State Warriors bandwagon is officially out of control, with the give away "WE BELIEVE" shirt from Game 3 going for $72 on eBay. So not only are Warriors fans loud, but now they're rich and stupid too?

Alright, maybe that's a little harsh, but after all I'm in bitter Mavs fan mode after the Warriors have taken three of the first four games of this series and are on the brink of eliminating Dallas from the playoffs. I guess 67 wins in the regular season doesn't mean jack when you're matched up against a team that's basically doing exactly what you do, but doing it better so far in this series.

I'm guaranteeing a Dallas win in Game 5, but the way the Warriors are pulling shots out of their ass at home, they appear to be on their way to taking this series in six.