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1917 | Converse
This was the first-ever basketball shoe made, and they were "Non-Skid". These were specifically aimed at basketball players. -
1934 | Converse Chuck Taylor All Star
To help sales go up they added Chuck Taylor's name to the five-point star. Making Chuck Taylor the Godfather of basketball signature sneakers. -
1971 | Adidas Superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In addition to establishing his own signature shot, Kareem is also known for his own signature Adidas shoe dubbed the Adidas Jabbar. Released in 1971, the Adidas Jabbar was the first NBA-endorsed basketball shoe. -
1972 | Nike Bruin
As opposed to canvas, this shoe was constructed with leather and suede. -
1973 | Puma Clyde
Featuring a suede upper and wider sole to improve the stability of the foot. -
1978 | Nike Blazer
The Beaverton brand created a plain white high-top sneaker that fronted a sweeping Swoosh and named the style the “Blazer” after its regional NBA team, the Portland Trail Blazers. Loved for its aesthetic simplicity, the Nike Blazer was one of the most technologically advanced shoes for basketball at the time. -
1986 | Converse Weapon
“Choose your Weapon” was the tagline for this shoe that had two of the biggest names in ’80s basketball — the Boston Celtics’ Larry Bird and the Lakers’ Magic Johnson — facing off against each other on court as well as in print and TV ads while clad in team-colorway versions of the exact same sneaker. -
1985 | Air Jordan I
The original Air Jordan will forever be the signature shoe that all other signature shoes — and sports endorsement deals — will be measured against, just as all marquee players will be compared to Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan himself. -
1988 | Air Jordan III
The first mid-top style in the lineup and it replaced the “Wings” logo of the I and II with the Jumpman logo — depicting Jordan in silhouette with wide-stretched legs and arm elevated -
1991 | Reebok Pump Omni Lite
A sneaker that used internal air chambers to adjust the shoe’s fit hit the market in late 1989, but it wasn’t until the Boston Celtics’ Dee Brown wore a pair of Reebok Pump Omni Lites during the 1991 NBA All-Star weekend’s slam-dunk contest, stopping to inflate his shoes before delivering a now legendary no-look dunk -
1995 | Nike Air Swoopes
Sheryl Swoopes became the first woman to get a Nike signature shoe. Designed in collaboration with Swoopes, the debut Nike Air Swoopes had a midfoot stability strap with structural stitching, a stylized “S” emblazoned on the sole, and a basketball-entwined “S” logo on the tongue. -
1997 | Adidas KB8
Before signing with Nike, Kobe Bryant began his shoe endorsement career with Adidas. The first sneaker to bear Bryant’s name, the KB8 (later known as the Crazy 8), was released in 1997 and featured a synthetic leather upper with a textile lining, a molded EVA insole, and a Torsion system plate in the midfoot. -
2003 | Nike Air Zoom Generation (a.k.a. the LeBron 1)
LeBron James has up to 16 signature shoes and counting with Nike, and the one that started it all was the Air Zoom Generation. Designed by Aaron Cooper and Tinker Hatfield, among others, the shoe’s symbolic nods to the player included an outsole with a lion-claw design referencing an animal James has had an affinity for since kindergarten. -
2012 | Li-Ning Way of Wade
Dwyane Wade wasn’t the first NBA player to sign with Chinese footwear brand Li-Ning. He signed with the company in 2012, with his first sneaker hitting the U.S. market (in limited quantities) the following year. -
2015 | Under Armour Curry One
When Curry stepped onto the court on Jan. 9, 2015, he wasn’t just debuting his first signature shoe, he was kicking off a new era in basketball branding and proving that the legacy labels didn’t have a lock on the league. -
2018 | Nike Air Mag and Adapt BB
If a movie could have a signature shoe, that shoe would be the self-lacing Nikes inspired by the ones Marty McFly puts on in the 1989 film “Back to the Future Part II.” There have been three versions to date, the first being the high-top Nike Air Mag (it didn’t do the self-lacing thing, but it did light up), then the HyperAdapt 1.0, and then finally the Adapt BB which finally makes the computer-driven, self-lacing (well, laceless, technically) shoe a reality