Contrairement aux grappes pointues

2003 was a strange year for basketball sneakers—even for industry leader Nike. The Swoosh had just started making Air Jordans for a finally retired-for-good MJ, but the general consensus was that the newest models just weren't as cool as the ones he'd worn with the Nike Air VaporMax Femme Bulls. Nike had recently signed Kobe Bryant, who'd released two Adidas signature Nike Air Max 90 Hombre Rojas sneakers that looked like toasters, but the Black Mamba hadn't yet dropped his first signature swoosh. Adidas's Tracy McGrady line of sneakers and Reebok's Iversons were the hottest kicks on the market. All of this raised the stakes when it came time for Nike to introduce their first-ever signature shoe for an 18-year-old dubbed "The Chosen One," an Ohio teen the company had just given a seven-year, $90 million contract. On October 29, 2003, LeBron James took the floor for the first time in a sneaker dubbed the Nike Air Zoom Generation.At the time, Slate asked if the "gamble" of Nike's enormous contract for 18-year-old LeBron would pay off. It's safe to say that 14 years, three rings, 14 signature sneakers, and a reported billion dollar contract Nike Air Max Tavas Homme later, the gamble has paid off handsomely for both LeBron and Nike. On August 26, 2017, Adidas Superstar Femme Nike is bringing the sneaker back for the first time ever, and re-releasing it in its original colorway. But the NBA sneaker landscape looks dramatically different today, full of sneakers that look more like socks, and the low-tops Kobe made popular. Is there still room for a chunky, SUV-inspired sneaker, even if it belonged to LeBron?Style-wise, all things '90s and early-aughts coming back into style (big suits, tiny Matrix sunglasses), so it's no surprise Nike felt the Zoom Generation was ripe for a comeback.

But looking at LeBron's more recent signature sneakers with Nike, which resemble futuristic military boots, the Zoom Generation feels distinctly of another era. To put the 14-year gap in perspective: the sneaker's metallic silver back Adidas Ultra Boost Dam panel was inspired by LeBron's car—a silver Hummer H2 his mom bought him during his senior Adidas Ultra Boost year in high-school—that isn't even made by General Motors anymore. (The metallic portion on the 2017 version has been changed to red.)14 years later, the biggest fan of LeBron's first signature might still be LBJ himself. When the King himself sat down with GQ Style's Will Welch and GQ's Style Guy Mark Anthony Green in 2015, he called the pair of Air Zoom Generations he wore on November 5, 2003—his first home game in Cleveland—the most precious kicks in his closet. They might not be as sentimental to you as they are to LeBron, but for die-hard basketball sneaker fans, they're still a cool way to honor the beginnings of one of the NBA's most exceptional careers.More than 20 years ago, when the term "signature sneaker" was synonymous with Adidas Superstar Herr Michael Jordan, Adidas signed a quartet of young phenoms in an attempt to jump-start its Nike Roshe Run Femme fledgling basketball line. The face of that movement was Kobe Bryant, who by virtue of his new Hollywood home with the Los Angeles Lakers and his fresh-faced interest in marketing himself had undeniable star power potential.Bryant's time with Adidas didn't last, as he exited the deal in 2002 and played the entire 2002-03 season without a sneaker endorsement deal before joining Nike, where he felt he belonged all along."It was like when Harry Potter landed in Hogwarts."I'm always around a bunch of people who are competitive and just as competitive as I am or just as passionate about the sport as I am. I'm not looked at as being different or anything like that because I'm ultra-competitive. I'm just around a bunch of people who are exactly the Nike Roshe Run Mujer Negras same way as I am."

Unlike Air Jordans, which only Michael and a few fellow Bulls teammates Nike Air Max 2017 Femme wore during his active playing days, Kobe's signature series soon filtered across the league, worn by players of all positions on every team -- trusted for their performance. While Jordan's line affected culture and style in ways the industry probably will never again see, Bryant's line similarly affected innovation."It means we were doing it right because professional athletes aren't going to throw shoes on their feet just to throw shoes on their feet," Bryant said, just after seeing the adoption of his Zoom Kobe IV across the league. "That's how they make their living, on their feet, so they want to make sure they put something on their feet that's comfortable, that's going to help them perform and that's safe."Over his two-decade Adidas ZX Flux Femme career, Kobe's sneaker catalog spanned more than 50 sneakers. In honor of his 39th birthday, we Nike Air Max 90 Femme Rose rank his most notable Adidas and Nike signature models, from the despised to the beloved.This is the shoe that is universally blamed as being the one that forced Bryant to leave the brand entirely. It wasn't just the inherent clunkiness that earned it the dubious nickname "The Toaster" among kids. The shoe performed just as badly as it looked. At the close of the 2002 season, Bryant switched