After talking about Jason Williams and Vince Carter the other day, I couldn’t help but obsess (see “My Support Group”) over the return of the Tai Chi from And 1. Everyone recognizes the significance of the of the iconic Jumpman logo, it’s an undeniable key to the direction of where footwear and basketball have gone. Even to the point of Michael Jordan’s son, Marcus, refusing to wear nothing but that logo on his shoes. Though the Jumpman changed the game, another logo may have accomplished a bigger feet feat.
And 1 jumped into the sneaker game in the mid 90’s, and in a shorter amount of time than any other startup footwear brand, became a legitimate contender. The iconic logo was plastered on t-shirts with a slew of trash talk slogans that were all but forgettable. The brand landed Stephon Marbury, who at the time had one of the quickest first steps in the game. And 1 gained a following with ads in publications like Slam magazine, but more importantly, gained the respect of the streetball community. The faceless logo became not only synonymous with the company, but with basketball as a whole. All the while inking it’s way into basketball history and ballers skin along the way.
Being a Kings fan since they moved to Sacramento in 1985 (yes, back when they played in what is now a small office complex) has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. While heading down hill on the roller coaster may be a lot more fun then the slow climb upwards, it’s not the same for a basketball fan. The Kings down slide has been steady, and heart wrenching since 2001, finally hitting rock bottom last year with the worst record in the league. On top of that, a little salt in the wound was applied by missing out on the number one draft pick, which we had the best (1 in 4) shot at winning. I’ll be the first to admit I was disappointed to say the least, as visions of Rubio dishes danced in my head. Nevertheless, seeing that