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.