Rasheed Wallace Tells Why He Only Wore Air Force 1s
And how he played in them.
Rasheed Wallace was one of the most dominant players in the late 90s and 2000s.
He was constantly in the post defending the rim and fighting for rebounds. And then on the other end of the court, he was killing defenders in the mid-range with his above-the-head jumpers and post-fadeaways, and his 3-point shooting.
For example, there was this one game in 2001 (a matchup on Jan. 10, 2001 to be exact) where the Portland Trail Blazers’ Wallace recorded a double-double in a win against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Wallace was nearly unstoppable and dominated his opponents. He scored 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked 5 shots, got 4 assists and 4 steals in the 93-75 win.
The amazing thing about this performance (and I guess all of his performances) is that he did it all in Air Force 1s.
Wallace was known for wearing Air Forces in game and people’s opinions were split about it.
Some people would wonder why he would wear such an outdated sneaker and they feared that he would injure himself.
Others thought it was cool and looked cool, and wanted to copy him.
Well, on the All the Smoke podcast, Wallace revealed why he wore Air Force 1s and how he was able to play in them.
“Well, I played in them cuz it was the only shoe that protect my ankle. As y’all can see, it’s already high, so it covers your whole ankle. Like, you know how cats today, they wear the low-top. Uh, you got some guys that wear 3/4, but no, you got to protect your money makers. At the time, Air Force 1s were the most fashionable but yet highest high-top shoe that protected my ankles.”
However, he added that a player can’t just wear this sneaker out of the box. They can’t just lace up a pair and start hooping.
“But here’s the thing though, y’all, so y’all won’t think you could just go ahead to the Foot Locker or whatever and buy them out the box and go straight to the court. Don’t do it. I had orthotics, alright? So, I had little inserts in my shoe. The inserts in these shoes, out the box? Oh my God! It’s like Converses.”
Wallace wore the Air Force 1s his entire career and never changed it up.
He stuck with the sneaker and it helped him to 4 NBA All-Star Games and to the 2004 NBA Finals, where he won his first championship title with the Detroit Pistons.
I guess it really is the shoes.