As the NBA’s best players prepare to roll into New Orleans for All-Star Weekend, it's worth taking a look back at some of the most memorable moments the festivities have brought us over the years. Whether it's the Rookie Challenge on Friday, All-Star Saturday competitions, or the All-Star Game that caps off the weekend on Sunday night, there have been plenty of great moments supplied by each night of All-Star Weekend. Aside from the games, another major piece of All-Star Weekend is the plethora of limited edition sneakers that players break out throughout the festivities. Over the years brands like Nike, Adidas, and Jordan have laced up their athletes in limited edition shoes that are exclusive to the All-Star Game, with themes and collections usually inspired by the host cities. Perhaps the most memorable was Nike’s 2012 collection that dropped at the peak of Nike Basketball’s hype during All-Star Weekend in Orlando. The sneakers caused mass hysteria, and featured the likes of the highly coveted “Galaxy” Foamposite One, “Big Bang” LeBron 9, and “Galaxy” KD 4.
Despite all of the great sneakers NBA All-Star Weekend has given us over the years, there are also a ton of shoes that didn’t hit the mark. Sometimes the shoes worn by the players just don’t live up to the All-Star caliber talent that they are supposed to represent. Whether via a terrible model, a terrible colorway, a questionable brand, or even all of the above thrown into one, there have been some above average players lacing up below average footwear. There are a ton of terrible kicks to choose from over the years, but we have narrowed it down to what we believe are the 10 worst sneakers worn in NBA All-Star history. 10. Spalding The Dream 2 Worn By: Hakeem Olajuwon The 1996 All-Star Game brought us what is widely considered to be one of the best All Star Game jerseys of all time. A lot of the kicks featured in this game were memorable too, with the Air Jordan 11, Air Max Penny 1, and Reebok Shaqnosis all being laced up in the game. Hakeem Olajuwon’s Spalding sneaker, The Dream 2, doesn’t fall into the same category.
Simply put, these shoes are just dull. They look like a shoe the forty-something dad at your local gym wears to pick-up games—not a shoe made for one of the greatest centers to ever play the game. In all fairness, Spalding's Dream line of sneakers was Olajuwon's answer to stopping sneaker violence in the '90s. 9. Dada CDubbz “Chrome” Worn By: Chris Webber The year was 2002—the era when “Bling Bling” and chromed out cars were infiltrating pop culture. Urban clothing brand Dada decided to capitalize on the trend to gain some exposure during NBA All-Star Weekend. Before their infamous “Spinners” were introduced (we’ll get to those later) they made their mark by lacing up one of the era’s biggest stars, Chris Webber, with his own signature shoe. The special rendition for the 2002 All-Star Game was dressed in mirror-like chrome from top to bottom. These were neckbreakers, and are nostalgic for a lot of sneakerheads, but are remembered for all the wrong reasons.
8. Adidas T-Mac 3 Worn By: Tracy McGrady Tracy McGrady was one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA in the mid-2000s. At the time of the 2004 All-Star Game, his signature line with Adidas was on its third rendition, and the brand wanted to be noticed during the weekend's events in LA. They got their wish because T-Mac showed up to the All-Star Game rocking a mismatched—one red and one blue—patent leather pair of T-Mac 3s. The shoe was fit for the circus, but thankfully T-Mac did Adidas a favor by giving fans the highlight of him tossing himself an oop off the glass to remember alongside them, and overshadow how atrocious they really were. 7. Reebok Answer 9 "All-Star" Worn By: Allen Iverson Allen Iverson’s Reebok signature line was admittedly hit or miss, with a lot more shoes falling under the miss category. This special edition All-Star Game colorway takes a bad model and tries its best to produce a good All-Star shoe for The Answer. The shoe features a gray suede upper, and royal blue suede straps with red piping.
Unfortunately, the silhouette itself is just too wacky to make it look good. Maybe the Reebok design team should have went to practice before they made this one. Worn By: Ron Artest Basketball sneakers were popular. So was putting chrome spinning rims on their cars. So what’s the next logical step? To put a wheel on some shoes that spin when you step, of course. The Dada Spinner will live on in infamy as one of the most intriguing basketball shoes of all time. These were one of four shoes worn by Ron Artest in the 2004 All-Star Game, and by far the worst of his choices. If only he rocked these with a matching D-Band. 5. Reebok Pump Showstopper G2 Worn By: Gerald Green This Reebok shoe may have never made it to the big game, but it did appear in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Relatively unknown up to this point, Boston Celtics guard Gerald Green showed up to the contest (and won it) in a PE version of the Reebok Pump Showstopper. This already mediocre-at-best model was outfitted with a green patent leather upper with yellow and white accents.
The whole back portion of the shoe features a green and yellow etched graphic—a far cry from the lasering we have come to appreciate on Air Jordan retros. Not even John Cena would rock this Boston-inspired Pump. 4. GR41 Warner Brothers Sneakers Worn By: Glen Rice Warner Brothers and basketball have had a pretty memorable relationship. Space Jam is a cult classic, and the Looney Tunes will always be connected to the legacy of the greatest player of all time, Michael Jordan. Wait, Warner Brothers tried to make performance basketball shoes in the '90s too? Unfortunately, they did, and they chose Charlotte Hornet Glen Rice to be one of their ambassadors. They did pick the right guy at the right time, however, as Rice landed the ‘97 All-Star Game MVP award while wearing them, before jumping ship for… 3. Adidas Kobe 2 Worn By: Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant has carved out a nice spot in signature sneaker history for himself with some impressive Adidas models and classics from the Nike Kobe lineage, but the Kobe 2 with Adidas was a definite low-point.
These oven mitts for your feet certainly were aiming for a futuristic look, and possibly accomplished that in the sense that they don’t even look like shoes at all. It almost makes you wonder if a Yeezy cosign could have saved this flop back in the day. 2. Adidas KG Bounce “Vegas” Worn By: Kevin Garnett Adidas Basketball had some legendary names on the roster in the mid-2000s. Despite having the likes of KG, Tim Duncan, and Tracy McGrady playing in signatures during this time though, they weren’t really translating this star power to their sneaker designs. When the 2007 All-Star Game took place in Las Vegas, naturally, brands decided to make their player signatures for that year’s All-Star Game as crazy as the host city. At least what happens in Vegas stay in Vegas, because this white colorway of the KG Bounce that was wrapped in All-Star logos was absolutely hideous. 1. Reebok Zig Slash Worn By: John Wall Reebok has had its fair share of great signature models over the years, but this shoe certainly doesn’t end up on the list.