January 02, 2020 5 min read

 Who's ready for NBA All-Star Weekend 2020? We're beyond excited to partner this year with NBALAB on an exclusive collection featuring our market-leading sneaker duffle bags. Our NBALAB x The Shrine Co. collection is offering limited-edition sneaker duffle bags with branding from your favorite teams.

Chicago, Los Angeles (Lakers), Brooklyn, Miami, Golden State, and Houston are all available for pre-order now with an expected ship date before All-Star Weekend in February! This powerhouse collection channels All-Star vibes with star graphics throughout and official NBA branding.

In celebration of our partnership with NBALAB, we're taking a look back at our favorite moments of the last 20 years from the NBA All-Star Game!

2001 - Allen Iverson Reebok Question 'Warriors'

via Andy Hayt/ Getty Images

As the legend goes, Allen Iverson wouldn't wear a special 'Warriors' colorway of his uber-popular Reebok Question, so he ended up wearing a 'Black Toe' PE of the Question that better matched his 76ers uniform. The clean white/black color-blocking flawlessly worked with AI's Philly whites; and overall, they were very on-brand for the era.

We miss the days when NBA All-Star Games rocked the home vs. away jerseys of the participants' respective teams. Philly's prodigal son worked the Western Conference squad in his Questions en route to All-Star MVP honors. Can't go wrong with these classics.

2002 - Michael Jordan Air Jordan 17 Low 'Lightning'

In his second to last All-Star appearance, MJ laced up the cult classic Air Jordan 17 Low 'Lightning.' The yellow tooling might've been a little out of place with his white/blue Wizards jersey; but when you think about it, Mike might've started the trend of non-matching kicks during All-Star festivities.

The iconic photo above doesn't get the love it should when compared to Jordan's other monumental moments, but there's no denying that it perfectly encapsulates the power that was the Air Jordan 17 Low 'Lightning.' One of the last time Mike would truly take flight...

2003 - Kobe Bryant Air Jordan 3 'True Blue'

All of the 2002-03 season was a statement for Kobe Bryant. Freshly off his the heels of his Adidas sponsorship, Bryant tested the sneaker free-agency market by lacing up kicks from all the major brands. Jordan Brand, in particular, pursued Kobe aggressively by sending the Lakers star countless Jordan retro PEs.

Oddly, Kobe didn't opt-in to one of the many PEs he was afforded on All-Star Sunday. Instead, he wore the forever classic 'True Blue' Air Jordan 3 Retro! Choosing to contrast his predominantly red jersey with blue sneakers made the entire situation iconic. Anyone watching the 2003 game most def respected the kick-game.

2004 - Tracy McGrady Adidas T-Mac 3 'mismatch'

T-Mac's mismatched Adidas from 2004 will forever be remembered in All-Star history. His game had just as much style as it did substance, so every time Tracy laced 'em up something special happened.

At the time, Adidas's T-Mac line surged, standing toe-to-toe with Nike's best. McGrady's third signature shoe, the T-Mac 3 sported a futuristic design with bold materials (like red and blue patent leather). Back in '04 Adidas released the red and blue T-Mac 3s individually; but everything changed when he mixed the two on All-Star Sunday Night. From that moment mismatched hoops shoes were a legitimate thing.

2006 - Detroit Pistons

Strength in numbers. It's rare for a franchise to pool together four all-stars, but it's even rarer to have all four wearing different shoe brands. Detroit's modern 'Bad Boys' in Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton were the embodiments of hard work and teamwork.

Teammates wearing different shoes is nothing normal, sure; but never before had a starting five (four) all rocked top-tier PEs (player exclusives).

Rasheed ruled the post with his ever-present Air Force 1s. 'Mr. Big-Shot' Billups pulled out a variety of Adidas Hoops PEs dripped in Pistons colors. Ben Wallace secured the paint in And1's latest-and-greatest. Lastly, Rip Hamilton broke necks in countless Retro Jordan PEs. Their combined heat earned the Pistons a mention.

2010 - LeBron James Nike Air Max LeBron 7 'All-Star'

By 2010 LeBron James was the most physically gifted player in NBA history. His speed, strength, and size were a combination no mortal could contain. With that said, Nike needed to create a shoe that would harness LBJ's insane athleticism; and so the Air Max LeBron 7 was born.

Nike Basketball switched from Zoom Air (used within the LBJ 1-6) to a Full-Length Air Max unit on the LeBron 7, and it looked outstanding. Our favorite colorway of the shoe just so happened to be the 'All-Star' edition that King James wore in Dallas Texas.

The shoe's baby blue and black color scheme was dope enough; but upon further inspection you'll find that a subtle layer of 3M detailing resigns throughout the upper. When flashing light hits these kicks they pop!

2012 - Kevin Durant Nike KD4 'Gal

This was the Kevin Durant everybody loved, the fun kid from OKC getting buckets in every city. That KD was a lot of fun to watch; and it was especially nice to watch Durant lift-off in his 'Galaxy' Nike KD4s. Arguably the greatest themed shoes every created by Nike Basketball, the KD4 'Galaxy' released alongside several spaced themed kicks in 2012 but the ASG MVP's silver, space shuttle inspired, kicks were out of this world.

2014 - Kyrie Irving Nike Zoom HyperRev

Before Kyrie was ballin' in Brooklyn he was running the show for Cleveland in the post-Lebron Era of Cavaliers history. Casual basketball fans were sleeping, but the masses woke up once Kyrie became an All-Star Starter in 2014. In his second All-Star appearance, Kyrie dazzled the crowd with his scoring (31 points) and elite handles as he took home the MVP award while wearing a PE version of the Nike Zoom HyperRev.

 

2017 - LeBron James Nike LeBron 14 'BHM'

2017 the hype train surrounding All-Star themed kicks had officially stopped. After a few years of lukewarm reception Nike Basketball decided to ditch the entire process and focus on a new approach.

Since Black History Month runs throughout February, Nike masterfully tied their BHM inspired shoes into their All-Star Game plans to create a singular collection. The result was a super clean pack of shoes spearheaded by King James's LeBron 14. With simplicity in mind, the collection arrived in stores with a super clean white/black/gold color scheme that fed into the BHM and All-Star themes equally.

Shifting to a singular release schedule has continued ever since to the point where All-Star participants can wear pretty much anything they'd like on-court - which is also dope. No matter what shoe is being worn, they'll still fit perfectly in our Shrine Co. Sneaker Duffle Bags!

 

Be sure to visit our shop and pre-order your team's Shrine Co x NBALAB All-Star sneaker duffle bag for NBA All-Star 2020, now!


Leave a comment