Chris Paul, or “CP3”, has been taking the NBA by storm for the better part of a decade. Throughout his time in the league he has been seen as one of the top-tier point guards while playing with a hard-nose mentality every opponent and teammate has come to expect. CP3 is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, NBA Rookie of the Year (2006), 9x NBA All-Defensive Team, 8x All-NBA Team, and 9x NBA All-Star. With all of these accolades and achievements, Chris Paul has been doing it relatively under the radar in his own signature shoes.

Out of college, Chris Paul was the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft and originally signed a four-year, $600,000 a year deal with Nike. I mean who could forget Chris Paul being a part of Nike’s now famous “Second Coming” commercial from 2007? Paul eventually gravitated towards the Jordan Brand division under Nike, as Michael Jordan hand-picks his brand endorsers himself. Fast forward to 2019 and Chris Paul is releasing his 12th signature shoe with Jordan Brand, yes you read that right, his TWELFTH signature sneaker.

Jordan Brand and Chris Paul have been releasing iterations for the All-Star PG every year since 2008. His shoes fit the bill for fast, athletic point guards, who change direction quickly. Premier Jordan Brand schools like North Carolina, Marquette, Georgetown, Florida, Oklahoma, and California (before they switched to Under Armour) all get outfitted with CP3’s every season. Of course Chris Paul’s former school, Wake Forest, gets special Jordan Brand CP3 sneakers, even though they’re a Nike school.

Chris Paul is second only to Carmelo Anthony, in number of signature shoes under the Jordan Brand wing. Paul currently sits at 12 while Anthony and JB decided to halt their signature sneaker line after 13 models. Russell Westbrook is the only other current Jordan Brand signature sneaker athlete. It’s hard having a shoe do high numbers these days in the market when you’re competing with the likes of the Nike Lebron, KD, Kyrie, Kobe, and Paul George lines, Adidas Harden and Lillard shoes, as well as Steph Curry’s Under Armour series. Putting that aside, it is a major feat to have a signature sneaker line last as long as Chris Paul’s has.

CP has a new home this season with the Oklahoma City Thunder and will look to remain on the top shelf of NBA point guards while wearing his Jordan CP3.XII. Fan-favorites from Paul’s shoe line when it comes to both looks and on-court performance are the CP3.VI and CP3.VII respectively. In fact, Chris Paul’s signature sneakers have even graced NikeiD.com for complete personalization options. Five models in the line have also featured “AE” models to release after the initial launch run. These “AE” CP3’s are basically a takedown version of that year’s signature shoe and feature lighter weight materials and mesh for more ventilation. His new 12th model looks to be a hit as Paul has already been seen rocking a few eye-catching colorways. Look below to see the evolution of the Chris Paul signature sneaker line and to see just why MJ hand-picked CP3 to represent his brand.

Jordan CP3.I  (2008)

Jordan CP3.II  (2009)

Jordan CP3.III  (2010)

Jordan CP3.IV  (2011)

Jordan CP3.IV Advance  (2011)

Jordan CP 2’Quick  (2011)

Jordan CP3.V  (2011)

Jordan CP3.VI  (2012)

Jordan CP3.VI AE  (2013)

Jordan CP3.VII  (2013)

Jordan CP3.VII AE  (2014)

Jordan CP3.VIII  (2014)

Jordan CP3.VIII AE  (2015)

Jordan CP3.IX  (2015)

Jordan CP3.IX AE  (2016)

Jordan CP3.X  (2016)

Jordan CP3.X AE  (2017)

Jordan CP3.XI  (2018)

Jordan CP3.XII  (2019)

Go to any park around where you live or any gym where people are playing pick-up basketball. Notice anything? Players are no longer practicing high-flying and fancy dunks, they’re emulating step-back threes, fadeaway threes, long-range threes, and even just inside half-court threes. This is mostly in part due to one man – 2x NBA MVP Steph Curry. People and fans are going to pay attention to the best shooter on the planet and arguably the best shooter the game has ever seen. Additionally, fellow basketball players and consumers are going to pay attention to what is on Steph’s feet. Three-time NBA Champion Steph Curry has been with Under Armour since 2013 and he has since become the face of their basketball brand, both in the United States and around the world. Steph Curry is on the cusp of his 11th season in the league and his 7th year being partnered with UA. With fall now here, that means new signature sneakers for the league’s top-tier players are being unveiled. Steph Curry and Under Armour are set to release the new Curry 7, as Steph was just seen working out in the first colorway that will be available.

The first color scheme of the Under Armour Curry 7 that will be releasing is the “UNDRTD” colorway (pictured above). It looks as if Steph is sticking to the low-cut theme, the same style we’ve seen since the UA Curry 5’s. The shoe features an aggressively stanced midsole in what appears to house Micro G tooling. Look for this colorway to release at UA.com November 1st. A retail price is still unknown at this moment.

Steph also debuted a second colorway of his new Curry 7 in a mango-“ish” vibe. This color scheme is for sure to draw attention on court and looks great across the profile of the Curry 7. If the mango looking pair wasn’t eye-catching enough for you it looks like UA and Steph also have a “Sour Patch Kids” inspired colorway on the way as well. Release details for these two pairs are unknown at this point.

Steph Curry’s Under Armour signature line has come a long way since he joined the brand back in 2013. Due to Steph’s playing ability plus his immense individual and team success on the hardwood, he has young kids going to the sneaker stores asking, “Do you have any Curry’s?” This is something that was unfathomable during the first few years of Steph’s NBA career. Under Armour is sure glad they picked up Steph when they did and Curry seems to like being “the man” over at UA. Do you see yourself picking up a pair of the new Curry 7’s? Where do they rank among his other signature shoes with UA? Look below to see the evolution of the Curry line and decide for yourself.

The second-longest signature sneaker line with one brand is set to release its 17th model in just a few days. I’ll give you one guess as to which athlete has the longest tenured signature model with the same brand. Lebron James and Nike unveiled the new Nike Lebron 17 just last week, and they are set to officially release September 27th with a retail price of $200.

Lead designer, Jason Petrie, is once again at the helm of designing the signature Lebron model, a task he has undertaken since the (now fan-favorite) Lebron 7. With Lebron’s size and strength it is no secret that he likes a good amount of impact protection when it comes to his own shoe. Whether it be full-length Air-Max cushioning, full-length Zoom, or combining Zoom and Air-Max, King James’ sneakers will be comfortable underfoot. The 17 is no different, sporting the largest volume Max Air unit ever on a Lebron signature model. Combined with the rear Max Air unit are two Zoom pods in the forefoot.

The Lebron 15 was the first shoe to introduce Battleknit, a beefed-up version of flyknit with more structure and support. The 16’s built on that and outfitted the uppers with Battleknit 2.0, a material similar to Battleknit but thicker and more structurally sound. The 17’s introduce yet another new material on the uppers, with Nike calling it “Knitposite.” Knitposite blends traditional Flyknit with heat-molded yarns and serves a purpose of more support in addition to more design options. Fans of the Lebron line initially have had good responses to the new 17’s, pointing out, and liking, that the overall shape resembles the Lebron 8.

The Lebron line has not seen the “reverse swoosh” used on the lateral side of the shoe since the 10’s. Sneaker connoisseurs have a love-hate relationship with Nike using reverse swooshes on sneakers, although it does seem to be working in this model’s favor. It definitely appears that we’ll finally get a true Lakers colorway to release to the general public, with the 16’s not having released any purple/yellow iterations during last season (no, the “Martin” colorway does not count). One big stipend amongst not only regular sneaker consumers of basketball shoes, but of sneakerheads, will be – but can the Lebron 17’s be rocked casually? Yes, we all know that current Nike athlete signature lines are performance FIRST, however, for them to be cool off the hardwood they have to look good with numerous outfits people can put together. We’ll leave that up to the sneakerheads and how they rock them, on if the Lebron 17’s will get the stamp of approval for looking good both on and off the court. Do you see yourself copping a pair when they come out? What colorways do you want to see released this season?