NBA All-Star Weekend is just a few days away. The best players the world has to offer will be competing in skills challenges, 3-point contest, the dunk contest, and of course the actual game to cap things off. For decades now, players and brands have been using the platform of All-Star Weekend to showcase new colorways of their prized signature athletes’ shoes. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s players would just wear a colorway of a sneaker that they’ve already been wearing throughout the season to that point. Brands started realizing that they should take advantage of the attention All-Star weekend brings and thus create and release special colorways just for All-Star Weekend. Michael Jordan was the obvious first one to take this initiative and start wearing mockups of his signature shoes for the All-Star game that he otherwise would not be allowed to wear with his Bulls uniform during the season.

We are doing a two-part “Top 15 NBA All-Star Weekend Sneakers” with Part 1 being from 1980-1999 and Part 2 starting at 2000 and ending at 2019. To many, the mid-to-late 90’s is seen as the golden era of sneakers and by looking at our list you will definitely be able to see why. Original Jordan models make up 5/15 spots on this Part 1 list, but it’s hard to argue that any of those five shouldn’t be there. There are four avenues in which a shoe can be considered to make the “Top 15 All-Star Weekend Sneakers” – the shoe has to be worn by an NBA player in either the dunk contest, 3-point contest, skills challenge, or the actual All-Star game. All four of these events coincide with NBA All-Star weekend as a whole. This four-event criteria will come more into place in Part 2 because in modern day NBA players will change sneakers numerous times over the course of just a few events. Besides just what the shoe is, we also looked at if there was a specific moment attached to when that player was wearing that shoe (i.e. Dee Brown, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird). This could have a big impact on how high or low we placed a sneaker on the list. Look below to check out the best All-Star Weekend shoes the years of 1980-1999 had to offer.

 

 

15. FILA 96 Grant Hill 2 “All-Star” (1996) – Grant Hill

 

           

 

 

14. Reebok Kamikaze II “All-Star” (1996) – Shawn Kemp

 

           

 

 

13. Nike Air Zoom Flight ’98 The Glove (1998) – Gary Payton

 

           

 

 

12. Nike Foamposite Pro “Pearl” (1998) – Tim Duncan

 

           

 

 

11. Nike Air Maestro II “Trifecta” (1994) – Scottie Pippen

 

           

 

 

10. Reebok Shaqnosis (1996) – Shaquille O’Neal

 

           

 

 

9. Adidas KB8 (Crazy 8) (1998) – Kobe Bryant

 

                 

 

 

8. Converse Weapon (1988) – Larry Bird

 

           

 

 

7. Reebok Pump Omni Lite (1991) – Dee Brown

 

           

 

 

6. Jordan VII “Bordeaux” (1992) – Michael Jordan

 

           

 

 

5. Nike Air Max Penny 1 “Game Royal” (1996) – Penny Hardaway

 

           

 

 

4. Jordan I “Chicago” (1986) – Michael Jordan

 

           

 

 

3. Jordan VIII “Aqua” (1993) – Michael Jordan

 

           

 

 

2. Jordan XI “Columbia” (1996) – Michael Jordan

 

           

 

 

1. Jordan III “Black Cement” & “White Cement” (1988) – Michael Jordan (All-Star Game + Dunk Contest)