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Sneaker News Goes 1 on 1 With Larry Johnson

Sneaker News Goes 1 on 1 With Larry Johnson

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As a member of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels and Charlotte Hornets, Larry Johnson was a beast on the court. A physical power forward with an emphasis on the “power,” LJ took the NBA by storm and was regularly drawing comparisons to a young Charles Barkley. Early into his career with the Hornets, Larry suffered a back injury that would plague him for the rest of his career. While he was never able to recapture the aggressive power game he was well known for early on, Larry wasn’t about to go out without a fight. He reinvented himself on the court, focusing more on his outside shot and all-around game. By the time he was a New York Knick, LJ had developed quite a nice jumper and was able to put in some solid years in NY thanks to his veteran craftiness and ability to adapt to a new style of play.

In fact, the highlight of his career came in those later days with the Knicks, as Larry buried the Pacers in the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals with what has affectionately come to be known as “The 4-Point Play.” Last week, Sneaker News had the pleasure of sitting down with Larry Johnson at the Packer Shoes x Fila FX-100 ‘4-Point Play Pack’ release event in Teaneck, New Jersey. Larry was incredibly friendly and eager to talk shop on everything from the FX-100 re-launch, to the 4-point play, to his time at UNLV, and of course, you know we had to ask him some sneaker questions as well. Keep reading for the full interview with LJ and some more pics from the event. And if you’re still looking for a pair of the Packer x Fila FX-100’s, get over to Packer Shoes before they’re all gone.

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SN: What’s up LJ? Before we get into the sneakers – since we’re here tonight celebrating the infamous “4-Point Play,” I’ve gotta to ask. Was the 4-point play the the greatest moment of your basketball career?

LJ: Yeah.  I mean look – the best moment of my pro career was when I came here (New York) and made the 4-point play. I played for Charlotte for six years and we had a great individual team, but we wasn’t as good as we were when I came here to the Knicks. So to go to the Finals, and be in the entertainment capital of the world, and make that 4-point play… When I hit the 4-point play, Spike jumped into my arms!

SN: It doesn’t get much better than that, huh?

LJ: C’mon man.

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SN: That was a defining Knicks moment and in New York you’re still a legend.  Does it surprise you to get this kind of love when you come out here to an event like this?

LJ: I’ll tell you this. When I retired, I didn’t come back to New York for maybe five years and when I first came back, the love… It was like, man!

SN: It was like you just hit that shot the night before.

LJ: Yes! Yes!  Man, I took New York for granted. These people here know basketball. They know sports and they love them. And I took it for granted. You know, when you’re playing, you don’t really get out. You’re just worrying about getting some sleep and playing. I wasn’t worried about getting in touch and talking with people and knowing what New York is really about. And since I’ve been back, that’s what I’ve been doing.

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SN: Well your fans are glad to see you back as you can see with the turnout here. So getting further into the theme of the night, what inspired you to bring the Fila FX-100 back to the NBA during your time with the Knicks? How did that come about?

LJ: Fila let me know that they wanted to bring back the shoe and do something different with it again, and as they were doing that, they asked me what I was willing to do. I told them anything.

SN: And how do you feel about seeing it re-releasing now as part of the Packer collaboration?

LJ: When they let me know they wanted to re-launch the shoe, I had no problem with getting back on board again. I wore that shoe. You know, people on the street remember me in that shoe and I’m gonna do what I can to make it successful again. I just wish one of the youngsters that’s playing right now could jump in it.

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SN: Maybe that’s something they could put in the works.  Who’s someone playing in the NBA right now that you’d like to see in the FX-100?

LJ: (Laughing)

SN: Okay, put aside if they’re already signed to a different brand, who do you think is the right guy to rep LJ and Fila and wear that shoe?

LJ: Okay, yeah. I’m thinking about someone who reminds me of myself. I would love to see Dwight Howard in that shoe. And not even because he’s here, but (Amar’e) Stoudemire too.  I would love to see him in that shoe!  Those type of power forward guys.

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SN: Going back to you wearing the FX-100 in the NBA – Aside from Rasheed Wallace in the Air Force 1, not just anybody can pull off wearing an old school shoe in the current day NBA. It takes a certain kind of style to get away with that. Do you take pride in your sneaker game?

LJ: Damn right I take pride in my sneaker game. I see these youngsters and I know how they do it when it comes to sneakers. Not many cats could re-launch an old school shoe and have all these young cats come on board. I take a lot of pride in it and I appreciate the love and the way that these young cats treat me. When I come back and I go to the games, it’s like young 23-24 year old guys coming up to me like ‘Larry! Larry!’  I know these guys weren’t around when I was really playing, but the love that they show me is unbelievable. And I don’t take that for granted man.

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SN: So what are some of your all-time favorite sneakers other than the FX-100 of course?

LJ: Well, of course the Air Jordans. When I was in college, all through college, all through junior college, I was in Air Jordans. And that first Converse shoe (Converse Aero Jam), I loved too. That first Converse shoe was comfortable. It was light and it was a good looking shoe.

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SN: Back at UNLV, you guys were one of the first teams to bring the black sneaker look to college basketball. Everybody credits the Fab Five at Michigan, but you guys were wearing black shoes before that. Did anybody look at you like you were crazy back then? Did you decide as a team to do that or how did it come to be?

LJ: We caught a lot of flack for that. The NCAA gave us flack for that, but Coach Tark(anian) was always with his team. Whatever these youngsters want, Coach Tark would make it happen. He knew it was a swagger thing. We’d go out there with our shirt tails out, black sneakers… Cats got parts down the middle of their heads, gold teeth. That was the swagger and Coach Tark knew it. He knew the more swagger we had, the better we were gonna play. Don’t deny none of that and just let these youngsters be themsleves. Duke wouldn’t have done that. North Carolina wouldn’t have done that.

SN: You were the Runnin’ Rebels!  When you’re a rebel, you gotta think outside the box a little, right?

LJ: That’s right! And we thought like that and we took that attitude and that’s why we were different.

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SN: That was a fun team to watch.

LJ: It was a fun team to be on and it was a fun era to be playing in Vegas!  That team wouldn’t have worked at LSU, but for Vegas it was perfect. No pro teams in Vegas, so we were like pros running around Vegas!

SN: A lot of your teammates went to the pros!  You guys had almost a full pro squad!

LJ: Yeah!

SN: Ok, so last question, and this is the one everyone wants to know. Do you ever still put on the Grandmama gear and hit the court just for fun?

LJ: (Laughing) Never. Never. It was a Converse thing, so they kept all that gear of course, but it was actually me that stopped it. So since I stopped it 15-20 years ago, never.

Thanks again to Larry for the great interview!

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