One of the biggest gripes about Nike’s ‘Vintage’ treatment of its shoes is that the pre-yellowing is almost unnecessary. While it does provide the ‘vintage’, beat-up sneaker look, that’s something that we can do on our own. By wearing them. Over time. The Air Jordan AJKO, for example, was a highly popular Jordan Retro in 2010 that many scrubbed down with various cleaning materials to make them white as new, and the same was done for the Nike Dunk Low VNTG in the ‘Ultraman’ colorway from the anticipated Be True To Your Street Pack. After a nice scrubdown with wet tissue, they cleaned up pretty well, don’t you think? Check out the full before-and-after below courtesy of Dunkbar and let us know if you’d consider giving them a clean. Want to give it a try? Cop a pair now on eBay.

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The Staples Center played host to the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend, but beyond the games were a number of great sneaker-related sub-stories – all of which were presented thanks to our round-the-clock coverage of one of the biggest footwear-related events of the year. The All-Star Game, Dunk Contest, 3-point Shootout, Skill Challenge, and Celebrity All-Star Game featured a ton of great kicks like the Hyperdunk 2011, Nike Basketball All-Star Colorways, adidas Basketball, and surprisingly, Chinese brand PEAK. The All-Star Game not only drew in the best talents in the NBA, but the biggest celebrities, as Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, and many more of today’s hottest celebs came out to join in on the fun.

The All-Star Weekend was also a perfect opportunity for footwear brands to show off what they had in store; Jordan Brand’s complete transformation of Footaction in Culver City gave event-goers an opportunity to experience the Air Jordan 2011 as well as meet and greet the label’s top athletes. Nike Sportswear/Basketball also set up shop on Hollywood and Vine and a great ‘Los Fearless’ event space, which was the primary setting for the World Premiere of ‘The Black Mamba’. In that short film, we got a look at Kanye West’s Nike Air Yeezy 2 – a topic that caused an outburst of debate and hype among our readers. The past weekend was jam-packed with great stories so continue reading for a full recap of the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend.

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Showcased at the Jordan Brand Takeover at Footaction in Culver City was the Dave White x Air Jordan 1 for the Jordan Brand WINGS for the Future program. Combining history with artistry, the Air Jordan 1 conceptualized in the eyes of world-renown artist and sneakerhead Dave White resulted in a patriotic rendition of the spark plug that ignited the high-powered Jordan Brand engine. Featuring a red brush strokes on the heel, a dipped-in-gold toe with Dave White’s signature paint splatters, gold speckling on the laces and red on the canvas tongue label, the Dave White x Air Jordan 1 exists in a limited quantity of twenty-three pairs and are available for auction – all proceeds going to the WINGS for the Future effort. Check out these new detailed images of the Dave White x Air Jordan 1 and let us know what you think.

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The stars came out on Sunday night to watch the 60th NBA All-Star Game that was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. A number of celebrities were spotted sitting courtside at the game including Lil Wayne, Drake, Kanye West, Diddy, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Nick Cannon, Lenny Kravitz, Spike Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and more. Lil Wayne and his Young Money labelmates, Drake and Mack Maine, were seen sitting together while Weezy was spotted with a pair of Louis Vuitton Acapulco sneakers on. Diddy who wasn’t too far away from Weezy and Drake wore the Air Jordan XIII Retro’s in White, Black, and True Red. Kanye West who made is rounds courtside before performing at halftime with Rihanna was seen wearing the Black and Infared Air Jordan VI’s that he’s been wearing for the past couple of weeks at a number of events. And of course there’s Justin Bieber who rocked a pair of Supra Skytop II’s. Check out who else was in the house after the jump.

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Jordan Brand athlete Chris Paul joined Bun B for a nice Q&A and fan meet-and-greet session during the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend at Footaction in Culver City. The retail spot, which was transformed into a complete Jordan Brand experience and exhibit, was the epicenter for many Jordan-related events, and for this particular occasion, the starting point guard for the New Orleans Hornets and Western Conference All-Star Team was on hand to answer questions and spend time with his fans. Sneaker News gave you a look at the Jordan Brand Takeover of Footaction in Culver City, but here’s another look at what was on display; Jordan items from wall-to-wall, with a gorgeous display of the Air Jordan 2011 and other Jordan items like the Jordan Brand x G-Shock and Jordan Brand x Kayo skate decks. Chris Paul, who has four signature shoes with the Jumpman label, was wearing the Air Jordan 60+ in Black/Varsity Red-White while Bun B was wearing the Playoff XIII. Continue reading for a visual recap of the event and of the Footaction space and let us know what you think!

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For the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend, the three-stripes brand had strong representation throughout all the events from NBA All-Stars and participants as well as celebrities from off the court. Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, Serge Ibaka, and Wesley Johnson were all major players during the All-Star Weekend festivities, but these events in particular shed some light on the playful side of the sport. Dwight Howard invaded Foot Locker in Santa Monica, acting as an employee for a day while meeting and greeting his biggest (and smallest) fans. Snoop Dogg also hosted the adiHOOP 3-on-3 basketball tournament, which featured other notable celebrities such as The Game, Chris Brown, and Mr. Slim Chin himself Ken Jeong alongside adidas Basketball athletes Matt Barnes, Toney Douglas, Jrue Holiday, Wesley Johnson, and Serge Ibaka. Participants were seen wearing the Snoop Dogg x adidas adiPure as well as ‘Dogg’ inspired athletic gear. Check out both events below and let us know what you think.

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Since 2007, Jay-Z and LeBron James have come together to host an annual “Two Kings” Dinner and Charity Event every NBA All-Star Weekend, and this past weekend that tradition was continued as the minority owner of the New Jersey Nets and Miami Heat forward came together to host an event that benefited the Boys & Girls Club of Los Angeles. LeBron James showed up to the event in a Heather Grey Nike sweatsuit with a pair of matching White and Grey Nike Sportswear Dunk Low’s while Jay-Z arrived in a pair of White and Cement Grey Air Jordan III’s. Also spotted was the legendary Mr. Cartoon, who painted the commemorative mural at the Boys & Girls Club event. This All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles had no shortage of celebrities, and we’ll be sure to keep documenting the various sneakers that were spotted throughout the weekend.

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Earlier this NBA season, Javale McGee made some headlines for the wrong reasons, attempting two dunks seemingly outside of his range (both in distance and in skill-set) that had disastrous and hilarious results. However, McGee was still known to put down powerful dunks, and was even chosen by a few to be the upset winner of the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest. In what might have been the most creative assembly of dunks in a Dunk Contest in years, Blake Griffin, Javale McGee, Demar Derozan, and Serge Ibaka put on quite a show, combining aerial acrobatics with unique concepts. For Javale McGee’s four highlight dunks, the seven-footer with a seven-foot-seven wingspan wore four different PE colorways of the PEAK Relentless, and based on his successful attempts, it certainly gave the Chinese footwear brand some attention.

For his two-basket dunk, Javale wore a PE of yellow, blue, black, and red inspired by the famous X-Men character Wolverine. For his astounding three-ball dunk, he wore a military-inspired pair featuring a grey upper and camouflage print accents. A third dunk featured the Wizards center in two different shoes – one representing the USA and the other representing China, the home country of the brand. His final backboard reverse jam featured a successful slam and a golden wheat-colored motif. Although McGee lost out to Blake Griffin in the final round, his Dunk Contest performance was surely one of the most creative of all time. Check out all five PEAK Relentless PE’s after the jump and let us know which colorway you like best. via hoopchina.

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This past weekend’s 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend was definitely one of the more memorable All-Star Weekend’s in recent memory that included an amazing Rookie/Sophomore Game, phenomenal All-Star Saturday Night, and of course one of the greatest All-Star Game’s of our generation as we witnessed LeBron James and Kobe Bryant go at it for four quarters. While we’ve already shown you what the players wore during the festivities we do have some images to share of various NBA All-Stars and Legends showing up to the game via the T-Mobile Magenta Carpet last night. While almost all of the current and ex-players were dressed up in suits, Kobe Bryant, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Dwight Howard stood out from the crowd deciding to go with a bit of a casual approach, choosing to wear sneakers instead of dress shoes. Kobe and Amar’e being Nike athletes wore Nike Sportswear sneakers including an all White Air Force 1 and Khaki Toki respectively while Dwight Howard showed up wearing a pair of Gucci sneakers. Check out all of the coverage from the Magenta Carpet after the jump…

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Italian designer Missoni and its trademark patterns will make its way on Converse Chuck Taylors yet again for the Spring/Summer 2011 months with these two great seasonal colorways. Beginning in March, you’ll be able to get your hands on one of these two releases that feature Missoni’s signature space-dyed knit uppers – one in a multi-colored rainbow with a navy blue toe-cap and a second in a pastel-inspired motif with the right shoe adopting a light green/light blue combination and the left shoe a soft purple. These will be available at select Missoni retailers so take another look below and let us know what you think of these new colorways. Are they nice enough to make a repeat appearance in the annual Sneaker News Top 30?

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The royal blue pair we’ve seen the most of so far does a good job of setting the Nike LeBron 8 PS aside from its predecessors, but how about a look at a colorway we can actually expect to see LeBron James wearing come playoff time.  This pair of Postseason LeBron 8s is done in a Heat-friendly black, red and white colorway that we’d expect to see during Miami’s away games starting in late April.  LeBron loyalists will remember that these bear a strong resemblance to the LeBron 8 V/2 ‘Portland Game’ PE, but unlike those, these are a lock for retail.  Click through to see more and stick with Sneaker News for the release date.  via in52

Style: 441946-001

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Nike Sportswear has offered all manner of hybridization and otherwise alters their heritage models fairly frequently, but for whatever reason, NSW doesn’t dabble in zippers all that much.  That’ll change this weekend with the introduction of the new Nike Blazer Mid AB, a Swooshless design that adds a functional zipper on the medial side to offer you another way of gettin’ in ‘em.  The Blazer’s connection to the All Court is evident with the latter’s signature asymmetrical toe cap appearing on these navy blue and white leather editions, both of which you can see in more photos after the jump.  Let us know which one you prefer and look for these at select NSW retailers this weekend. via streething.

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