Aaron Hope 
adidas has had the exclusive NBA license on lock since 2006 once Reebok’s deal ended, and during Three Stripes’ time with the NBA, they’ve made a variety of Association-inspired kicks. Like Reebok before them, adidas isn’t the first to pack up hightops with league logos and team colors, as we can trace that all the way back to the golden era of modern sneakers. Converse relished its time as the official provider of the sneakers for the NBA, and just before Reebok and the iconic Pump came in, Converse released some incredible PE-style sneakers in the late 1980’s that matched team logos and colors – almost like the popular and trendy PEs we see today.
The models seen here are the Converse NBA Pinnacle Series in the Utah Jazz edition, and the Converse NBA Team II in the Mavericks and Timberwolves versions; the Pinnacle Series was indeed the performance model created by Converse for NBA in-game wear as it featured the now-defunct Energy Wave technology, while the take-down Team II model had a bit more of an off-the-court approach with an emphasis on style on comfort. A Retro release might be tough to pull considering licensing hurdles and what-not, but with Retro kicks in such high demand, some releases without the team logos definitely have a place in store shelves today. Certainly an awesome throwback piece (on Thursday, no less), so check out some of the additional imagery below and let us know if you remember any of this amazing vintage Converse footwear!
Photos: rx/sneakerfreaker
