Aaron Hope 
There are probably about 10% of people who consider themselves sneakerheads who could tell you off the top of their head that Michael Jordan wore Converse in college and wanted to sign with adidas when he was drafted to the NBA. And maybe if we’re lucky, something like a tenth of a percent of that select grouop would be (old enough to be) able to tell you that despite winning the 1982 NCAA Championship on that game winning jumper, MJ wasn’t even considered the best player in the Atlantic Coast Conference. That’s the hype 1983 #1 pick Ralph Sampson had while playing for the then-dominant Virginia Cavaliers, the kind of potential that secured him a sneaker deal with a more lasting legacy than his injury-plagued NBA career.
Those bad knees are why the paragraph above is probably the most you’ve heard about Ralph Sampson outside of ESPN Classic, but his name has been kept alive by the Puma RS that we’ve seen with increasing frequency of late. That classic hightop is joined by another in the Sky II as these Takumi x Puma releases come to market with the simplest of premium leather constructions. Check them out in greater detail after the jump and look for these at top-tier Puma retailers next month. via SM
