John Kim 
NIKE BASKETBALL 1990’s WEEK
Flywire, Hyperfuse, reflective materials, TPU shells, Zoom Air, high-cut tongues – these design features make up the current lay of the land for Nike Basketball. What if we were to rewind to an earlier era – say, ’93-’94? That year of Nike Basketball can be broken down in a similar manner – neoprene booties, velcro-lock straps, the exposed plate on the outsole, and so forth. The Air Unlimited, with the flagship White/Black-Deep Emerald colorway, is the perfect summary of Nike in 1994, and with it comes some unique history and features that not many shoes can boast. First off, the Air Unlimited as a seemingly ‘unlimited’ amount of straps, arriving with four lockdown mechanisms in total (a step-by-step manual of how to strap down came with the shoes). The Air Unlimited was also known to be on the feet of David Robinson, particularly during his 71-point outburst against the Los Angeles Clippers that gave him the Scoring Title by the slimmest of margins over Shaq. Not to mention, the Admiral completed the super-rare Quadruple-Double earlier that season as well. The Air Unlimited is a shoe that will likely go un-Retroed – for now; the decision to bring back the Air Carnivore was met was much fanfare, but the shoes eventually ended up on Nike’s own clearance racks for as low as $30. We wish for a return in any OG, Free, Fuse, or 360 form, because the beauty of the shoe is purely unlimited. More of the first Classics Revisited feature on 1990’s Nike B-ball classics is just below.
Nike Air Unlimited
White/Black-Deep Emerald
130184-101
1994
Photos: sc
