I’ve always been a sneaker freak. I had a cousin who could dress like a bum, but his sneakers were always fresh and new. I adopted that from him.
Of the 300 pairs I’ve collected the past three years, about 75 are Nike Air Force Ones. I have all the Air Maxes since 1995. I have every pair of Jordans, even some I didn’t like. I even have some casual low-top Jordans not even for basketball.
Shell-toes are some of my favorites, though they can get dirty quick. I’ve got high-top Adidas, old school retro Adidas, Chuck Taylors — man, the list goes on and on.
I’ve got some unusual colors. Some make no sense. I’ve got a pair of Adidas that are turquoise, yellow, black and gray. I wore those with jeans once.
My teammates know I never wear the same shoe more than three or four games. To break them in, I wear them in practice the day before a game and in the pre-game shootaround.
I shop online at sites like sneakerfather.com or Nike.com. I also shop in downtown Atlanta at Walter’s. I end up buying what’s new and two more of something else.
I have a closet that is all sneakers, and I can’t close the door. I have to step on shoes to get to shoes. In my bedroom I have another custom closet where I can stack the shoes.
I have collectible shoes that have never been worn, like my favorite, the Air Jordan I, the style he wore when he dropped 63 on the Celtics in the 1983 playoffs. Those were banned. Every time he wore black and red, he was fined $5,000, so Nike had to make him a version with a white base.
I’ve been looking to get my hands on the Air Jordan XI, in the original white and black, with patent leather around the bottom. Those are off the chain.
When I run out of closet space, I end up giving 150 pairs of shoes to my friends who wear my size. If I haven’t worn a pair in months and have no plans to wear them again, I put them in the throw-out collection. In the summer, my friends call and say, “Hey, have you cleaned out your closet yet?” They know they’ll go away with bags of sneakers.
As soon as I clean out the closets, I am running out of room again. That’s how fast I collect shoes.
As told to Michelle Hiskey for the AJC
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