{"id":8534,"date":"2022-11-08T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/?p=8534"},"modified":"2022-11-08T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T11:00:00","slug":"adidas-a-long-standing-relationship-with-streetball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/adidas-a-long-standing-relationship-with-streetball\/","title":{"rendered":"adidas: a long-standing relationship with streetball"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There was a time when the streets were a space of coexistence in which the community\u2014the hood<\/em>\u2014met to carry out activities together. Within that space there was one where current fashion trends were forged: the street basketball courts. A territory in which adidas has always been present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is hard to find someone who has never approached those asphalt or concrete courts around their neighbourhood or surroundings, with greater or lesser luck, depending on skills and aim. However, it is clear that during the 70s and 80s the collective imagination was nourished by the things that happened there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beginnings of Beginnings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Picture the scene around those years: travelling to 70’s New York and going to Rucker Park, Harlem, one of the temples of street basketball, only to find Kareem Abdul-Jabbar<\/strong> himself on the track with his own adidas signature<\/em>. Freaking out because this is the very same Kareem who got himself a rug<\/a> for playing in Airplane! <\/em><\/strong>and putting up with a kid that tells him that he never defends (according to his father).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"adidas<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At that time, the courts brought together the avant-garde, the influencers. In a world where the only global connection was radio and television, the status on those street courts was marked by true exclusivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The adidas Pro Model<\/strong> was the first basketball shoe to receive a material as luxurious as leather. Since then, it has been incorporated in many more models, but those who saw a basketball legend like Joe Hammond appear in Rucker Park with those sneakers for the first time may have been in absolute shock. Madness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A much greater impact was caused by the adidas Superstar<\/strong><\/a> sneakers also known as The Shells<\/em>, due to their rubber toe that allowed greater protection for the players \u2014an especially remarkable trait for pivots playing in the area, since it would help them avoid greater damage from being stamped on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Era of Icons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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