5. Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star
If we’re being totally honest, there’s perhaps no more famous nor recognizable shoe on this list than the Chuck Taylor All-Star high-top.
Simply known as “Chuck Taylor’s” or even just “Chucks,” the shoes have become much more of a fashion fixture than a basketball shoe, as evidenced by the fact that Converse reports selling over a billion pairs of this footwear.
Released: 1917 | Worn by: Multiple
4. Nike Foamposite One
Based off the name of the shoe alone, these kicks look like if a basketball shoe and a science experiment got together and had a baby.
The shoe was so eye-catching that Nike did almost the unthinkable: making their iconic swoosh almost not visible whatsoever. Yet, that didn’t diminish the popularity of the shoe one bit, especially after they were seen on the feet of Penny Hardaway.
Released: 1997 | Worn by: Anfernee Hardaway
3. Nike Air Force 1
We praise so many of the shoes on this list for having crossed over into pop culture, but how many of these shoes became even more popular decades later, boosted by an entire song being devoted to them? That’s what the Nike Air Force 1 can boast.
The shoes made famous by Moses Malone in the early 1980’s became a retro-footwear must-have when rapper Nelly wrote a namesake song for them in the early 2000’s.
Released: 1982 | Worn by: Moses Malone
2. Air Jordan 1
Even if it’s not always “the best” of a genre or series, when like the Air Jordan shoe line goes through so many iterations and only becomes even more popular with time, we have to pay respects to the very best chapter in the epic.
The Air Jordan 1 famously targeted $100,000 in retail sales, only to approach nearly a quarter-billion in revenue after the first year. Talk about history in the making!
Released: 1985 | Worn by: Michael Jordan
1. Air Jordan 11
Another example of “look good, feel good, play good,” the Air Jordan 11 just looks like something you’d find permanently affixed to Michael Jordan.
But the shoe really cements its place in history given the fact that it’s the shoe of choice in 1995-1996, a season in which Jordan would win regular-season MVP, All-Star Game MVP and NBA Finals MVP trophies, as part of the greatest team in NBA history.
Released: 1995 | Worn by: Michael Jordan