The NBA playoffs are here, and despite the fact that my beloved New Jersey Nets just barely made the cut, I have that awesome NBA on NBC John Tesh song stuck in my head that reminds me of this magical time in the spring.  I never grew up following March Madness, but instead spent hours glued to the set, watching Jordan kill the Knicks, or Reggie Miller kill the Knicks.  Somehow all my memories involve the Knicks losing.

Anyway, I thought now was an appropriate time to post on this interesting model.  Kobe Bryant, probably the most controversial NBA player of the OO’s, made waves in the BBall shoe world by rocking lower and lower cut sneakers on the court.  For decades, the de facto type of shoe to ball in was a high top… anything less and you were asking for an ankle injury.  But for some reason, as soon as Kobe Bryant started wearing mid and eventually lows, it seems to be perfectly okay.  I’m not aware of any ankle injuries sustained by him.

I have to say that the Zoom Kobe V is a pretty damn cool shoe, even if its namesake is the biggest douche in the league and perhaps a perpetrator of sexual assault.  As I mentioned before, it is the lowest cut basketball shoe out today, as well as the lightest.  This thing has more technology in it than a space shuttle (which explains the price), but it doesn’t seem to have too many bells and whistles, like all the airbags and shit.  It’s also available in a bunch of cool colors, and yes, purple and gold for all you Lakers fans out there.  Also, there are a lot of different colorways being worn by Kobe and other players lately, and you can even make your own at Nike ID!

Best of all, of course I wouldn’t be posting this if this shoe were not vegetarian or vegan.  After some research, I found that the upper is entirely synthetic (click this link and search for ‘synthetic’).  Just peep the larger pics – ain’t nothin natural about those materials.  Also, as I have mentioned in previous posts, Nike does not use animals in their glues and cements.  Therefore, we should have a vegan shoe.  I am very cautious to say this about a basketball shoe named after Kobe Bryant, something is just weird about that, but the evidence is there.  I will email Nike to verify this and post an update.

There has been a shitload written on the marvels of this shoe.  If you’re interested, read this great Sole Collector article. Also, check out some of the new colorways being worn by the man himself as well as other pros, such as the Kid Hollywood and Photo Blue, if you’re that big of a nerd.

Available at Nike Store.  If you want it customized check out Nike ID.

Some more pics after the jump!

Den ganzen Beitrag lesen…

Well, for four days anyway, haha.  It’s always exciting news when a pro athlete goes vegan.  It not only promotes a great alternative diet that is healthy, but also defies the stereotype of the “malnourished vegan” by contrasting it with this image of a 6’10″ 250 lbs NBA player.  Here’s what the Phoenix Suns star had to say about it -

“With my four days off, I’m really taking time off to purify my body, and get my body in top shape for these last 16-17 games. So right now, I’m on a vegan fast.”

Even though he says it’s just a temporary thing, let’s hope that it works out so well for him he decides to go vegan, or vegetarian, for good!  It seems like famous people all over are going vegan/veg and look and feel great.  See Ruben Studdard and the trainer from the Biggest Loser.

For original post on Stoudemire, see Ecorazzi.

I am a huge basketball fan.  I used to play all the time, and I love the NBA and March Madness.  (On a side note, I am also a New Jersey Nets fan.  I know, what’s wrong with me right?  On Monday my friend is taking me to meet the team because he is a season ticket holder.  I initially refused just because I thought it’d be the most depressing thing ever, but hey when am I ever going to meet some NBA players in person?).

Anyway, basketball sneakers have this strange allure about them.  Ever since Jordan and Spike Lee teamed up, it became such a cult phenomenon where people actually think their sneaks made them jump higher and play better (remember Dee Brown and the Pumps?  I had to buy the LA Gear ones because the Reeboks were too expensive).  Well, they never cease to fascinate me to this day.  Every time I go to a sneaker store, I am amazed by the crazy design and technology pumped into this bunch.  One thing I can never figure out is what they are made of.  Nowadays synthetic materials seem to be everywhere, but I sense that most leather looking shoes are actually leather.  And none are ever marketed as vegan.

But check it out, this Reebok Men’s Deep Range II shoe is definitely not made of leather.  (vegan?  Not sure, but let’s go with a no).  Still, there has to be something to it.  Peta gave it an award!

I’m not a huge fan of these, but they get the job done and are affordable.  I would personally prefer shelling out a  few more bucks for the likes of a Kobe Zoom or Lebron Max, but hey, us ethical consumers can’t be too picky here.

Other notable mentions from said Peta article: Nike Hyperize, ASICS GEL-Crossover, and Adidas TS Lightspeed T-Mac.  These all deserve a post of their own!