words by Nick DePaula

He’s a man of many emotions, many nights off and many expletives — but you can always depend on Rasheed Wallace for one thing: his beloved Air Force 1 Highs. We’ve seen him wearing the Varsity Royal/White/Black colorway throughout most of the regular season and now the NBA Playoffs, and Nike is planning to soon release that colorway along with three others. This set will release around the Holiday ‘08 timeline at Urban Accounts, but there’s no word yet on a confirmed Release Date or price. Judging from the ‘New Six’ Sheed AF1 High Supreme that released last year, they might potentially run you up to $275.

Air Force 1 High Supreme 335844 411 Varsity Royal/White/Black

Air Force 1 High Supreme 335844 061 Black/Varsity Red/Black

Air Force 1 High Supreme 335844 001 Black/Black/Varsity Red/Varsity Royal

Source: Kenlu

Popularity: 16%

words by Nick DePaula

In a new feature here on SC.com, we’ll be providing a detailed look at what the L’s final four teams are rocking on-court as the NBA Playoffs continue on into May. As the Eastern Conference Finals opened on Tuesday night with the Boston Celtics cruising to a 88-79 Game 1 win over the not-quite-100% Billups-led and “poo-poo shooting” Detroit Pistons, we saw a few highlights on the sneaker front from the game’s marquee stars. (Rasheed described their shooting as such. I couldn’t make that up.)

KG narrowly approaches me-first status after preaching that “It takes 5ive” — that’s his face on the heel of his adidas TS Commanders.

And this is why we love Sheed. His visible heel max AF1’s aren’t too bad either. Nice tights Roscoe.

Paul Pierce is playing like a Grown Man throughout the Playoffs thus far, and yet he can’t get his Max Pierce IVs released past size 6. Conversely, Chauncey continues to bitterly wear his only adidas signature shoe, the C-Billups, for the second straight season after refusing to wear any TS products. Actually - it’s perfectly understandable.

Maybe Ray Ray needs to give up on the Jordan TGIM that he’s been wearing throughout his dreadful playoff showing and break out some Jumpman J’Madness or Jumpman J’s. Something to end the slump. [For those keeping score at home, Antonio McDyess (wearing the adidas Pro Deal) indeed blocked his shot.]

(All photos courtesy YahooSports.com)

Popularity: 38%

words by Nick DePaula

After several successful collaborations between Nike and famed graffiti artist Stash, the two have once again teamed up on a few more special releases through his Recon store. First came the Air Force 1 High, Classic BW and AF-X Mid which were followed by the Air Max 95 and Air Force 1 Low, and now two more pairs of Air Force 1s are being released through Stash’s Recon store.

The first pair to drop is a rerelease of the AF-X Mid which originally released in 2004. It comes in a multi-item pack featuring his familiar Recon camo print as well as a steel toe. The AFX pack also includes a backpack, laptop sleeve, cell phone carry case, gadget case and digital camera case, all incorporating the Recon camo print. The ballistic nylon goods and limited sneakers are available for $425 on ReconStore.com for a limited time only with just a few sizes left.

While there isn’t any release info yet on the upcoming AF1 High, it does feature Stash’s familiar spray can patterning along the midfoot panel and removable ankle strap, as well as a synthetic reptile textile along the heel and forefoot overlays. Subtle shoe with nice accents. Well done.

AF-X Pack:

AF1 High:

Popularity: 54%

words by Nick DePaula

It’s already game day as the series shifts to DC, where the Washington Wizards hope to avenge their blowout loss in Game 2 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. (And with Soulja Boy rooting them on! Way to motivate Lebron even more Deshawn!) In keeping with our unveiling of Lebron-related samples as the series progresses, we thought we’d treat you night owls to a first look at a pair of Nike Air Force 1’s that feature Lebron’s Dunkman logo, albeit in an unfamiliar colorway.

They might not be in the grey/neon color scheme we all have become accustomed to seeing, but this Friends & Family AF1 certainly still works well. A ridiculously buttery soft black leather makes up the midfoot and heel panels, and a perforated white leather is found along the toe panels. Lebron’s Lion crest is lasered along the right heel and a “Lebron James” graphic lasered at the heel of the left shoe. Just to make things better, the shoe also features a multi-color rubber outsole and leather wrapped midsole.

Sexy indeed.

Popularity: 58%