First Look: Monta Ellis’ And1 ME8

words & photography_Nick DePaula

While Monta Ellis of the Golden State Warriors rehabs his harshly sprained ankle over the next few months, at least he’ll have his very own first signature shoe from And1 to look forward to. The And1 ME8, releasing in white/navy/gold and priced at $90, features a podular solid rubber outsole affixed to a full-length TPU spring plate, which aims to help propel the healed Ellis around a month into the season upon his return.

Taking some cues along the outsole from Monta’s favorite shoe of the past season, the Onslaught, the ME8 offers up a bit more lateral support up top thanks in part to its more firm synthetic leather upper. To offset the smooth leather upper, a gleaming navy patent leather rand slopes through the entire shoe’s body. The ME8 also debuts And1’s new logo, which fuses an ‘A’ with a ‘1′ and will be visible on And1’s upcoming products as well as all print ads and related brand imagery. On the cushioning front, the ME8 features a thickly padded insole with high rebound foam along the forefoot, along with a heel L2G unit for added comfort. Some nice detail touches include the ‘ME8′ text at the top of the tongue, as well as the thick cross stitching to add some extra closure along the shoe’s bindings at the tongue and heel. For now, there’s no exact retailers nailed down, but we’ll be sure to update you once we know more as we get closer to the start of the NBA season.