1.
by Gerald Flores
A handful of NBA point guards may have gotten their first signature sneaker last year, but Chris Paul has been in the sneaker game for almost a decade. Now on his ninth signature shoe, CP3 has gotten the design process down to a science.
“I had an idea of what the 9 was going to be and look like ever since I was pretty much wearing the 8s last season,” Paul said. “I was so excited about this shoe.” Here, the man himself breaks down everything you need to know about his latest with Jordan Brand – the CP3.IX.
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Chris Paul wears a new pair of sneakers every game, so he wanted sneakers that didn’t have to be broken in.
"I wear different pairs of shoes every game, and it’s something I took away from MJ after having conversations with him years ago. A lot of times when people wear shoes they’ll be like ‘Oh I need to break them in.' I wanted to try to create a shoe that you could just wear straight out of the box."
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The main difference between the CP3.IX and CP3’s previous models is control.
"When I first came into the league it was all about speed, and now it’s more about the change of directions. I need that upper to have that lock down and the midsole to have that support system to where i could change directions and stop on a dime."
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Now at his ninth signature, Chris Paul can’t believe how he played in the Jordan CP3.1
"I was telling someone earlier that when the CP3.1s came out, I thought it was like God’s gift to mankind. Like, ‘Man this shoe is the best thing going.’ Now I look back to the 1s and I say, ‘Those were some bricks. How did I play in those?’ It’s just been a humbling process, but I’m grateful to see how it’s all evolved from the material, to the cushioning, to how good it feels. It’s something that I don’t take for granted."
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If he spots you wearing his signature sneakers, he might stop and say hi.
"If I’m out on the street and I see someone with my shoes on, I may roll down my window tell them, 'Nice shoes.' Sometimes someone would take a double take and realize it’s me and some people don’t have a clue they’re in my signature shoe."
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One thing Chris Paul will never change about the shoe: Podulon technology, the cushioning system that was first introduced in his third signature shoe.
"The reason why I had Podulon for so long is that the cushioning is something I really don’t like to play with...If the shoe looks great but nobody wants to wear it, then what are you doing?"
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When he first started working with Jordan Brand on signature sneakers, he was hesitant to tell designers what he really wanted.
"One thing that I remember with my earlier shoes is that I may see the first run or the first take of it, and I’d be scared to speak up. Sometimes you see something and you’re like ‘I like that’ and then you really don’t. Now I think we’re at a place where I could say, ‘We should change that. We should move that. We should put this here and we should put that there.’ It’s all so collaborative."
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Chris Paul wasn’t the first person to wear-test the CP3.IX
"It’s not me who wears the shoe initially when they were testing them to see how much your ankle rolls over or how much it catches and different things like that."
The outsole of the medial sides of both shoes are raised on the sneakers because of a go-to move CP3 has on the court.
"On the inside of the right or left toe you always see these ridges and it’s because of a favorite move that I like to do. I drive right and I pull the ball between my legs, sort of a crossover between the legs to get off my jump shot. Now what those ridges do on the shoe is that it helps and enables me to stop on a dime. I really believe and I know that when I’m driving and I stop on a dime that my defender’s shoe – very rarely is his shoe made for him – cause there’s other guys that have their signature shoe in our league, but I know that my shoe is made for me to be able to stop on a dime. I don’t have YouTube in front of me but I could show you some clips where guys like, keep going and I always tell my brother, 'His shoes wasn’t made for him.'”
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The dragon emblem on the heel tab was originally supposed to be one of Chris Paul’s favorite sayings, but got scrapped.
"I have a few things that like I say all the time during games. I’m always locked into the game, but anytime I hit a three I usually yell 'BANG,' like Mike Breen. Me and my brother have been saying that for years and that’s initially what was supposed to go back there, but I don’t know – lawyers or something like that [stopped it]. That’s something over my head."
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The way the midsole is shaped on the heel is a nod to his wife.
"If you look on the inside of the right or left heel it should be this thing that it almost looks like a ring. Then it also looks like stadium seating and it’s supposed to be for me and my wife. When I proposed to my wife, it was at the coliseum where me and her met for the first time, and that’s where I played my college basketball. So if you look at the shoe, it just looks like a design, but there’s a story to it."
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Chris Paul chats regularly with LeBron James and other NBA players to share takes on sneaker colorways
"I don’t think that my shoe is better [than anyone else’s], but you know, we will talk about ‘I seen this shoe’ or ‘I like this colorway’ or something like that. We even snap shot a picture or something [and share it with each other]. Bron or someone like that will say, ‘I like this colorway' or something like that."
