words & image // Zack Schlemmer
In honor of Saturday's Sole Collector x Nike x Penny Hardaway event in Las Vegas, this week we'll be bringing you plenty of retro looks at Penny and his signature shoe collection.
To start things out we have the Card of the Week featuring Penny in the Nike Air Flight One in the Orlando Magic inspired colorway. Released in 1995, it was Penny's first unofficial signature model -- it didn't actually carry his name, but the shoe being named "One" and Penny's player number being 1 is not just a coincidence. The Air Flight one was a high performance lightweight shoe that is much of the inspiration behind the upcoming Zoom Rookie LWP.
Worth noting, the Air Flight One was also worn by Michael Jordan in a 1995 Playoff game against Penny and the Magic. (He cut off the "1" Heeltabs.) It turned out to be one of the very few shoes Jordan ever wore in an NBA game other than his own signature Air Jordans.
The Air Flight One is a true classic of Penny's Nike line and highly sought after by collectors. While many of us dream and wait for a retro of this shoe, we'll at least get a part of it with the Zoom Rookie LWP. Is that enough to satisfy you?
[BONUS: A very young Kevin Garnett in the Air Flight One]
