KICKS: NIKE AIR FORCE MAX AND THE FAB FIVE

              Image Courtesy of NKETLK.com                                          '93 Classic Four Sport Tri-Card (Hardaway, O'neal, Webber)

The Air Force Max Nikes are one of the most iconic kicks of the mid 90's. These hardcore baller kicks were originally released in 1993 for Sir Charles himself. No, not me. Actually, they were released for Sir Charles Barkley. There's no denying Barkley's influence as a spokesperson for Nike, but it was Michigan's Fab Five that shot this sneaker into the pop culture stratispher.

These were cool kicks that an all freshmen, baggy shorts, black socks wearing starting five wore while they took the collegiate basketball ranks by storm. Truth be told, the Fab didn't actually start wearing these as freshmen. Actually, it was the Nike Air Flight Huaraches that the Five first started rockin' that fateful freshman year, but they did wear the Air Force Max Nikes during their sophmore seasons. Checkout the '93 Classic Four Sport Tri-Card featuring Anfernee Hardaway, Shaquille O'neal and Chris Webber. First, this is a really cool card and I'm excited that this KICKS series post allows me to show this card off. Second, checkout what Webber is got on his feet. It might be a little tough to tell, but those are the AF Max sneakers. Sure, those Converse kicks Hardaway was breakin' ankles in are cool, but the Nikes are iconic.

The Air Force Max sneakers were rereleased as retro's a year or two ago. They're a pair I would have loved to add to my collection, but it just wasn't in the cards. How's that for a play on words? I know a number of people who bought a pair and they love 'em. The unquestioned best design feature is the visible heel air sole. The mostly all black color scheme with a pair of black Nike socks is a nice look too.

In honor of the Tri-Card and the fact that the three players featured are some of my favorites to collect, here are the videos of their NBA Draft selections:

Anfernee Hardaway '93 Draft	Shaquille O'neal '92 Draft	Chris Webber '93 Draft

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T-Wolves GM David Kahn's Interview on NBATV

Let me preface this post by saying that I did watch the interview live on NBA TV the other night, but I found this video clip over on another blog. NBACHEF is a great blog all about the happenings of the NBA. Unfortunately, it's written all in German. So unless you can read German, you're out of luck. I did talk with the very NBA knowledgeable administrator of the NBACHEF via Facebook about a week, ago and he said he is contemplating writing posts in English too. I'm not sure if he has made a decision on that yet or not, but his blog is definitely worth checking out: http://nbachef.blogspot.com/.

How funny was this interview from Minnesota Timberwolves GM David Kahn? I watched it live on NBA TV the other night. Kahn is a very interesting guy to listen to whenever he opens his mouth, but the real question is, will he turn the Timerwolves around? I lived in Minnesota for almost three years (The last Garnett year and the dismal seasons after Garnett's departure). I have since moved back to Buffalo, NY, but I always try to catch as many T-Wolves games as possible. It's clear Kahan has been getting rid of the McHale layovers (rightfully so), but will he now be able to rebuild with the clean slate he has created?

The T-Wolves are trying to build a "run and gun" team to fill the empty seats in beautiful downtown Twin Cities Target Center Arena. I get why Kahn would want a big man like Darko in that kind of system. Every scout for the past seven NBA seasons and previous Euro seasons has touted Darko as a legitimate seven-footer with quickness, agility, a feathery shooting touch and excellent passing abilities. Those are all necessities in a system like that which Kahn is trying to insititute in Minnesota. It's also an added bonus to have all those skills in addition to Darko's size. The problem is, Milicic has never actually proven any of those scouts right on the court.

I do agree with Kahn that it's worth a shot, and I actually like the direction he is taking the T-Wolves. They have added some talent with Jonny Flynn and Kevin Love. They are young and athletic with skilled big men down low. The drafting of two point-guards in the 2009 NBA Draft back-to-back was a bit head scratching, but the T-Wolves have a player in Ricky Rubio that can be used as a highly valued piece in a trade or could someday end-up running that high octane offense Kahn envisions.

It seems Mr. Kahn is content with slowly building the team with young, athletic and skilled players. Time will tell if Kahn can get it done. One thing is for sure though, he's one great interview!

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