Reebok's The Question was Allen Iverson's first sneaker.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you would know that NBA legend Allen Iverson has officially signed back with the Philadelphia 76ers this past week.
With Iverson’s return back to the “City of Brotherly Love,” Reebok decided smartly to re-release his first sneaker, The Questions, in limited quantities to Footlocker stores around the nation. In my opinion, and I may be wrong but it’s my opinion, these sneakers are the best LOOKING basketball shoes of all time!
I know, I know, this is a very bold statement but that is just how passionately I feel about these sneakers. I love them.
My opinion could be based solely on the marketing placed on these shoes and just how well Iverson performed in them but I absolutely love them. I can remember when these first hit the shelves back in 1996 and I was just a young kid, eight-years-old to be exact, and I didn’t have them originally because my parents weren’t hip to how great these shoes were. Instead, they were stuck on MJ’s and I had the black/white Air Jordan 12’s, which were not a bad shoe, just not the ones that I truly wanted.
I adored the Questions, especially the Red/White colorway with the suede toe. They were fire! On top of that, A.I. accomplished so much in the shoe, he made me think I could be just as good as him if I had a pair. He planted the initial seeds towards establishing himself as an iconic figure with the streetball swagger that the game had been missing. He led the Sixers with 23.5 points (sixth in the NBA), 7.5 assists (11th) and 2.07 steals (seventh) in 40.1 minutes (eighth) per game, and he crossed up MJ. Enough said.
Who wouldn’t want to be this guy?I know I did.
While I never was able to get the original colorway that I have always wanted, I was able to get a couple of different colorways over the years. I had a pair in gray and blue as well as a pair in black and gold, but nothing compares to those originals and I hope that I will be able to get them soon.
I could remember fighting for the number 3 back in the day at Summerfield Elementary School as well as spending hours in my driveway on Raskob Street trying to perfect my crossover so that mine could look just as half as good as his did. He was like a GOD to me and my friends at the time and he finally gave me a person that I felt like I could relate to.
All of these memories are what The Question’s signify to me: Swagger, Style, the streets, and most importantly Allen Iverson. Last season, the SLAM magazine rewarded me with press passes to the Detroit Pistons games to cover them and ironically my first game that I covered was Allen Iverson’s first home game when they took on the Boston Celtics. Although Iverson didn’t perform up to his usual standards as he only finished with just 10 points on 4-11 shooting in 31 minutes of action, his effect on me was priceless. I was literally in the Pistons locker room shaking and star struck as I watched him sit and talk on the phone prior to the game. After about five minutes of this I finally built up enough courage to shake his hand, which was very unprofessional to me now as I reflect back, but I am proud to say that I have some type of personal history with one of my idols.
To top off this experience, Pistons Athletic Trainer, Mike Abdenour brought out multiple Reebok sneaks for the legend including the original Questions in red, white and blue and Iverson turned them down and wore the Answer VII’s instead. I wanted to just shake him say “No! Please rock the Questions? Do it for me!!” but I kept my composure.
So as Allen Iverson prepares for his first game back in a Sixers uni since 2006 against the Denver Nuggets tonight, he would get my utmost respect if he decides to take it back to when I was just an eight-year-old trying to be like him and rock the Questions.
On that note…here is a trip back to down memory lane…
Enjoy.
Hoop Kix 