Charlotte’s sharp-shooting sneakerhead speaks on his catalog of footwear.
Reggie Williams likes sneakers so much that he inadvertently ruined an All-Star surprise.
One day last season while perusing his Nike account, Williams—a self-proclaimed fan of sneakerhead—stumbled upon the Nike Zoom KD IV ‘Galaxy’ colorway. Excited, he picked up his own pair, with enough of a resemblance to Bobcats colorways to get by, and laced up them for a regular season game.
Only one problem: Kevin Durant hadn’t even worn them yet. Oops.
“I don’t want people to get me wrong, or like I’m disrespecting KD. He was planning to wear them in the All-Star Game, of course. And being that I had the Nike account, I ordered the KDs and the LeBrons. I noticed those had an orange and a blue in it, and we have orange and blue. I put those on, and I think I surprised even myself,” Williams says with a laugh.
Clearly, the 26-year-old shooting guard has a thing for kicks.
“Sneaker culture is big in basketball. When you’re on the court you want to feel comfortable, whether it’s how your shoe feels or how your shoe makes you feel. Look good, play good.”
Williams says his off-court favorites include the Air Max 1 and Air Max 95 (“I got a ton of Air Max 95s. I just went through my closet and found an all-white pair, I got the neon green and black, a navy blue and gray pair. I got like all of them”), but he’s also partial to the Jordan XI, Jordan XIII and Nike Foamposites for both on- and off-court wear.
And while he’s not ready to put himself in the class of the game’s most obsessive sneakerheads, the former Warrior admits that since footwear is high fashion in the NBA, earning the respect of fans—and peers—is part of the motivation for his choices.
“I don’t have the best kick game as far as NBA players go. You got guys like Nate Robinson and Nick Young—those guys, their kick game is crazy,” says Williams (8.3 ppg last year with Charlotte). “I try to do what I can—just to get consideration for my shoes amongst some of the elite guys in the NBA with their kick game. I have fun with it, people enjoy it, people like to see what we’re wearing.”
So, what does Williams have planned for 2012-13?
“I got some retro Barkleys for you guys. I’ll probably break out the Jordan anniversary Jordan IIs, the all-white with the grey on it. That’s just what I’ll give you for now to start it off. We’ll see what comes along the rest of the way.”
Check out the gallery below to see some of Williams’ best on-court kicks through the years, complete with his personal commentary:
Photos via Getty Images
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