Reunited: A Sneakhead's Love Affair

 "Chamber of Fear" Nike Ad from the 2004/2005 NBA season

By the time I was 14 years old, the sneakerhead bug had already bit me. I had been one of the first kids at my junior high to rock Nike Dunks. I regularly lurked Niketalk.com and Kicksology.net to learn about release dates, read up on performance reviews, and look at as many high quality pictures as my slow, early 2000s internet connection would allow. But it wasn't until December 2004 until I owned my first athlete-inspired signature shoe: the Nike Zoom LeBron II.

Masked LeBron going up for a layup against Lamar n the II's

Now don't get me wrong, I had owned plenty of memorable sneakers prior to this. Whether we're talking And 1 shoes like the flashy Silky Smooth or Nike Basketball performance beasts like the Zoom Flight Turbine or the Zoom Ultraflight, I always made sure I laced up something nice for my Rancho Cucamonga city league games. But coming from an immigrant Pilipino family, I had always been taught to spend frugally and look for the best deals possible. More often than not, this meant shying away from the often more expensive, hype-driven athlete signature models (no Jordans for this kid or Adidas Kobes for this kid!). 

That all changed with the LeBron II. I remember first seeing pictures of them on Niketalk and being hooked. The shoe had a lot going for it: a Double-stacked, full length Zoom Air unit promised for a responsive cushioning setup that would be conducive for attacking the basket. Nike had just started to use laser-engraving technologies to provide ornate decoration. The shoe's shape and strap took style cues from the ever-popular Air Force 1, and provided a great lock down fit in addition to style points. The "Chamber of Fear" advertising campaign inspired by Bruce Lee and Wu-Tang Clan was imaginative, fueled the hype, and sent me some limited promotional items that I still have today.

Promo Poster, still up in my
room at my Parents'

On top of all that, the shoe had a hell of an endorsing athlete. King James was in just his second year in the league, and was already living up to hype, having averaged 20/6/5 during his rookie campaign. I had been a LeBron fan since his Junior year of high school, when he wrote the diary column in SLAM magazine. He was a 6'8" with the court vision that rivaled any point guard and could jump out of the gym. While still young, he played with unselfishness, flare, and tenacity. Back then, LeBron was pretty much universal likeable (Oh, how times have changed...).

And so in December 2004, I ponied up about $90 to buy them, using a 30% Friends and Family coupon to buy them at Footlocker at the  Montclair Plaza Mall. It was the most I had ever paid for a pair of shoes. I rocked the shit out of them throughout 2 city league seasons, fearlessly taking it to the hoop knowing my feet were locked down, ankles were secure, and that I would have impact protection on the way down. My homie, Karl, bought em too, and we went through a whole season as teammates terrorizing opposing backcourts while looking fly with matching kicks and haircuts (see video below). I rocked them for hooping, casually, to church, and pretty much everywhere else.



Then I let my next door neighbor, Errol, borrow them for some reason and he lost them or something. I'm not sure why I let him (never letting you borrow my shit again Eggroll!), but I thought that was the end for my love affair with the Zoom LeBron II.

And it was! Until I finally, after 10 years and many subsequent pairs of Nike basketball signature shoes that I loved ALMOST as much, hunted down a pair on eBay. I'm nowhere NEAR as big a LeBron fan I was then (you lost me when you left Cleveland, and have yet to regain me now that you're back), but I still love this shoe. And what's not to love? Double-stacked full-length Zoom Air for less than one bill? Nike hardly puts a single-stacked full-length zoom air in kicks anymore! Reunited, and the cushioning STILL feels so good.

my recently purchased pair. thank you eBay!