Nike Zoom Turbine

Post # 2 brings me into my 7th grade basketball year. The shoe of choice for this year is the Nike Zoom Turbine. If my first post left some speculation about my shoe/color taste, this one should erase some doubt.

The turbine was a masterful creation by nike - one of the first non Gary Payton shoes to have the full sock/shoe combo. This creation was a nearly unparalleled basketball shoe in the early 2000s. While it remained fairly unpopular, the performance was near perfection. That is, unless you were one of the unlucky bastards (like myself) that had to sluff around the court with bulky ankle braces bulging out of your shoes. Nonetheless, I loved this shoe, a perfect combination of patent leather outer with mesh highlights and a fit that perfectly hugged any foot.

I must give credit where due, though. My older brother had a pair before I did, in the white/Columbia colorway. I went with a less flashy version - white and silver. Man, does this shoe bring back some of my fondest basketball memories. As a 6 foot tall seventh grader, it goes without saying that I got buckets in these shoes.

It was in this shoe that I found a ceaseless love for the game. I would carry them to school nearly every day, let them stink up my locker and the lockers of those unfortunate adolescents who possessed the slots next to me, then proceed to walk across town to the rec center and play with the college kids after class. I always felt unstoppable there. I mean, a 7th grade kid holding his own with 20 year olds? What a confidence boost it was, I felt like I had found something that was more than just a phase, something I could identify with. From this point on, I was a basketball player - and nobody could tell me otherwise.

Thanks to the 14 of you who read post # 1 and those who came back for seconds. Next post will feature the shoe that I will be scouring the web to get ahold of until the day I die. Cya next week.

@AKallday21