Courtside Kicks, Half-Court Shots and Hockey Jersey Trends

This week C.J. and Alex talk about NBA players like Bennedict Mathurin wearing hockey jerseys as tunnel fashion, the odds of making a half-court shot and what kicks C.J. should wear when he sits courtside for Bonny James vs Kiyan Anthony.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
All right, welcome to another episode of Running the Break.
I'm your host Toldano and my co host Alex Wong. Alex,
how you doing, man, I'm good. It's uh it's finally December.
You know. I don't have much to report from you
in terms of the weather here in Toronto. It is
as you would expect. Um. So that's that's about it
for me. Actually, before we even get into anything, I

(00:27):
was reading an article in the l A Time yesterday
that I saved about you and your comedy so shows
so shows to you, and I believe it's motherland. That's
what it's called, right, It's called Motherland, dude. Yeah, I
appreciate your support on that. I mean it is, um. Yeah,
I mean we when you come to l A, you
gotta come check it out. In a little promo here
on it, we do a stand up show in a

(00:48):
Filipino restaurant that I found on Yelp by my my
old house, and it literally was a karaoke stage and
I went in there from lunch and I was like, hey,
what if we did stand up here? Um? And so
we were doing it for a few months before the
pandemic hit and then it's come back in the last
few months and we've gotten some nice press, some really
awesome comedians have come through. Um but yeah, just like

(01:08):
a fun stand up show in a Filipino restaurant, so
shout out to I feel like, you know, we we
like to spotlight Asians, Um, you know, doing fun different
things that that is is out of the ordinary or
just you know, we're in the arts for creatives are like,
um yeah, the l a time decided to put a
little bit spotlight on on our show in the scene.

(01:30):
So um much aretition. I'm glad it reached you out
there in in Canada. Yeah, no, I love it, man.
I love also like any time bringing in kind of
like creative interests and obviously doing something for the for
the community as well, right, Like I think I think
we need just more of these community events. Like I
think about it a lot, especially you know, the last
couple of years dealing with the pandemic, Like we've just

(01:51):
been so isolating these things, right and like doing zooms
and like not having a lot of these in person interactions.
I think it's so important. So crazy people listening is
they don't know that me and you haven't really hung
out in person. Um, so like I think, I keep
telling Producer P I mean, where's the budget for me
to fly out? Man? Let's do this, Listen, we gotta

(02:12):
make it a goal. This is our nearest resolution. I
know we're not there yet, but I think a live
event arrive running the break in the works piece, Like
it's not in the budget, but we'll figure something out.
Even if it's out of our own pockets. We'll do
a live thing or we just got to hang out
in person and geek out. Over all this I was
talking about so no, because the other thing I was

(02:34):
gonna ask you is, you know it's funny, is like
we talked to Gavin last week from Vintage and I
know five and you know, such a great discussion diving
into the different aspects of vintage. And one of the
things that I think, I think we always talk about
like picking up stuff, right, like things that we grab,
things we're looking into. But like you know, this coming weekend,
I'm actually like getting rode of some stuff for what

(02:55):
I feel like the first time, like I've been invited.
There's this vintage pop up happening here in Toronto with
a couple of cool vendors, and I've been invited to
just kind of bring some stuff and like have a rack.
Then this is something that I've never done in terms
of just like formally, you know, bringing out some items
and selling it. And I know you do. I think
you do a lot of that stuff in terms of
the free market scene in l A and stuff, and

(03:17):
that's one of the things I would love to check out,
you know, next time I get out to l A
and we hang out. But what is that like in
terms of just getting rid of stuff? Because I found
it so hard, you know, drawing the line of like
you know, like items, You'll pull up a T shirt
that you haven't worn in like years, but you're still
talking yourself into you know, I'm gonna get to this eventually.
I found it really hard to draw that line. Dude. Okay,

(03:39):
so here, I want to get your mindset on it.
But also I'm just gonna give you some tips just
right off top of my head because you know, I
do it because it's fun. First of all, the whole
you getting rid of this stuff is it's gonna be
great get you know, freeing it up some space, but
also the people you're gonna meet. I mean, again, this
show has been great the people that you've introduced me
to in the of the vintage and and sort of

(04:01):
like streetwear. Um, seeing up up north has been awesome,
but like, so you're gonna you're gonna meet people, so
like that's already awesome. Maybe you don't sell anything or
make a ton of money, the people that are gonna
come through and you're just be like, oh, like minded
people that I'm meaning, that's awesome. Number two, don't be
afraid to put stuff up. Like the main thing is
if you get rid of some stuff, there there will

(04:21):
be some regret, but man, then it adds some fuel
to the fire of like finding your next big grail
or like your next piece. So like, if there's something
that doesn't fit or like you you think you're never
gonna wear it again, but it's cool. Don't be afraid
to just put it on the rack. You know you
might if if you're about to sell it and you're like, hmm,
I want to keep this. That's okay. The people who

(04:42):
are buying that stuff, they're gonna understand it. Honestly, Like
some people have been like shout out to you for
like not selling this to me. It's really crazy, you know. Um,
And so yeah, I mean, just like have fun with it.
Put some stuff that you're unsure about. There's always that
last second we can be like, sorry, this means a
lot to me. I gotta keep it. And that's when
you know, like okay, like this piece means a lot

(05:04):
to me and I need to keep some of my
collection going forward. So um yeah, man, it's it's fun.
You're gonna get it. Honestly, it's a lot of work,
but like to pay off to um to just like
participate in that stuff and like just it gives I
told my brother in law, he's like, you are wear
all this stuff like your favorite movies and basketball and stuff.
I'm like, it's conversation pieces. Like you're walking in public

(05:27):
and people like pointed out and you have this like
fun conversation you learn about people. So I think you're
you're already like great at that, like in meeting people
and like finding out their story. It's like I don't know,
it's like, um, you do it at light speeding and
events like this, so I think it'd be fun. So
like yeah, but tell me your mindset, like what what
are some of your concerns? What you what are you
excited about you know, I feel like what I'm gonna

(05:49):
end up doing because there's so many other vintage sellers
that this pop up event is like I'm gonna end
up just getting involved in a lot of trades because
I feel like these vintage things. It's like I might
how a T shirt, like I was I was pulling
up some of these sweatshirts, like I have like an
Oprah Winfrey show, like like sweater that I just like,
the sweatshirt that I haven't worn in years, And it's
like when I look at it, you know how you

(06:09):
look at certain items and there's just not that attachment there.
There's just not that appeal, right, But I feel like
when I put that up, there's probably gonna be someone there,
one of the venture sellers who are probably be really
excited about it, and they'll probably have stuff that I'm
really excited. So like I almost feel like instead of
the customers coming in and I'm pricing a lot of
this stuff, like I'm not trying to make like you know,

(06:31):
you know, like hundreds, you know, thousands of dollars here,
Like I want to get the stuff in the hands
of people who appreciate it, who want right, I think
that's the main goal for me. So I think that
number one, that's a good approach. But number two, I
really think, like you said, it's gonna be those interactions
with the people and finding out what they've got. And
I feel like it's always one of those things with vintage,
just like you know, something that you might not treasure,

(06:51):
other people are gonna value a lot and vice versa.
So I'm really excited about that aspect of it. I mean,
and this it's great you bring it up to of
like we've always talked about on this podcast, like a
good strategy when going out and getting vintage you're getting
to the game is you just like go on these
consignment sites and you type in the things you like
or whatever. The great thing about the physical like shopping

(07:14):
in these like fleas and in the events, is that
you're gonna find stuff that you had no idea, you
weren't even thinking about until the very moment you saw it.
So like the surprise of it all is gonna be
really sick, and like you said, like the trades, you're
gonna be like, oh man, I don't need this, but
I really want that, and that person might need what
you have and are looking to get rid of. So
that's that's like the beauty of it all again. Like

(07:37):
I feel like people who listen to podcasts and aren't
into this stuff, I think they're gonna be like the
excitement that you get when you just like go on
these vintage things and also shout go to like watch
some YouTube flea market videos, like you're gonna get really
excited about kind of like the Pickers mentality. I feel
like this is what it is. Um, so yeah, I'm excited.
You gotta we gotta do a recap of how it

(07:58):
goes for you. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited to see
how it goes. And I guess I'll take back the
term downsizing because I feel like I'm gonna somehow end
up with more items like that reason you might just
get excited too excited and come back with more than
what you get rid of. So yeah, yeah, So so

(08:18):
we'll we'll report back. So let's take a quick break,
and then when we come back, let's go around the
league and catch up on some picks, some fits, and
some sort of topics. All right, welcome back to running
the break. You know, c J. I think one of

(08:39):
the things to talk about last time with Gavin as
well is trends that are coming up around the league.
And you know, we're about the courterway through of the season,
so we've got enough tunnel fit evidence to see certain
trends coming up. And one of the things we talked about,
what's hockey jerseys. And I've been noticing a lot of
hockey jerseys and I think this kind of coincides with
the number of Canadians that are in the NBA. You know,

(09:01):
Benedict Mathrone, rookie of of the Pacers from Montreal, pulled
up in a Montreal Canadians jersey recently, which I thought
was a super cool look. Nikkil Alexander, who was a
client of of Gavin from Vintage and I O five
pulled up in a in a Better Days hockey jersey,
so they're they're in l a based brand. Um see,
a lot of streetwear brands make making jerseys now to

(09:21):
Cat showed up in a throwback Rough Riders jersey, and
Jalen Williams of Okay See I saw wearing a Detroit
Red Wings jersey. The hockey jersey wave is here, c J.
It's here, and I think it's here to stay. I
I mean, I'm telling you as a Canadian, Um, I
think I don't know. I think that the sport of
hockey is always so far when I watch it, but

(09:42):
truly the jerseys, Like we talk about our love for
NBA jerseys, but like I feel like there is so
much to discover about NHL jerseys and I love that
NBA players are getting into it because yeah, there there's
like more real estate to a hockey jersey. And I
feel like in maybe like Tom O'Grady was a big
part of this, another you know, previous guest, but like

(10:03):
in the nineties, we saw so many cool designs come
out from like I mean the Mighty Ducks when they became,
you know, a movie and then they became a franchise.
Like they literally wore the jerseys that they wore in
the movies, and so I love that, you know, cut
to twenty years later that these hockey jerseys are coming out.
Like I remember Russell Westbrook. I think he was on

(10:26):
the thunder Still, but he wore like that orange Mighty
Ducks jersey that said the Brody on the back. Like
I love like there was there was some hockey jersey
being sprinkled around the league back then from guys like that,
but now like a Benedict bathroom wearing it is like, oh,
the rookies are showing someone for hockey juice the keel
like he's a younger player and I just love Yeah,
I love hockey jersey. And also as a guy who's

(10:48):
not particularly jacked, um, I would say definitely've had a
dad bod for a few years now, um, and only
just recently became a dad. Hockey jersey is really flattering
on a lot of people, you know what I mean,
what do you think about that? I'm glad you actually
called that up because you know, as we're recording right now,
I know you're wearing you wearing a Janice basketball jersey. Listen, man,
I think you pull off the jersey look real well.

(11:09):
And this is something that I struggle with too, Like
I think hockey jersey's is the easiest, easiest look to
to pull off if you're trying to get a jersey
fit off. And I love you mentioned like the anahem
Mighty Ducks. I feel like that's the first one I
think of when I think about growing up, Like you know,
I remember the San Jose Sharks with their teel jerseys too.
That was a really big deal, and like, for some reason,
I was really infatuated with it with the New Jersey

(11:30):
Devils as well, especially in the eighties when they had
like the red and green kind of Christmas slash like
Gucci type design. You know, that's still a very classic
look for me. So yeah, I'm with you, man. I
think I think, I think, I really think once once
NBA players latch onto one of these trends and listen
as much as we check this stuff out, so do

(11:51):
they right? Like I think they're all paying attention to
what guys are wearing around the league. And we've talked
about so much about how this stuff is competitive. So
I think we're gonna see a lot of jerseys. And
we got to give a shout out to Mike Scott.
I don't remember, he's the o G jerseys and and
I remember he was asked about it, and the thing
I love about when he was asked about it, and
he was like, no, I don't really like hockey. I

(12:11):
just like the jerseys, like I just like the way
it looks, which is like the classic response that I
think for any NBA and that's how I am too.
But I'm like, I've I've gotten so many hockey jerseys
over the last couple of years, and I'm like, I
gotta watch a few games and again whenever I do,
it's pretty fun. So I know this isn't a hockey podcast,
but I still owe it to the NHL to watch

(12:32):
a few of the games. So I can you know,
feel worthy went rock in the jerseys? Yeah? What's jerseys
of you picked up? Like? Are their favorites of yours
or even looking for still? Um, I mean I got
the Mighty Ducks one, I got a I got in
New York Rangers one I got, I got a Gretzky
King's one and and actually too with we we talked

(12:53):
about Nikil wearing the Better Days hockey jersey. I love.
There's a few streetwear brands who have done some really
good like iterations of hockey jerseys. So like there's a
cactus Cactus playing Flea market, um hockey jersey. It's his
Air from the up tempo, the classic pip and shoe. Um.
It just has like the Air logo on the front.
I feel like a lot of NBA players have worn that.

(13:15):
I got that sitting in the closet. Then I gotta
break out, um, trying to think, oh, this is one
actually very much NBA related. The the King's Los Angeles
Kings did a Lakers Night and so it's like the
it's the purple and gold, but it says and it
has the Kings, but it has the like Lakers type
numbers on the jersey. So I got that in the

(13:36):
closet that I've worn a few games at. UM. I
keep calling it, uh Staples but at a crypto but um. Yeah,
So there's definitely there's definitely still an overlap hockey and basketball.
What are some of your favors? Yeah, I think you know,
remember in the nineties, there was these alternate jerseys, like
the Boston Bruins have like the Giant Bruin and they

(13:57):
rock that back now, and even the even the Mighty
US had an alternate. It was like the actual like
the duck like mascot, like you know in with the
hockey stick, like in skates with the different coloring and stuff.
For me, like it always like I feel like across
all sports, Like we talked to Tom O'Grady about the
alternate nineties jerseys for me, like alternate nineties for for hockey,

(14:17):
as well, and like baseball when they did, I think
these like um futuristic jerseys that were like sleeveless with
like giant logos and things like that. So so for me,
it's always those. But I love the classics to man.
I love how you mentioned like the New York Rangers,
Like that's one of my favorites of all time. I
just think, you know, it's just such iconic and like
in the nineties they had like the Statue of Liberty alternate,

(14:40):
which again I think they've brought back as well. I
just think, you know, I'm sure there's people listening from
like New York in LA, but then there's people listening
from you know, smaller you know, cities that don't want
to hear this. But man, like anything big city like
New York in l A, I feel like it's just iconic,
like across different sports and and I know we're not
too critical on this podcast, but like when there is

(15:05):
no but just honestly from a fan perspective, and I
know the league is constantly trying to evolve and their
jerseys and uniform looks. I know it's a thing between
Nike Basketball and the in the league and the team's designers.
But it would be really cool if they took sort
of the direction of the mascots and caricatures and big

(15:26):
logos that like you described the NHL has done in
the past, where it's like the center logo. That would
be really cool. Like that's something I would love to see.
And I think, you know again, like people always say,
like we want to get the youth into this, and
I think the youth really loves kind of like characters
like Marvel is one of the biggest things, like make
kind of like I don't know, just like caricature um

(15:49):
or like mascots looking like buff or something on these jerseys.
Like imagine if like I mean, the Grizzlies was a
good example from back in the day. People love the
Grizzlies retro stuff still and it's there's a bear on it,
just like with my clause. I feel like we can
do something like that, like imagine the bowls like still
have the bulls head, but then this like ripped bulls

(16:09):
body and then you know, I as the main logo
on the French Josey. I think that would be really sick.
So if the NBA and the designers are listening, take
that idea and run with it. It's yours. We also
would love to work on the project. Yeah no, it
just send me the merge. Man, it's all good. I
don't need to work on it. No, but I think no,
I think that that's a really good idea. And the
other one that makes me think of two and again

(16:31):
referencing back to a great conversation with Tom O'Grady. I
remember you talking to him about how you picked up
this like alternate Chicago bulls happen with the alternate logos.
There's all these secondary logos and designs like for for
for different teams, right even thinking about the Lakers or
the Knicks or even the Raptors here that you can
really dive into the archives. And it's similar to me

(16:52):
as like baseball, because we know baseball the Caps are
so iconic, right like with with the team's logos, but
they also have like spring train eating hats where they'll
bring in alternate logos and introduce them. I love the
n B A. I love for the NBA to do
that because if you think of you know, I think
across the different major sports, Baseball has always been the
most iconic when it comes comes to hats right, and

(17:15):
I feel like there's a space for the NBA to
tap into there. And again it goes back to the
younger audience. I think everybody respects the classic looks, especially
of the iconic teams, but when you can have a
little fun with it, like you said, like you know,
let's add in the mascots, let's add in these characters,
let's add in the alternate logos. I feel like that
might be more useful than saying, like, let's think really

(17:37):
outside the box and like change color ways and like
tell different stories and stuff. You could tell stories within
that same space, right, just what the team has been
about since its origins. Yeah, I love it. Um, just yeah,
I mean higher us. We're we're here to console. Yeah,
this is just an audition. By the way, the thing

(17:58):
as a doubling as a podcast. We will work hard
on the project. Then we will spend our paycheck on
whatever nets out from the projects. Yeah. I I can't
promise either of those things to anybody listening. So um,
in terms of in terms of kicks, you know, I know,
we've I know, we bring up the Kobe is a lot,
and because it's such a popular shoe amongst the current players,

(18:19):
and I think in the last couple of years we've
seen the Kobe fives and the Kobe six is especially
with with you know, Nike putting them out as as retros,
they become really popular, and we've talked about it. I think,
you know, the league has spotlighted, you know, many people
have spotlighted just a shortage of Kobe's right Like I've
heard themar talk about how he's had to like pull
a lot out of the closet. There's not a lot

(18:40):
right now saying for like Anthony Davis, a lot of
the players, But I'm noticing now, like you know, John Moran,
I want to highlight as well, because, like I feel
like people are wearing different Kobe models now. John Moran's
always hooped in a lot of different Kobe Elite nine models,
and Jeremy grant To this year, I've noticed, has been
bringing out the Adidas Kobe collection, which they the Adidas

(19:02):
Kobe is a lot of times either forgotten or when
they're brought up their clown because of of the models
and designs. But I kind of feel like this is
one of those things where with time and obviously shouts,
you know, a rest in peace to Kolby with his
legacy and the players honoring him and you know, playing
paying homage to him. I almost feel like these different
models now is getting a second life. Absolutely, and again

(19:24):
this is another way for us to sniff out who
and what NBA players are actual sneaker heads, you know
what I mean, Like shout out Jeremy Grant, who again
with this week in particular with the Kobe's but also
the T Max, you know. And it's it's like Adidas
doesn't have as rich of an NBA you know, basketball
sneaker history as Nike UM. But you know, when someone

(19:46):
like Jeremy Grant, I'm trying to think of who else
to like just rocking some obscure models um and and
just like owning and like, to me, that's really cool,
you know. And and the dude like Jeremy is kind
of having like a great season on the Blazers. I
just love it. It just it really looks kind of
badass to me when you you pull out some like
obscure um kicks and he's remember when Kobe or or

(20:08):
Team Mac or I'm trying to even think of like
other Adidas players from back then. But I just love.
It's like it's showing a love for sneakers um and
a little bit of history there. And then Jaw too.
It's like we obviously when we talk about the MoMA mentality,
who were the players who embody that? Now Jaw is
definitely a guy um who does that. So I love
him rocking Kobe's. And I think when one thing too

(20:29):
about the Kobe's is that it's kind of served as
this um people are you weren't rocking the old Kobe's.
I really feel like people now are are paying homage,
not a paying homage, but like Nike basketball from like
you know, the two thousand tens era, like k D's
are starting to pop up from that time. Katie Four's,
like Jaws warrant some Katie Four's um early pgs. I mean,

(20:53):
I'm seeing a lot of Pacers players weren't early pgs,
which is so funny because they're like honor pg as
like a you know, and um Pacers alumni, which is
PG is still very much active in the league. So
I really feel like the Kobe uh, the Kobe line
has sort of been a bridge to some forgotten kicks
of the two thousand tens and the Nike Basketball series.
So I'm all for it. Like these guys like they're

(21:15):
having fun with their kicks and it doesn't have to
be having them their own signature. Even though I've heard
John Morraine has something on the way a little a
little bit of a little bit of a little a
little breaking news. No, I think I think Jaw. I
think Jaws the perfect you know, next athlete to to
to become, you know, a face in in the sneaker space.

(21:36):
And I think it's cool to you mentioned Te Max,
Like Team Max. You know, the Team Max shoes are
shoes stinkers that people just rarely, you rarely hear them
talk about it, right, like we talk about Jordan's, we
talk about Kolbe's, we even talk about Lebron's. But you know,
I've I've grown to appreciate the Team Max who just
seeing how many players are bringing that out and even
the Gilbert Arena sneakers, like you always seen a lot

(21:57):
of bunch of those two. Right Yeah, So so I
think it's cool, like this is another you know, I
guess this is our kind of like trend spotting, you know, segment,
you know, with the hockey jerseys. But like I feel
like this is kind of the next wave of sneakers
out and I'm glad you kind of defined it as
like early two thousand's like tens. It's really strange to me,
but you're right, like mentioning pgs as an example, like

(22:19):
I guess those things are starting to become you know,
vintage and like retro. It's also making me feel old.
But this is the whole Yeah, this is every podcast.
This is every podcast that we do. Manute like we
it can't be helped, well can I? So this is
a fun thing that just popped up. So my buddy
got me. I'm going courtside to see Brawny and Key

(22:40):
and Anthony um Are. They're kind of like doing a
recreation of like a celebration of that espn um Mellow
Lebron matchup from and you're doing it, uh in December, Yeah,
in a couple of weeks, right, And so I'm sitting
courtside it and I'm like, I gotta have the right kicks, right,
So it's like I have Lebrons, you know, I have
a on lebrons. Try to wear a pair, you know, lebrons.

(23:02):
And then I was like, what if I wore because
as we all know you know this in high school.
Lebron was kind of a steaker free agent in high school,
which again just blows my mind. Where he was wearing Nikes, Adida's, Jordan's, um,
maybe another Evan brand. I bet you he wore Pumas.
But uh if I what if I wore a pair
of the St Vincent St Mary's t mac pees, Like,

(23:27):
I feel like that's like such a weird choice. I
wonder how Lebron are I think I think I actually
think that's a good move. And like the same Inscance
Sat Mary colorways on any true I feel like it's
it's such a classic. Um, it's such a classic, and
it's like such a rarely scene. Um. But but the
only takeaway from that story is is that you're sitting courtside.
That's that's really that's really all at a high school

(23:48):
game though, That's why it's listen liston courtside, his courtside. No,
I think I think that's actually a good that's actually
a good sneakerd choice. Um, some other sort of topics
that I pulled. Speaking of Phil old um So, a
reporter asked Luca recently he has been paying attention to
all the changes that are happening on Twitter, and Luca
responded that all he does on his phone is played chess. Um,

(24:10):
do you believe this? Do you believe Luca really is
just not on social media? Like this is just not
a thing I find it. I listen. I'm not saying
he's lying. I'm not saying I don't believe him. It's
just so always so strange to me when one of
these superstar athletes are able to just not be on
social It's man, we don't have to worry like our
our living is on social right, and like these guys

(24:31):
living is to just cross up the tier one athletes
in the world. But I believe it that. I believe it.
You know, you gotta figure out how to block out
the haters and if you know how to play chess,
and I feel like chess obviously, like it's all about
moves and stuff in Lucas game, obviously, it's just like
an arsenal of moves. So I believe it. I mean,

(24:52):
we talked about the Spurs and how they used to
play like World of Warcraft and all those other games.
It's like you gotta find some sort of weird obsession
and to get you from game to games. So it
kind of explains a lot about Luca to me. Yeah,
you know what they need to have like a word
old tournament at the All Start Breakers season or something. No.
I just love that its chest, Like, I just love

(25:13):
It's not any of these like other just mindless games
that like, because Luca is pretty young, like like he's
like rolling around like a sixty five year old Like
I'm I'm gonna say, I'm gonna I'm gonna say Luca
probably only uses Facebook, man, but I mean he's been
playing pro sance he was like twelve, so that makes sense.
You know, he's he's been for years, you know what,
that's a good pointment in basketball years. He's about sixty

(25:33):
five right now. His owner, Mark Cuban, so as most
people know, is one of the one of the hosts
on Chark Tank, and there's a viral clip recently, uh
you know of these two investors. I don't know what
item they were pitching, but like whatever business they were pitching,
they gave a sample too to all the Sharks, but
on the product they put Golden State Warriors branding on it.

(25:57):
And because of that, Mark Cuban, despite a great business
case by these guys decline to be in on the
business because he was offended that they put the logo
of the team that had just beaten them in the
conference finals? Are you taking mark human side on this?
Should those guys have been smarter rolling in? Man, it's
a gamble because I feel like some people would have,

(26:21):
you know, some humor about it. But and Mark and
Marcus demonstrated that he hasn't times, but in this case,
he really wasn't having it. Yeah, I mean, if you're
making it, if that was because it was you know,
they thought it was me clever than how good was
the product to begin with? Man? Yeah, I think if
I was rolling into that that pitch, I would go
all maths stuff that. But that's what I'm saying. I'm

(26:42):
totally with you, Like, why take any chances? Why take
any chances? You know, the Warriors branding might get Mark's attention,
but you're also taking a risk. Why not branded all Luca?
Why not branded all Maths? So to me, I'm gonna
I'm gonna have to say this was a big blunder.
I'm gonna have to call this a big blunder. Yeah,
I'm out, Okay, I mean, yeah, Warriors, you're out as well.

(27:03):
I uh yeah, and Warriors fans come on, not especially
after this season, like we gotta we gotta clean it
up Warriors, Warriors fan base and the team. Obviously they'll
they'll be fine the playoffs. I'm saying it now. But yeah,
that's that's tough, Mark Cuban. You gotta just go mask,
you gotta just um. Yeah, that's my business advice on
that one. All right, this is this is our business advice.

(27:24):
And and you know, a couple of couple of things
before we take the break about your Lakers. So it's
been two straight games now that a Laker fan has
hit has hit a half course shop for twenty five
thousand dollars. Throw it in, baby, seventy five thousand dollars
for that shot. You know, this is one of what

(27:46):
I want to ask you, c J. Like you've been
to games and you've seen during timeouts when these things happen.
So here in Toronto, well sometimes happens is the fans
that go on the court will be given an option.
So it's like let's say, like let's say a half
course shot is worth like ten dollars, right, but you
can also, within like a sixty seconds span, maybe hit
as many layups as you can. And the layups are

(28:08):
worth like fifty each, and like a mid range jumper
is like a hundred, a three pointer is like five hundred.
In that scenario, if you have sixty seconds and you're
being taken to the court, are you taking as many
half course shots as you can? Or you going pier layups?
What is your approach? I'm doing the half course shot. Okay,
You're going for it all like you're just gonna go
for it all. Yeah, I think, um yeah, and uh

(28:31):
what about what about you? And then I'll go into
etherory of mine. Um, I would do pier layups. I
just want to stack. I just want to stack my fifty.
I don't know if you were a kid like me
playing basketball, but man, I almost practiced the half court
shot as much as I did the layups. You know
what I mean? This is okay, okay, this is my
love for the game. I'm like, I love theatrics. And
so it was like, man, you know how many times

(28:51):
we were like counting down three to one and then
shooting from the street, Like I feel like, how many
of those? How many of those did you make though
I wasn't really taking percentages as an eight year old,
but uh, but that's the question. I just feel like
I would never make a half court shot. Yeah. Yeah,
so I think if you if you figure out your move,
it's you know, I don't know, but let me ask you,

(29:13):
what what what is your theory on why this happened?
I mean, it's really crazy. Two in a row, and
I watched him live, I was like, what's going on? Yeah,
I don't know, Like I actually actually would love some
research and stats on this because I don't know if
this has ever happened back to back. But people have
made the joke that if this keeps happening, the Lakers
aren't going to be able to afford to pay Austin

(29:35):
Reeves because all the money is going to do the thing.
It is frustrating. And I'm not even trying to tear
down this Lakers team, but it's tough. You know, they're
they're they're having an unusually bad shooting season. Um, but
you see that happen, you're like, just yeah, maybe let's
sign them, or you know, maybe Lakers fans are just

(29:56):
getting so desperate to see the ball going the hoop.
That now they're they're revenge is to make half course shots.
So that's an I just I just you know, if
I was a fan, I got to walk out of
an arena after watching an NBA game with twenty dollars, like,
I actually don't know what I would do with myself,
Like you know, like I think that that money is
going to a lot of vintage and spending. Um. The

(30:17):
the other thing coming from the Lakers to Dan Wiki
the report report it the other day, I saw this
on Twitter. He just randomly tweeted during a game and
said a woman just chugged a beer out of her
prosthetic leg. So it's a wild Monday here for a
Lakers game. Now, I want to know, c J off
the top of your head, Like, what's the wildest thing
you ever seen in an NBA arena that you could share?
Oh man, that I could chair. I think I saw

(30:41):
the first ever. Remember the dancing usher from the Pistons. Yes,
So people were like, and this happens a lot. I
hate to it's kind of like telling people saying it's
not real. But a lot of the times, a lot
of like the theatrics are crazy stuff that happens on
the Jumbo Tron are scripted now a little intel. The

(31:01):
ussher from the Pistons was actually an ushirt and then
he danced in one when he was on Dummatron, and
then that went viral and then that became a whole stick. Um,
that became like a thing they did in every game.
And I remember seeing it for the first time and
like my mind was blown and that I loved seeing
that it became a thing. So that was probably the
wildest thing that could share. Um, how about you see

(31:24):
anything crazy in a Raptors game or anything. Man, I
can't really think, but I think it's a really good
point that you bring up about just the behind the scenes,
about things that take place like the dancing ushers and
things like that, because, um, having been behind the scenes,
you as well, like there's a lot of planning that
goes into it. But the one thing that you can
plan for, and I'm just remembering this now, is when

(31:45):
they put fans on the kiss cam. Because the kiss
cam thing is a very hit or miss, and I
think recently I believe this was Shay Gil just Alexander's
girlfriend was the kiss camp but was with her brother.
I want to say, was with some one and she
like literally said on the jumbo drawn to everyone in
the arena, like that's my brother. So so the kiss

(32:07):
camp is always always a hit or miss. I think
in terms of wildest things, I just think, you know,
at All Star or you know, during the finals, not
particularly wow, but like when your court side before the
game or behind the scenes, you know where the tunnel is,
you see a lot of just celebrities that you don't
expect to see. Like I remember going to the Calves

(32:28):
locker room after they came back from three one to
beat the Warriors in and um, who's their big man?
Timothy Moskov was just they're celebrating with Usher and Jamie Foxx,
and I was like, this is just amazing, just the
random ist trio of people, or like Rick Flair would
suddenly just be in front of me at like a
Calves game. I guess the wildest one was when Barack

(32:51):
Obama just showed up to to a finals game, uh
in Toronto. So so for me, like not necessarily like
wild stuff like people pulling out a prosthetic leg then
you know, chugging a beer. But but it's just that
when you're behind the scenes, like you run into a
lot of random people that you don't expect at games.
What about remember Andrew Binnen was just chilling watching the
finals games? Oh yes, this is what I love too,

(33:14):
is like you see a lot of just former players
just pop up, right, like players that you don't expect
well suddenly pop up too. So so I think that's amazing.
But you know, listen, man, many uses for a prosthetic
leg is? Um is the takeaway there. So let's take
this break. Let's take this break, and when we come back,
we're gonna talk about some forgotten nineties signatures. Sleep all

(33:48):
right back and running the break? Now, Alex, do you
get a chance to see the new Shack documentary on HBO?
So I haven't had a chance yet, but I am
excited to check it out because I don't know if
we've talked about this, probably like in past episodes, but
like Shack was a big influence growing up, and I'm
sure for you as well. I try to explain to
the younger basketball fans that I hang out with now

(34:08):
just the cultural influence of Shack, you know, making rap albums,
being in commercials, being in movies. Um. And when I
talk about being in commercials like I know, you guys
think you know, you guys see the printer in jet
commercials now like she was in every commercial back in
the day. Okay, Like I'm talking sneakers, PEPSI like everything.
Um so, so I'm really excited to check it out.

(34:30):
You know, I think, um, you know, the four part documentary,
hopefully I learned some new stuff about them, because I
feel like I've learned a lot about Shock. But it
just got me thinking about just you know, growing up
like one of the sneakers that that was really big
to me. It was the shock gnosis uh sneaker. And
you know, we don't talk about Rebok a lot on
on this show just because I think Nike and Adidas

(34:50):
and even New Balance and all these other brands even
and one. I think it's dominated the conversation, and you know,
it's it's been a while since I think Reebok has
been in this like basket ball space. So I just
I just thought it would be a good chance for
us to kind of highlight and ask you too some
some other you know, forgotten nineties signature sneaker athletes and
then sneakers that that stand out to you. Yeah, I

(35:13):
think right now to a lot of these brands, they're
they're you know, go into their retro bag a little bit,
and we're seeing some fun sneaker, especially from like the
era that we fell in love with basketball sneakers. So,
uh yes, the Shack nosis definitely, like there's some there's
a brain Dead check Nosis collab that's dropping. Then I
got really excited about Like anyone doesn't know about brain Dead,

(35:33):
check them out their studio and they also do a
lot of really cool stuff in the art space. It's
like the fact that there's a shock brain Dead collab
just shows you how iconic the sneaker is. But um,
the pen the Pennies, the Nike Pennies, Penny Hardaway. He again,
if you didn't watch basketball in the nighties or you
weren't boring yet, and you'll listened to this Penny Hardaway.

(35:54):
There was the nineties Bowls and then there was an
Orlando Magic Penny and Chat combo and that was probably
the set and biggest thing in basketball in sports, um
at the time. That's not to discredit them, that's just
like the Bulls were that big, but then it was
Shack and Penny. So the Pennies, I would say Penny
probably has the what uh third fourth most like substantial

(36:20):
impact on Nike basketball in terms of the signature. Shoot,
what do you think about the Pennies? Yeah, I think
I honestly think that Stumble we might need to do
a whole episode on that because Penny with the little
Penny commercials and and you know, I think because because
injuries really took away from what he could do on
the court. Like like it's it's so hard to describe,
and I know you just try it just now to

(36:40):
like when I try to describe people about kind of
the Bulls and the Magic, Like the Bulls were the
Bulls were Listen, the Bulls were like the national team
right worldwide. They were icons. They were like the Beatles
with Jordan's But if you're a young kid growing up
in the nineties, I think everybody routed for the Magic.
They had the cool jerseys, they had Shock, they had Penny.
So no, I think I'm totally with you in terms

(37:03):
of the Pennies. And it's funny you mentioned like the
brain Dad, but their brain Dad collab with Shack. Like
you know, I've noticed too, like a lot of brands
like um, you know, social status recently released the collab
with the Airpenny and I know to see has another
Airpenny collab coming. It's been talked about in I do
I do, like you know, I do things. Sometimes collapse

(37:24):
can really like clutter the space for sneakers because I
think sometimes we just want the classics as well, right, Um,
some of these collabs takes listen, I think they're awesome,
Like I still love the Union ones UM like as
an example, like off the Top, But I think this
is really the collapse. The power in the clab is
just a great way of reintroducing models that people would

(37:45):
otherwise not where because like, I don't think that the
general younger basketball fan is out there being like I
want a pair of Air Pennies. But if they see
a streetwear brand that they highly respect and cove it,
do a collab and then you see the general releases
come back out. Now, I do think it does bring
out the interests UM and the Pennies in and I

(38:06):
do feel like the Pennies deserve a space absolutely. I
really do think what we have seen with the Jordan's ones,
where people weren't that into Jordan Ones a few years ago,
and then with the collapse, like you said, the Unions
or the Travis Scott's the one has really like came back,
and I think it led to like people being like,
oh all these ones, these new color ways, you know

(38:28):
O G s were somewhat getting excited about it. The
new people were like, we want these really bad. And
then we just saw the release of Lost and Founds
of the o G Chicago ones. I really think we
don't get O G Chicago ones unless interests as high
on that model because of all those collapsed, so like
as an o G and you know, like yourself, like
sometimes I can get mad at these collapse and when

(38:48):
they're so nonsensical, which let's be real, they some of
these are with some of these movies and TV show
collabs that are so forced, which again could I could
be going into tangent about that, but like we do
end up getting something like I really do like with
the penny, specifically with the social status and Stucy Like
I've been seeing a lot of social status penny uh,
Penny ones and Penny two's on people's feet, uh young

(39:11):
to like the age rage just have like, um, it's
wide that I think we're gonna get some O g
color ways and the Penny's coming up, and it's like
that's how You're gonna retain me, And like I'm not
gonna be mad about collapse if if we're getting those
back into like you know, pop culture again. Yeah, And
you know, I think I think about Kith too, you know,
I know Ki did um you know Kith I think
did some Pippin collapse a few years back. And I

(39:34):
don't know, they worked with Lebron too right on on
some of his models as well, And I really think
like it just you know, when you have those collabs
with these prominent streetwar brands, like it just elevates the shoot, right,
Like I think it just lets people look at the
Lebrons in a different way, and you know, people can
look at the Pennies in a different way as well.
And like going back to Rebok, like I think too,

(39:56):
like the same thing similar to the shacknosas, Like you know,
Sean Kemp with the Rebok comic Kazi and I think,
you know, we all remember from the nineties Deep Deep Brown,
you know, with the Reebok pumps at the at the
Dunk contest, and I was really excited. I think this
is probably last year, maybe a couple of years ago
when when the Reebok pumps came back. Um, and I
think a lot of times it's kind of funny to me,

(40:17):
like you really get to see the generational divide because
some of these shoes will come back out and they'll
just sit on shelves and there's just no hype or
reaction to it, whereas I think there is a connection
for for people like us. Yeah, absolutely, And and the
thing is people like us have started working real jobs
the last year, so we will go out and buy them. Um.
So I I there is I feel like there is

(40:39):
a nice marketing strategy behind them coming out now. But
I mean, yeah, shout out pumps. It's so funny like
Montrese Mantrese Harold, he still rocks pumps in game pretty frequently.
So I love again that's a good way to uh
sniff out, um, sniff out who are the real sneaker heads.
So and then the Kamakazis too. Again that Shack knows

(41:00):
us and like Kamakazi, and I think that led to
maybe the pitpends with the big Air. It was almost
like I would describe it as like big design on
a pair of shoes because back then it used to
be like subtle design with the with the brand's logo.
But when it was like, hey, let's make this fun
design the primary feature of the shoe, which the Shacknosis

(41:21):
and the Kamakazees were, those were legendary. And those are silhouettes.
And I still like try to buy whenever I can. Yeah,
and they are just wild silhouettes like like you know,
for for anyone who like not familiar, like just please
google the Shacknosis or the Kamakaze like it is. It's
a it's a different type of shoe. And I was
thinking too, like even Grant Hill, I think when he

(41:42):
signed his deal with Phili, like that was a huge deal,
Like I remember, I remember I think Jerry Stackhouse too
when he came in he had a parent of the
Phila brand as well, and there was a lot of
these cool like Philadelphia like Phila Delphia, like a ad
campaign that's going on when he was with the Sixers.
So you know, I've seen feel like kind of come
back around. I think they are a brand that that
are now at the you know, at the malls and

(42:04):
the big shops and stuff. But you know, maybe feel
us next up to in terms of I really think,
I really think going back to the power of the collapse,
Like it just takes one collap to hit like like
with these like older um like kind of heritage like
basketball sneaker brands to to to really get it back
into the space. Like I'm looking at n one too.
I'm like, man, like, if you do, you guys, do

(42:27):
something kind of collap with one of these big streetwear brands,
so many of them that we've named, like I don't know,
like that might be the way back, right. Yeah, Well,
another one I wanted to shout out was the Vince
Carter's Like again, it's it's it's like rare for a
signature shoe depending I mean even if the athletes incredible,
like if they're not selling or not selling, and I
think the VC has made it too six five or

(42:49):
six and that is that's hard. That's hard to do.
Um In the VCS he was he became, you know,
the face of the shocks, which was such a whether
they worked or not, it didn't matter, but like that
was such a big technology that Nike unveiled in the
early two thousands. Yea, yeah, I feel like they should

(43:10):
have done I wonder if they've ever done an episode
on like MythBusters. Yeah, about the about the shocks, because
because the campaign was always advertising, you could actually jump
higher in them, right, like it was actually gonna give
you that extra lift. Um, you know, thinking of two
and like you know, I know you mentioned John Morant earlier.
You know, I wonder like, are there are there any
kind of current players because I'm thinking of like the Lucas,

(43:30):
you know, the Zions, Um, even you honest, like all
these people have their signature sneakers. Now do you feel
like there's an obvious player where you're like, man, why
isn't he in the sneaker space right now as a
signature guy? Um, there's a few. I'm trying to think
like there's some obvious ones that, Um, I think they're
on their way pretty obviously, Like I think a Tatum
will get a pair. I'm trying to think of who

(43:53):
who would be good? Who would be good? Do you
have any off top of your head, anything of mine? Well,
it's funny because I don't know what doesn't because I
don't feel like he's not like when you think of him,
he's not your typical like sneaker guy, you know, like
like he seems very low key. He just wants to
go out there and hoop and win, like back to
back m v ps and all of that stuff. But

(44:13):
it's like, I don't know, like I feel like he's
one of the players that's up there right when you
talk about like top five, top ten players. Well, and
that's the We've always talked about this, the big man predicament,
you know what I mean, Like the big men just
don't move shoes because their game isn't as sexy. But
Yokich is someone who kind of is the is the
answer to that, like he has he's one of the

(44:35):
best pastors in the game. Like, yes, he's not the fastest,
but man, some of like the moves are really fun
and like is there a big man shoe that could
be tailored to I don't know, his game. That's actually
someone I would love to see Nike take on way
way out and the m v P dranged the long

(44:57):
three block shots that kids, Yeah, because I'm beat. I mean,
I'm beat has a has an under armor deal, right,
But you know, like I don't know, like I don't
think it's gotten not much buzzed in terms of like
you know, the push there for him, right, so, and

(45:19):
and like that's really the only one because I mean
kind of once you go through the list, you talk
about like you know, obviously Dame Lillard's got his own, Um,
you know, even James Harden's got his own. Maybe Jimmy
Butler too. I don't know, but Jimmy right or are
they signature? Oh yeah he is? Yeah, you're right, you're right. Yeah.
So I don't know, I don't know. I feel like

(45:39):
I feel like maybe they've got most of the young
guys are pretty covered, right, especially with the John Moran
breaking news. Then the Nike air joker is sorry to
go back to it, but that's too good. Oh my god.
I just feel like the ads right themselves. And then
and no one. That's the other thing too, is like
we need to bring back just like iconic ads, like

(46:00):
like just iconic um, you know, advertisements like talk about
like little pennies and things, things that you really attached
to the shoot, right, because that's just part of the
whole experience. I think that's part of the whole experience.
So well, this, yeah, this is ourselves. No, this is
once again, once again a job a job application. Um yeah,

(46:23):
and like even Trey Young. Yeah, now that I'm thinking about, like,
there's so many guys who are actually in the space
now and have them, and it probably feels like there's
more than than than I initially thought. I mean, we're
gonna get some Wendy's at some point, someone my Yamas.
Probably he's another guy who's like whoever. I know, the
sneaker companies are probably as we speak, competing trying to

(46:45):
come up with the biggest, you know, package deal for him.
But he's a guy like Lebron his rookie year had
a pair of the Air Assumed Generations, which were technically
his first shoe. There's gonna be if Victor plays as
well as he is um in the hype you know,
is as strong as it is going into the draft,
we're gonna see a signature shoe right off the gate.
Oh man, I actually, I mean, I think we're gonna

(47:08):
start hearing stories about this is probably closer to the draft,
but I'm guessing, like the Sneaker, the bidding over him
is gonna be probably the biggest since Lebron. Yes, yeah,
so yeah, and Zion Zion's got his own shoe too
now right, So yeah, everybody's got their own. Yeah, there's
actually go a lot more sneaker guys than I thought. Now, Yeah,

(47:28):
like signature guys. CJ. McCullum has a pair you know, Yeah,
he works with on the he is he is he
with Anti or like I think, yeah, maybe aunto. But yeah,
there's a lot of Asian brands, and I know over there,
like those sneakers move and again just shows like the
love of the NBA over there is that she's like
of guys like that who are incredible but don't have

(47:49):
like as like unique of a character or as marketable
in the States. Those shoes move pretty well out there. Yeah, listen,
Jeremy Lynn still balling out in Asia. He's got his own.
He's got don't sneaker out there too. So damn. This
is actually a really hard of space. Well that was
That was a good chat. That was good. This is
a deep cut episode. I like doing these episodes. I
feel like I rambled too much, so I appreciate you

(48:11):
letting me do that, Alex. But like for our die
hard moment, this is another fun one. I think, No,
this is cool, man, and we've got some cool guests
coming up, and we're gonna be doing a Christmas themed
episode as well, which which I'm excited about. So thank
you everyone, as always for listening to Running the Brake.
Please subscribe to the podcast and rate and review where

(48:31):
if you listen. Thanks again to our producer Pete and
uh not here this week but still in our hearts
Grayce and Kurt, and we'll talk to you next week.
Jez