words, photography and design // Nick DePaula
When SLAM #41 was released in April 2000, we had just witnessed perhaps the greatest Dunk Contest performance of all time. Vince Carter was known to be a sneaker free agent in his second season, and he was rocking the white and red AND1 Tai Chi for those instant classic dunks.
AND1 had been around as a growing clothing company for a few years, and their transcendent streetball Mixtapes were a big hit, but now their shoes were coming off, too.
The Tai Chi became the first shoe in the company’s history to sell more than one million pairs.
“Not only was that probably the best set of dunks I’ve ever seen because they were just dunks you’ve never seen before, but it was almost like the dunks he was doing were customized for color blocking. shoe,” said the brand’s former head of footwear.
The opening reverse 360 perfectly showcased the white and red sides of each shoe spinning through the air. A between-the-legs knife after the jump immortalized the boots in the air forever.
The iconic photo is so classic that The Raptors’ new units showcase the position right up front.
As the All-Star Weekend hype continued in mid-February, in the very next SLAM cover slot available, VC posted a simple black and white pair of Tai Chis for the cover.
The title of the chapter was clear.
“The Greatest Show on Earth”
To celebrate AND1’s 2000s era and Tai Chi’s influence on sneaker culture, we’ve created a new version that honors SLAM’s 30th anniversary this year.
The timing couldn’t be better as both SLAM Magazine and Vince Carter will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame next month in October.
Our AND1 Tai Chi collab features SLAM’s heritage colors of white, grey, black and orange, matching the exact hues of the #41 cover art.
The fading of the white to black mesh is a nod to the brand’s unique materialization since the turn of the decade and a way to bring the original yin and yang inspired division of Tai Chi to the shoe.
As always, the shoe looks best with the suede color along the inner panel; the bright orange suede can be seen here in the SLAM version.
Contrast stitching, split-tone laces and a chrome heel are added touches that originally gave the AND1 boot such power in the hoops at the turn of the millennium.
For more layering, our 30th Anniversary crest can be seen along the inner right collar, opposite the three vertical stars on the left collar that denote each issue number.
3M hits with the bright lights of All-Star Weekend, and the impact that The biggest show on earth had, all these years later, in both AND1 and SLAM magazine.
