I am probably not the only shoe writer who thinks that the Air Jordan line of basketball kicks is overrated. In fact, I think the Jordan name has been stretched as thin as it possibly can while maintaining its cache. It may be the fact that Jordan ruined some of his luster by coming back to the Wizards or the discomfort that comes from wearing these shoes for an extended period of time. Prepare not to be dazzled with the Jordan 15s that are coming out soon.

These shoes will feature the Air Jordan’s typically high price and they may not be released in multiple platforms initially. The prospect of paying upwards of $125 for a pair of shoes you may not be able to try on first does not sound appealing. I would pass on these shoes if they do not end up on store shelves upon release for the obvious reasons.

A final reason to dislike Air Jordans in general and the Air Jordan 15s is their bland appearance. This shoe obviously harkens back to old school high tops with some new school design. The colorways are adequate if you are a high school basketball team with some disposable income but they lack the style that the average baller desires. You can choose from all black with the red Jordan symbol and a gold, white and black colorway that is marginally better than the standard Air Jordan 15s. I will try and hunt a pair of these shoes down if they hit stores just to fulfill my sick fantasy of trying out as many shoes as possible but that is where my involvement with the new Air Jordans ends.

PF Flyers is one of the original American sneaker brands, beginning over 70 years ago.

Get more info about these shoes at pfflyers.com.

There are few genres in the shoe market that have as much flavor and style as the basketball shoe genre. From pumps in Reeboks to Nike’s effort to promote Gary Payton’s “The Glove” handle with a unique lacing structure, basketball shoes are meant to be stylish enough to look good while running suicides. Nike is releasing the Nike SB Brut Dunk High styled after the cologne for gentlemen who won’t wear these shoes.

The SB after Nike is obviously for skateboarding which means that there are no future Bill Waltons that will wear these shoes. This is the one problem that the current shoe market possesses: everything goes into the “buzz” market of skateboarding. Companies like Nike and Adidas are trying to co-opt the niche market of Etnies, Airwalk and Vans in the hopes of being hip. Basketball players also look for something that mixes the support of a cross trainer with the style of a basketball shoe. I hope that a few street ball players test out the Nike SB Brut Dunk High on the court and make a statement. Street ball is the next frontier of marketing after companies finish working over skateboarding so street ballers should make their love of shoes like this known to the world.

I really like these shoes and once they come out, I am certain that they will fly off the shelves. My hope is that they are put on a shelf of shoes near basketball shoes instead of the skateboarding section. This isn’t the start of a war between ballers and skateboarders, just an attempt to get back to traditional basketball footwear.