New York Knicks fenty puma slippers rookie Kevin Knox handles the ball while wearing the "London Calling" edition of the Puma Clyde Court Disrupt during the NBA's annual London game on Jan. 17 at The O2 Arena in London, England. (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)Going back to my childhood, Puma certainly had a stake with people playing ball in parks," said legendary DJ, filmmaker and sneaker savant Bobbito Garcia, 52, who authored the acclaimed 2003 book Where'd You Get Those?

The Clyde ultimately emerged as one of the most influential sneakers of all time  a shoe that, after being embraced fenty puma sneakers by hip-hop culture, transcended the sport of basketball. It was the epitome of style and embodiment of cool. Everyone, from ballplayers to break dancers, wanted to wear Puma  and Frazier was fenty slides puma a huge reason why.I'd been a Frazier fan since I was a little kid," said retired two-time NBA champion Wes Matthews, 59, who endorsed Puma from 1984 to 1986.

On his second touch of the night, he ripped right through the top of one. "I'm very hard on shoes," McGinnis later told the Indianapolis News . "When I cut, they rip." He finished the game with Puma new puma shoes on one foot and Converse on the other.In 1980, Frazier retired. Coming off All-Star MVP honors and an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 1981, Nate "Tiny" Archibald became Puma's next big endorsee. Like Jones, however, Archibald lasted only one season with the brand.

The same year English began wearing Pumas, the Houston Rockets selected Ralph Sampson with the No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA draft. The 7-foot-4 Sampson had a history of wearing PRO-Keds in both high school and at the University of Virginia. Yet, as Sampson at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which he entered puma basket heart in 2012, PRO-Keds went on a hiatus shortly into his first season, halting the production of basketball sneakers.

I made sure they gave me a couple extra pairs that I'd take on the road in case they got scuffed up or tore. & I felt like, OK, I'm wearing one of the baddest shoes in America." And he wasn't the only one."The Sky LX, by leaps and bounds, was the most superior performance shoe Puma ever did up until that point," Garcia said. "The polyurethane midsole, great cushioning on the ankle  it became one of those coveted sneakers.