If you know me, you know I have an affection for the Nike Air Lambaste that goes way back. In fact, I’ve literally been asking Nike to retro the original Air Lambaste for at least 10 years now. It seems kind of crazy that a shoe with a retail price that was more appropriately placed at big box retail sporting goods stores could capture my heart in such a way but nostalgia is one hell of a drug. When I originally saw the Air Lambaste, it was obvious that it shared some things with its more popular big brother, the Air Go LWP. Of course, I wanted the Air Go LWP but with a retail price of $115 back in the day, it wasn’t in the cards for me. I saved up some money that I had earned doing landscaping work over the summer, and eventually copped the Air Lambaste at Jumbo Sports when it went on sale for about $50. I thought I was the man because I grabbed a pair of matching blue basketball shorts, black Nike socks with a matching blue Swoosh, and a Nike t-shirt. I was fitted! The jewel Swoosh was something that you never saw on basketball shoes (and it was still a rarity on any shoe at that time), the subtle color pop of the underlay on the toe, the scripted Flight logo on the tongue (the same as the ankle of the Air Go LWP), and the players that ended up wearing them…*chef’s kiss*
When I was a teenager, I wasn’t usually able to purchase sneakers that NBA players were wearing. Most of their shoes were the higher price point models, so seeing players like Penny Hardaway, Nick Anderson, Chris Mullin, and Ron Harper, wear the Lambaste made the shoe that much more special to me.
Ron Harper’s Nike Air Lambaste is available now on eBay, complete with autographs from “Hollywood Harp” himself. While it wouldn’t be wearable for me considering it’s a size 14.5, it still brings back all the feels that 15 year old me had when I saw them on his feet the first time around. What are some of the sneakers that make you feel most nostalgic?
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