There are a lot of things about the world of sneakers that conjure up nostalgia, and plenty of those things have been revisited time and time again. However, the wild naming conventions that have existed through the years seem to have fallen into the depths of the Nike DNA vault.
The Air Bringyagame, Air Howsyagame, and Air Wheresyagame were the last of a dying breed when they dropped back in 1999-2000 or so. This trio was undoubtedly an attempt to capture the street ball era sneakerheads who had been lured to AND1 by sleek designs and trash talk tees. There were other Nike sneaker names that bucked tradition over the years but these were the most entertaining to me, and also the most forgotten. The Wheresyagame being the top of the line model of the bunch, is the one some people will remember. The Howsyagame and Bringyagame, likely the versions that were sold at places like Mervyn’s or Big 5 Sporting Goods, were less expensive takedown versions.
The Wheresyagame was worn by Penny Hardaway, although it was while injuries began to take hold, his star power should have been able to carry these kicks into a more memorable future. Instead, they’ve all been buried in our memory banks. So much so that when Nike brought back elements of the shoe for Drake’s sneaker line, nobody even noticed.
To be fair, I don’t think the designs of the Air Bringyagame, Air Howsyagame, or Air Wheresyagame, really stood a chance against the evolving basketball shoe market at the time. While I’d like to think that the world needs more ridiculous sneaker names, I also know that not everyone is as big of a sneaker nerd as I am. But at least now those of you who are reading this will know about or be reminded of these crazy (awesome) Nike sneakers names from a forgotten era.