crooked tongues magazine News Features

The adidas Originals pieces bearing the fruits of their NBA sponsorship have been a mixed kit bag thus far. NBA colourways are often the best makeups any shoe could ask for and on the adidas roster of court classics, they're a strong match. We appreciate that the brand with the 3-Stripes was pleased to be able to throw their National Basketball Association credentials around without merely being referential, but some extra logos and lurid branding put us off a few otherwise banging designs. These Superstars just rep for the NBA without any team theme and they look pretty good. While the Superstar 80s is our usual weapon of choice and while yes, that silhouette comes in a makeup eerily similar to this one, these aren't bad at all.

With shades of an age-old Superstar standard and the mighty Americana about them, the red and blue application harks back to the defunct ABA league (that merged into the NBA in 1976) palette that adidas have made good use of over the years. Sure, the red's brighter and the blue is a little different, but it's no coincidence. Are we complaining? Not really. It's always a sureshot. The Superstar 2's padding and thicker tongues makes them unnaturally comfortable while the branding is kept to the insoles, tongue patch detailing and heel taping. No nasty metal eyelets round here. Did it need a nylon tongue? And was that black heel a deliberate attempt to seperate it from its lookalike forefather? Who cares. You probably made up your mind on these after a thirty second glimpse—you're in or you're out. These are decent looking and a reminder as to how forward-thinking this shoe design was when it entered the world in a more slimline, simpler form...who was testing the shelltoe as a premium performance piece in its heyday? Nobody was. This version's in-store right now...