One of the original icons of basketball shoes is getting a new re-release, the Adidas Jabbar.
You may think of the Converse Chuck Taylor as the original basketball shoe. Sure, that 1922 shoe is a true classic. But the Adidas Jabbar was actually the first model designed from the ground up as a pair for a professional player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The Adidas Jabbar was originally released in 1978. It has returned since then, of course, but was last given a major release in 2014.
This new version of the Jabbar is, at a glance, the spitting image of the original. It comes in high-top and low-top variants, each bearing Collegiate Royal blue highlights atop a leather upper and a strip of greyer suede by the toe cap.
And the outsole is rubber embossed with a wave pattern seen in previous Jabbar-licensed designs.
A pair of the high-top Jabbar costs $110/£85, while the low pair is $100/£80.
Instagram account Sneakerqueen has posted a handy comparison of the original 1978 design with the new one. While there’s a slight modernisation of the silhouette and a more moulded heel counter, this is clearly a pretty respectful take on a true basketball classic.
These Adidas Jabbar pairs have hit shelves just in time for the start of the NBA season, on October 22.
Abdul-Jabbar himself retired at the end of the 1988-1989 season, and is currently 77 years old. The eagle-eyed may have spotted his cameo in 2022 movie Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, where Abdul-Jabbar was seen during Benoit Blanc’s Zoom call at the start of the film.
He also now campaigns to raise awareness of atrial fibrillation, a heart condition that increases the risk of stroke.
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