He Got Game is a seminal film in Spike Lee’s acclaimed oeuvre, but it’s also something of a cultural watershed, at least at the intersection of basketball and film. So if you want to know what basketball shoes were making waves when the film was filmed in 1997 (released the following year), you can consider the movie something of a time capsule.
Everyone knows about the Air Jordan 13, featured heavily on the feet of Denzel Washington’s Jake Shuttlesworth character, but the Nike Air Foamposite Pro Pearl and Nike Air Hawk Flight both got plenty of screen time as well, being worn by Ray Allen’s protagonist, Jesus Shuttlesworth.
It’s only fitting then, that those two models, which debuted in 1997, will comprise the upcoming Nike Make Up Class of ’97, set to launch on December 18 for $385 and evidently an homage to that classic Spike Lee joint. Stay tuned for developments, but at the moment that date’s a done deal.
(Note: Photos depict past releases, not the 2015 editions, which haven’t yet surfaced.)
Photos via SC.