The horror… For the upcoming sneaker issue, I wrote a whole hateful piece about my least favorite shoes of all time. I didn’t end up using it because it would probably have soured both advertisers and readers with its bitterness.

But I will tell you this: number one was the adidas Kobe moonboot designed by Audi (just look at that monstrosity), two was the Nike Flightposite, three the J.Kidd, and the rest were equally horrendous basketball shoes from that unforgettably bad era. (See how negative I am just talking about the even-more-negative ugly shoes article?)

I’m glad Nike rerereleased the Air Pippen, though. Its ugliness reminds me why the popularity of basketball shoes completely died off, and why retro shoes came back so strong. We’ll see if the Hyperdunk (an inoffensive, attractive shoe) can bring b-ball kicks back into the public’s eye.

You can buy these Air Pippens at Tradition. (How you like that plug, Andrew?)