Today I Learned: AND1 Started Out as a Grad School Project

With over 30 basketball players signed to signature deals with one of the 16 competing footwear brands, seeing a signature sneaker on a store shelf is inevitable these days. But back when signature athletes were a rarity, and Nokia phones were everywhere, and well before the discount sneakers that don’t even come in a box anymore, AND1 was a major player in the sportswear game that didn’t just compete but was a legitimate threat to the status quo.

And it all started with selling T-shirts from the trunk of a car.

Established in 1993 by University of Pennsylvania grad students Seth Berger, Tom Austin, and Jay Coen Gilbert, AND1 was just one of the many companies trying to cash in on basketball’s newfound global hype. But while most brands were in a frenzy to have their apparel and footwear worn by any NBA player not already signed to Nike, Adidas, or Reebok, AND1 embraced streetball.

And it worked.

Taking the bravado of improvised aphorisms spoken in the heat of battle, AND1’s trash-talk basketball tees were memorable and, most importantly, profitable. Parlaying that initial success, AND1 solidified its position in the lucrative but hyper-competitive sportswear space by signing the company’s first spokesperson and signature athlete in 1996: New York streetball legend, college phenom, and soon-to-be NBA star, Starbury himself, Stephon Marbury.

Stephon Marbury helped legitimize AND1’s reputation and sparked a slow and steady influx of NBA talents who didn’t want to get lost in the shuffle of the bigger brands’ already crowded stables. But through it all, AND1 remained rooted in basketball culture and streetball, investing just as much in diamonds in the rough as they were polished NBA stars. 

Skip to My Lou, Hot Sauce, and Escalade were just some of the local legends AND1 helped turn into household celebrities seemingly overnight. And they did so with the help of the AND1 Mixtape - highlight video compilations set to exclusive, often unreleased rap music that came free with every purchase of an AND1 product.

AND1 was going viral before the word viral was en vogue. Soon enough, even before the ‘90s gave way to the 2000s, AND1 had become synonymous with streetball.

The year 1996 marked several debuts: that of Stephon Marbury’s NBA career, his signature model, and AND1’s footwear line. An early injury to Stephon threatened to derail all three, but while Marbury ended up bouncing back and living up to the hype, it would take a few more years and Vince Carter wearing the AND1 Taichi for the iconic 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest for AND1’s kicks to truly be taken seriously. 

When a man is defying gravity, some of it has got to be the shoes, right? 

AND1 entered the new millennium with unyielding momentum. “Hello world” indeed.

Despite not signing with the company, Carter’s era-defining dunk contest performance gave AND1 a much-needed boost after its false start in footwear in ‘96. With its reputation still intact, AND1 was one of the rare small brands made good that kept their aura of cool despite going mainstream—AND1 was selling out without being sellouts. 

The NBA talents the company signed reflected AND1’s brand identity: gritty, flashy, and with something to prove.

Some of those talents included three-time 6th Man of the Year  Jamal Crawford, Larry Hughes, ‘04-’05 NBA steals leader Larry Hughes, ‘06 NBA Champion Jason Williams aka White Chocolate, and two-time All-NBA selection and four-time All-Star, Shawn Marion. 

But with all the big names and egos on the payroll that they both have to showcase and appease, AND1 was selective with who they gave a signature model to. Signature AND1 models are so few, in fact, that many don’t even remember they existed at all. Let’s jog that memory a little bit.

When the ‘04 Pistons shocked everyone (except themselves) and defeated Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers in the NBA Finals, then-two-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner Ben Wallace and freshly-minted Finals MVP Chauncey Billups were both rocking AND1 kicks: The Chosen One for the bruising Wallace and the Rise Mid for the sweet-shooting Billups.

Those weren’t signature models designed for the two, but it’s awfully difficult trying to imagine anyone but those two wearing them, so they have to be mentioned here somehow.

The 1996-1997 1st Team All-Rookie selection averaged 15.8 points to go with 7.8 assists and a steal per game, and his stats would only get better from there. But for Marbury’s first year in Minnesota, he turned heads (and defenders’ ankles) with the AND1 Marbury Mid. No beginner’s luck needed.

Sneakerheads and hoop fans may be nostalgic for KG’s signature Nikes, or remember him screaming “Anything is possible!” after winning the ‘08 Finals wearing Adidas sneakers. But before he jumped ship from Nike to Adidas, The Big Ticket had a pit stop at AND1, yielding the KG1 and KG2 during his brief stint.

With averages north of 22 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, a block, and a steal, along with selections to every All-NBA Team imaginable, KG’s game (and his mouth) was just as loud as the candy-coated patent leather on his AND1 kicks.

Latrell Sprewell is known for several things: his braids, his dunks, him saying $21 million isn’t enough because he “[has] a family to feed”, and him choking Warriors head coach PJ Carlesimo in 1997. 

But between his spectacular but troubled time in Golden State and a successful but short-lived stint in Minnesota that ended with a questionable contract decision, AND1 bet on the maligned star in 1998 when he was with the Knicks. Spree redeemed himself after helping lead New York to the Finals in 1999, making him the first AND1 athlete to compete for an NBA championship. In 2002, AND1 dropped the Spree Mid, after which Spree unceremoniously left to sign with DADA and their shoes with the spinning rims.

Say what you want of him, but nobody could tell Spree what to do, for better or worse.

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