Converse has vanished from the NBA by November 2012, with the final dozen players wearing the brand either leaving or switching shoes over a year and a half. The last player to wear Converse was Jason Terry, who did so between January 2011 and January 2012.
After the 2004-05 season, Michael Jordan announced that he was ending his relationship with Nike and would be joining D&B Sports on a multiyear deal as an ambassador. He brought along his contract with Nike to do so. The initial press release stated that all of Jordan's shoes would be made available through D&B but this wasn't true; only certain models were made available through the company. In fact, some of Jordan's previous collaborations including Air Maxes, Commanders, and Pumps were still being made by other manufacturers while others such as the Air Jordans and Hyperfours had been discontinued years earlier. This announcement came just over a month after the Bird's Nest Olympics logo was revealed at the 2005 NBA All-Star Game which led many to believe that it was designed by Jordan himself. It turned out that Mark Parker, then president of Nike Basketball, had actually come up with the design.
Shortly after the announcement, reports began to surface that several current players have told management they will not wear Nike products during promotional events like Thanksgiving Day games.
Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat was the final player in the NBA to wear Converse. A basketball court was created in my neighborhood park, and I fell in love with basketball at the age of 15. I joined the game late, but I've played every season since. Last year, I had a career year, scoring 19 points per game and helping my team make the playoffs for the first time in several years.
This year, I'd like to keep playing well and try to help my team win some games. In conclusion, Converse is still making shoes today because they are one of the best if not the best shoe company there ever was. They have been around for over 100 years and they know how to make quality shoes.
1. Originally, they were athletic shoes. The Converse All-Star had its debut as an athletic footwear in 1917. It immediately became the most popular shoe for basketball, which was still a relatively young sport at the time (basketball was established by James Naismith in 1891, but the NBA wasn't founded until 1946). In fact, the original logo for the Converse brand included a basketball with the words "All Star" written below it.
2. The term "conversation piece" is often used to describe paintings that serve as invitations to social events, such as parties and dances. As part of its marketing campaign for its All Stars line of sneakers, Converse introduced the concept of the conversation piece in 1985. Converse hired artist Peter Max to create eight limited edition paintings that would be given as gifts with pairs of All Stars purchased from specialty retailers. Each painting was released simultaneously with the introduction of a new colorway for the shoe.
3. The term "conversationalist" is a trendy label used by journalists to describe novelists who have achieved success outside of traditional publishing channels. The first known use of this word was in a 2005 article in The New York Times Magazine called "The Conversation Writers," which described several writers including John Banville, Paul Elie and J. Michael Straczynski as conversationalists.
After 1982, Michael Ray Richardson briefly wore leather Converse All Stars with the New Jersey Nets, making him the NBA's next-to-last player to do so. Mickey Johnson, Richardson's teammate, was the final NBA player to wear All-Stars when he played for the Nets in 1985-86.
During his career, Michael Ray Richardson sold the rights to use his name and image for a monthly paycheck. He is reported to have made as much as $125,000 per year during his peak years.
After leaving basketball, Richardson had a successful music career and appeared in several movies including 1986's Revenge of the Nerds.
Today, many NBA players wear Nike products because they are sponsored by the company that sponsors the team. However, some older teams used to wear other brands before switching to Nike; these include the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls.
There have been rumors that Kevin Durant might switch to Converse after he leaves the Oklahoma City Thunder; however, this has not happened yet.
Larry Bird wore what kind of basketball shoes? In 1979, Larry Bird began his rookie season wearing a Converse All-Star. He immediately transitioned to the Converse Pro (made popular by Dr. J), which he wore in the early 1980s. He later switched to Nike products, including the Air Max line made popular by Michael Jordan.
Bird was selected with the No. 1 pick in the 1976 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. He joined an elite group of players that include LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kobe Bryant as the only people to be chosen No. 1 by multiple teams in the draft's history. Over his career with the Celtics and Indiana Pacers, Bird won two Olympic gold medals and four World Championships along with nine National Basketball Association championships. He also is one of just three players to score at least 30 points in each game of a seven-game series. The other two are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone.
While with the Celtics, Bird also became one of the first high-profile athletes to endorse products through advertising campaigns instead of direct sales. His commercials for Old Milwaukee beer, Miller High Life beer, and McDonald's food products were all hits with fans and helped make those brands household names. They also created a lot of demand for his signature shoe line, which eventually led to it becoming one of the most successful sports product lines in history.
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