If you know me, you know how much I love sneakers and how they connect people. They’ve been one of the things that’s connected me to some of my best friends in life. One of the things I was just talking to a friend about was how nowadays, nicknames are placed on a shoe before they even make it to the court (if they even do see playing time). Which has caused the lack of interest in many of the sneakerheads that grew up loving shoes to move on from sneaker collecting. For most of us “old” sneaker enthusiasts, we saw MJ do incredible things in a pair of 3s. We saw him fly. We wanted the shoes because of it.

2 years ago Brandon Jennings put up 55 points in his rookie season wearing the Under Armour Prototype II before the Under Armour basketball line was even available to the public. The Prototype never released, instead, Brandon’d first signature, the UA Black Ice was the highlight of the UA basketball launch. This past weekend in Los Angeles, Jennings made a special appearance at Foot Locker to help launch his second signature shoe, the Bloodline. Along with colorways of the Bloodline, was a Quickstrike version of the Prototype II that Jennings wore when he put up his “double nickel” performance in a win over the Golden State Warriors.

As a fan of basketball, the competitive nature of Under Armour Basketball, and the performance of their shoes, this one was one I had to have when I saw it. The fact that Under Armour added the special stitching to commemorate the performance, the real reason a basketball shoe should be bought, just makes them that much better. Some of the details are impressive as well. I like the way the perforations vary in size because it adds more depth to the side panels. A tasteful amount of patent leather, nubuck and traditional leather materials is nice in a day where everything seems to be synthetic. The lines and curves of the US line remind me of the And 1 shoes of back in the day and that style will always be a welcome addition to my collection. The same can be said when brands acknowledge a player’s performance in a certain model, after all, we admire them because they are superior athletes.