Bulls G Derrick Rose wore yellow adidas shoes during last night's NBA All-Star Game as a "tribute" to Simeon Career Academy, his high school alma mater, according to Herb Gould of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Rose said, "That was a shout-out to them." Rose said that he heard "shoe barbs from his fellow All-Stars 'the whole game.'" Rose: "'Why'd adidas put you in those shoes?' Stuff like that. It was all fun and games." adidas designers at Rose's request also "placed three paneled zones on his new yellow adiZero 1.5 Rose shoe to honor his three brothers, Reggie, Allan and Dwayne." Gould notes Rose in the second half of the game "shed Simeon's colors and went to another new design, a black shoe with a white toe and white racing stripes on the back" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/21).
PEAK PERFORMERS: Wizards C JaVale McGee, who finished second in the Sprite Slam Dunk contest Saturday behind Clippers F Blake Griffin, changed his shoes "for each of his slam dunks." McGee wears Peak shoes, and TNT's Reggie Miller noted McGee was changing the Chinese company's shoes during the net's coverage of the event. TNT's Charles Barkley joked, "What are those, the Chinese version of PF Flyers?" In Sacramento, Scott Lebar notes "aside from the ribbing, Peak did win." McGee wore his "special Wolverine model and tweet about his collection," while Warriors F Dorell Wright wore Peak shoes during his appearance in the three-point contest. While several other NBA players have Peak endorsement deals, the "most publicity they received" prior to All-Star Weekend was when Lakers coach Phil Jackson "complained they gave Ron Artest plantar fasciitis" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 2/21).
TIME TO BALL: In L.A., Raha Lewis reported Artest Saturday night had an "intimate party to celebrate the launch of his mixtape that came out Friday and his new sneaker line Ball'n, which he owns with partner Rodney Jeter." The shoes, which became available in stores over the weekend, are "available now in variations of the Laker colors, purple and yellow," but will be released in other colors in March." Around 5% of all proceeds "will be donated to charities" (LATIMES.com, 2/20).
