The history of PUMA in NBA Begun in the 1970s with the first Signature Shoe for Walt Frazier, it now carry on with LaMelo Ball's brand new MB.01
It all began with Walt "Clyde" Frazier, the sparkling point guard of the New York Knicks who loved to arrive at Madison Squadra Garden in a Rolls Royce and wear extra large fur coats. In 1972 Frazier was the King of the Big Apple, having won the NBA title two years earlier as an absolute protagonist, and what we would now call a fashion victim, as well as the face of the most famous franchise of the then basketball world.
A perfect profile for PUMA to enter the American market through the main door. The company founded in Herzogenaurach by Rudolf Dassler created a shoe designed on Frazier's requests, who wanted something light, with a wide sole and enough internal padding to suit his fast and spectacular game. Before that moment, no basketball player had ever had a shoe named after him, an honor that PUMA embellished by embroidering the nickname "Clyde" in italics under the logo on the outside of each pair. This is how the first Signature Shoes of all time were born, and from then on they will be defined in this way because the Clyde literally bore the signature of the player who gave them their name. It was an epoch-making revolution for the world of sports and fashion, the consequences of which we are still living.
Not From Here
In this LaMelo is instrumental, with his attitude at the same time carefree and futuristic, too cool to waste time with the opinions of other earthlings, to weave a space-time portal with Walt Frazier. In fact, just as Clyde loved furs and Rolls Royces to the point of becoming the model on which the protagonists of Blaxploitation of that period were written, LaMelo scatters his Instagram with shots next to his Lamborghinis while dressed in the same color note, often so bright as to be visible from space. And his MB.01s perfectly interpret his colorful and playful style with a first edition completely bathed in a Martian orange, featuring intricate unique details that echo LaMelo's tattoos and the flames of a rocket taking off on the 3D printed upper. On the tongue of the shoe, LaMelo's creativity is defined as "Not From Here" and the word "Rare" appears on the outsole to describe his talent on the hardwood floor and a sneaker that can't and won't go unnoticed, as spectacular as a no-look pass and as bold as a two-handed dunk.
