End of a (very tall) Era

It's a little bit like looking at a dead deer on the road, isn't it? For those of you who haven't heard the news yet, last night Dikembe Mutombo messed up his knee. Well into his forties at this point, the injury ends his career as he admitted after the game. For anyone in their mid twenties who grew up watching NBA ball, this means an end of an era, as one of the more iconic figures of the past 20 years is lost.

But honestly, I just wanted to post about Mutombo and have been looking for a reason to do so for quite some time (almost did a story on his philanthropic work some time back, but decided against it - but who knowns, maybe in the future). The reason: one of the dopest kicks of all times, the Adidas Dikembe Mutombo sneaker. This was one of the first pairs of basketball sneakers I owned for the purpose of playing ball (I was 9 when they were released), and even after they were replaced on the court I wore them daily until my mother forcibly took them away - by then, they were thoroughly destroyed.
This sneaker is cool for a number of reasons, but most importantly, its coloring and the materials used on the top are all a nod to Mutombo's heritage and youth in his native Congo (or Zaire, as it was known then). It was also really, really, really, warm and padded from what I remember and therfore incredibly comfortable, and I used them as winter boots for a year. Anyway, if you ever see a size 12 of these bad boys for sale or Adidas decides to re-issue them, please think of me and hook it up. Here the bad boys are in living color, so you know I'm telling the truth: