It’s not unusual for a basketball team to employ its own doctor, but they aren’t traditionally 6ft 7in high with size 15 feet. ‘Dr J’ – AKA flamboyant Seventies NBA superstar Julius Erving II – may not have been much help in a serious medical emergency, but he certainly knew how to dribble a pimpled orange ball at high speed.
Erving, who was essentially Michael Jordan before Michael Jordan, popularised two things during his career: slam-dunks from the foul line and Converse Pro Leather basketball shoes.
Even the aforementioned Jordan played college basketball wearing them – before he later decided to modestly name a trainer after himself.
To celebrate the Pro Leather’s illustrious history – and inspire the next generation of ludicrously tall, air-hanging, ball-bouncing millionaires – Converse has created the Pro Leather Suede (£60); a luxurious, lightweight, streamlined take on the original model.
Expect to see them on all NBA stars, hip-hop artists and pretty much every teenage dreamer within a 70-mile radius of The Bronx.
