Chapter 4
Demigod is also a half-person
When the Shox VC series started from the fourth generation, the pricing was reduced from the original RMB 1,480 to RMB 990, and then Shox VC 5 became the series's best singer, the fall of Carter's signature shoes seemed to be just like his former takeoff, which caught people off guard. But even if he lands in the mortal world, he is still the omnipotent "half-man and half-god".
Among the Shox VC series and even all Shox basketball shoes, the most comfortable style I have ever worn should be Shox VC 4. In this sneaker, due to the price reduction and Carter's personal wear demands, Nike gave up the radical approach of constantly pursuing visual impact in Shox technology, and returned to the previous stable configuration of Zoom Air combined with Shox and a Shox, similar to Shox BB4.
and on the heel, the innovative 6-pillar structure also gives Shox VC 4 more personality and technology than ordinary mid-to-high-end Shox basketball shoes.
In addition to returning to simplicity in technology, Shox VC 4 also has made considerable changes in its design style. Aaron Cooper, who loves technology, was transferred to Europe, and Tracy Teague took over the design of the Shox VC series. Compared with Aaron, Tracy's design is more restrained. Basketball shoes full of retro charm such as Air Force 25 and Zoom LeBron 6 are his representative works, and Shox VC 4 adopts a similar simple and classical route.
In addition to the changes in technology and design of sneakers, Carter himself also wore Shox VC 4 and left the cold Toronto. The New Jersey Nets became his new team. Here, he formed the famous "trident" in the East with Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson. The old-school Flight meritorious actor launched a fast attack. Two other representatives of Flight in the Shox era completed the aerial work. Such a shot became a fixed column for the top ten NBA balls every week that year.
Although Shox VC 4's "retreat to advance" strategy has gained a good reputation, it is obvious that Carter and his Shox VC series are no longer the top brands Nike relied on, and the appearance of Shox VC 5 is therefore particularly low-key.
While using the same forefoot Zoom Air and 6-pillar Shox technology combination, Shox VC 5 adopts AF, that is, the Advance Fit inner cage structure. This structure used earlier on the Steve Nash sneakers Zoom Drive AF can greatly increase the comfort of the shoe body.
However, because Tracy Teague uses an unadjustable elastic band on the upper of the Shox VC 5, the comfort of the Shox VC 5 is slightly affected by the strong sense of pressure above the foot for many Asian consumers with relatively high feet.
Interestingly, it also comes from Tracy Teague, but Shox VC 5 seems to emphasize the modernity of the design than the previous work. The interlacing of the car lines makes it far more aggressive than the Shox VC 4, which has a sharp sword without a front. In addition to Carter himself, Joe Johnson is also a loyal believer of Shox VC 5. He even wore the national team colored Shox VC 5 to the 2006 Osaka Men's Basketball World Championships. Unfortunately, Shox VC 5, as many rumors at the time, became the best singer of the Shox VC series.
In 2006, in the rumor that the Shox VC series will be ended, a pair of sneakers with VC personal logos and Zoom Air and 4-pillar Shox were launched in a low-key manner, and the price was further reduced from RMB 990 to RMB 930. Even before it was launched, domestic media exposed its spy photos under the name of Shox VC 6. But for countless Carter shoe fans, the ultimate reality is cruel - Shox Leapers, the name undoubtedly declares that the Shox VC 6 will no longer exist.
. Perhaps it is out of reminiscing about the glory of the past or the dignity that a superstar should have, Carter is not enthusiastic about this pair of Team Shox sneakers that are actually quite standard in design and technology. In the game that year, he still wore Shox VC 5 in most games.
007 All-Star version of Shox Testify "Shawn Marion" PE
In addition to Shox Leapers, Shox Testify, which was launched later, was also in a similar situation - traditional technology configuration, simple styling, mid-range pricing, and of course the personal logo of VC. In addition to Carter, Nike also launched other player color schemes with personal logos of second-tier Flight family stars such as Andre Iguodala.
At this time, Carter is still the storefront of Shox and Flight, but he is no longer able to continue to take on the banner of signature shoes. Similarly, although the New Jersey Flyingman, who is nearly 30 years old, can easily score more than 20 points in each game, the league at this time is more concerned about Kobe and LeBron collision, and Carter. People are just lamenting that injuries are more powerful than tigers...
In early 2007, Nike launched Shox Spotlight, which is the famous built-in Shox basketball shoes. With the idea of focusing on the durability of the field, the designer wrapped the six pillars on the heel of this Shox sneaker in translucent rubber to form a built-in effect similar to the visual air cushion. The actual performance is no different from the exposed structure of the traditional Shox. Paired with the forefoot Zoom Air, Shox Spotlight returns to the configuration of Shox VC 4 and 5 in technology.
In terms of styling, Shox Spotlight has an extremely rough and retro design, which is exactly the same as the Air Force 25 of the same period. Perhaps because of this unique pair of built-in Shox sneakers, Carter finally replaced his Shox VC 5. With the company of Shox Spotlight, he went to the 2007 All-Star Game. That was his eighth time being selected for the All-Star lineup and the last time...
text Here, Carter began to truly fall from the sky to the world, and his Shox VC sneakers have become a thing of the past. But a great hero will never be easily knocked down. All he needs is to change a way or angle to win, or just a pair of new sneakers...
bid farewell to Shox Spotlight, bid farewell to the all-star aura, and Vince Carter, who was just thirty, seemed to have begun falling from the sky to the mortal world too early.
"He played too much when he was young",
"The career of deducting generals is so short",
"He may retire at the age of thirty-three or four"...
harsh media and fans who are changing their minds began to no longer be optimistic about this former All-Star vote king and the national idol in the post-MJ era. Similarly, his sneaker path has become displaced due to the decline in commercial value...
I believe no one thought that at that time, we would see him wearing Shox sneakers and flying with his wings more than ten years later.
Chapter 5 The last stubborn
From a certain perspective, Carter is Shox, Shox is Carter. Since Sydney soared into the sky in 2000, the fate of the two has been tied together.
All prosper and all loss are lost.
In 2006, Nike launched the Elite TB series in the basketball shoe category. The designer used different midsole technologies to enable the sneakers to achieve different performance effects without changing the upper. This sounds quite similar to the popular "common sole" in the sneaker field today, but in fact it is more sincere. After all, the development cost of soles is much higher than making a new upper, and after being equipped with different technologies such as Zoom Air, Shox, Max Air, etc., its Huarache upper has indeed become a practical pioneer in the arena.
And in 2007, in the second year of Elite TB project, Vince Carter, who lost his signature shoes, wore the Shox Elite 2 TB equipped with a Zoom Air forefoot and a four-post Shox with a four-post Shox - pragmatic, pure, and low-key, which seemed to represent Carter's mood at this time.
2008-09 season, Nike released another pair of Shox team sneakers with VC logo after Shox Leapers and Shox Testify, Shox Gamer.The angular shape makes people vaguely see the shadow of the Shox VC series, and the buzzer-beating kill of the old boss also proves that the peak moment of Vince Carter is far from over.
In the summer of 2009, Carter was traded to the Eastern Conference champion Magic team last season. The latter hopes to use Carter, who is still in a state of courage, to achieve the impact on the championship with star players from the teams such as Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis. But in the end, the star Dwight Howard grew slowly, and head coach Stan Van Gundy's indulgence to Jameser Nelson made it difficult for Carter to find his own place in the team's chaotic tactical system.
And this year, the sneakers under his feet, Shox Vision, were not left with people too much fun to remember. But no one expected that it would kick off the prelude to the Shox basketball shoes return to our horizons many years later...
After spending more than a season that was not very successful in the Magic, Carter was traded to the distant Phoenix, which was his first time in his career to join the Western Conference team. Although he did not achieve any outstanding results with the Suns, perhaps because of the "miracle doctor" that Carter at least gained the "health" he had lost in his career for a long time at the American West Arena.
And in this season, the sneakers under Carter's feet have also undergone considerable changes. During the last period of the Magic, Carter wore a sneaker called Shox BB Pro. From the name, we can obviously see that it may have some connection with the classic shoe Shox BB4. In fact, while using the new upper, it completely grafted the outsole of the Shox BB4. Unfortunately, at this time, both Carter and Shox are difficult to compare with each other 10 years ago.
After transferring to the Suns, perhaps it was out of personal preference, or perhaps Nike also realized that Shox sneakers were at the end. In short, Carter took off Shox and replaced it with a pair of moderate but much more secure Air Max Hyperdunk 2010.
In the early days of the Hyperdunk family, Nike launched its derivative style equipped with the full-length Max Air every year to meet the needs of insiders and atmospheric cushion enthusiasts - but Carter is not a big guy, and he rarely wore atmospheric cushion before, so obviously, this is his compromise...
compromises in business, pain, time,
, but he never compromises in destiny.
Chapter 6
Mental retrograde
If you succumb to fate, perhaps Carter at this time might be like most veterans who have suffered from injuries, data decline, but have glorious past, running around for a ring with a basic salary and slowly leaving people's vision...
But Carter is not the case. He went to Dallas , Memphis, and Sacramento just to find the fun of basketball, to prove that he can still be the protagonist on the court, and even to prove that Shox The dignity that basketball shoes lost at one point.
On the other side of Carter's gentle character is his determination to never succumb to fate.
At the end of 2011, Carter signed a three-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks with the starting salary of $3 million, and began a new journey.
In terms of sneakers, Nike Air Max Hyperdunk 2011 naturally replaced Nike Air Max Hyperdunk 2010 and became Carter's new favorite. This is also the last atmospheric cushion shoe model of the Hyperdunk family starting from Hypermax, Air Max Hyperize, etc.
In addition to Air Max Hyperdunk 2011, Carter has also worn Hyperfuse 2011 in a few games this season. Since its first work was released in 2010, Hyperfuse has become a team shoe with a positioning slightly lower than Hyperdunk, but the relative conservatism of technology and the emergence of other series have made it ended by Nike after 2014.
As the team's overall age increases, both Carter and another veteran of the team, Dirk Nowitzki, have gradually lost the ability to dominate the game by herself. Although they can still show their strength on the field with their skills, experience and determination, in more and more confrontations, the veterans of the Mavericks have gradually become a little overwhelmed.
While he is gradually drifting away from the championship, Carter has become increasingly sticking to the rules in the selection of sneakers, and various protective cushion sneakers have become his unchanging choice. During the 2012-13 season, Carter wore the Air Max Hyperposite and Air Max Hyperaggressor, two sneakers that use Max Air.
From a positional perspective, the former can be understood as the successor of the Air Max Hyperdunk series. In addition to the full-palm air cushion, Foam foam material is also introduced to create a higher-end upper effect. The Air Max Hyperaggressor is a low-key mid-end team sneaker that is easy to be overlooked. Apart from the Max Air with a small heel, the shoe does not have much selling points as a whole.
2014 playoff , in the final journey of Carter with the Mavericks, although he did not lead the team further, his zero-degree three-pointer when facing the Spurs in the playoffs was enough to make him stand up and say goodbye to his Dallas years. But it is a bit regrettable that, as one of the most classic moments in Carter's late career, this winning record lacks the companionship of a pair of classic sneakers.
During the entire 2013-14 season, Air Max Body U became the shoe with the highest appearance rate under Carter. In terms of positioning, Air Max Body U can be regarded as a continuation of Air Max Hyperaggressor, solid practical performance, lack of highlight design, and almost silently put on and off the shelves. In the endorsement lineup, there are only veteran newcomers. Zach Randolph, a powerful second-tier star who can't sell a few pairs of shoes...
In the summer of 2014, Carter did not join a championship team as the "champion puzzle" as many people imagine, but signed the Grizzlies with a three-year contract of 12 million. Although the Grizzlies are strong, they are obviously not a candidate for the championship. Carter Still following his heart that is content with everything but refuses to go with the flow.
In the first year of the Grizzlies, another pair of mid-range Team sneakers that seem a bit too low-key became Carter's choice. Air Max Premiere, even the most fanatical Carter fans or Nike shoes fans, may find it difficult to remember this name today...
2015-16 season, that is, Carter's second season joining the Grizzlies. Although the team's results are only average, Carter's sneakers finally bid farewell to the death of many years before this season and began to make some interesting attempts.
In most games this season, Carter's sneakers are still the pretty pair of Air Max Premiere, but from the end of 2015 to the beginning of 2016, in some games in the team's retro uniforms, Carter has chosen the Trey 5 III and Shox Gamer in all red colors. The latter's return to the arena reminds people of Carter's most classic back-button winning win during the Nets.
In the last season of the Grizzlies, Air Max Audacity 2016 became the main combat boot under Carter. Against the backdrop of Nike's focus on lightweight performance, atmospheric cushion basketball shoes have declined in recent years. Once Nike's ace family, only the Audacity series is left to support the mid-to-high-end market.
However, it was during the period when Air Max technology was in a trough that the rise of Anthony Davis allowed people to see the bright future of atmospheric cushion basketball shoes in the dark.But as Carter wears Air Max Audacity 2016 again reverses time, we can’t help but wonder, where is the future of Shox?
In the summer of 2017, Carter, whose contract with the Grizzlies expired, faced another choice, should he retire or pursue a championship ring at the end of his career, or still fly as he did in the past nearly 20 years? This time, Carter once again chose the most unutilitarian latter, signing the Kings team for 8 million yuan a year. He is like an elegant and perfect dancer, focusing only on having his own sky.
After the start of the season, Air Max Dominate has become Carter's regular shoe model. It is worth mentioning that even after saying goodbye to Shox, Carter still enjoys exclusive PE treatment on the cushioned sneakers. For example, on Air Max Dominate and many Max Air sneakers under his feet before, you can see the VC's personal logo and the abbreviation of his daughter Michelle Kai Carter.
In addition, he has also replaced React Hyperdunk 2017 in a very few games. And when Carter wore Shox Vision back in training and competitions, the Shox sneakers that were "not very successful" at the time, we didn't realize that real madness was coming.
February 23, 2018, during the Kings' match against the Thunder, Carter wore his classic signature shoe, Shox VC 4. Although , Carter is no longer the superstar who once asked for in New Jersey, this pair of "stock" sneakers have not survived the whole game and unfortunately opened up the rubber, but the touch behind this is enough to awaken our feelings for Carter and Shox sneakers for many years.
Before that, foreign media did reveal that Carter had suggested to Nike that the "shock news" of the Shox VC series signature shoes were copied.
No one would doubt the authenticity of this news, because too many people are still immersed in the flying dream created by Carter. Besides, for Vince Carter, the greatest general in history, the destination is the sky, so why worry about the place where the "half-man and half-god" are?
Chapter 7
Improper
is
Perfect
In addition to wearing Shox VC 4 in the game, Vince Carter during the Kings also wore another Shox old shoe he endorsed, Shox Vision.
Home shoes appeared one after another, and Carter himself revealed to the media that he was discussing the reproduction of sneakers with Nike, which made everyone look forward to those Shox sneakers that belong to "half-man and half-god" can complete their return as soon as possible.
And, on April 1, 2018, the Kings lost to the Warriors 96-112 at home, Carter completed his 1400th game of his career.
On July 26, 2018, Vince Carter signed with the Hawks for one year with a veteran's basic salary and began his new wandering. It can be said that when the competitive state is still possible, signing the young Eagles instead of joining the playoff team or even the championship team also reflects Carter's character of enjoying the game and being calm. On October 18, 2018, he started in the Hawks against the Knicks, scoring 12 points and 2 rebounds, becoming the second-year opening starter in NBA history after Robert Parish.
After joining the Hawks, the sneakers under Carter's feet are also full of highlights. For example, in the game against the Hornets on November 7, he wore the Shox Spotlight, which was born in 2007 and accompanied him on his last All-Star journey in his career. Nowadays, this pair of built-in Shox sneakers still have many highlights in design, and the Shox Spotlight and the Shox Spotlight Low released at the same time were also the only built-in Shox basketball shoes in the history of basketball shoes.
Of course, although Shox Spotlight is of great significance, neither the weight of the product itself nor the degree of fit with Carter himself are enough to represent Vince Carter's legendary career.And on November 12, 2018, before the Hawks' match against the Lakers, he finally put on those pairs, the classic that best represents his peak moments and flying, Shox BB4.
Unlike the previous "return" of sneakers such as Shox VC 4 and Shox Spotlight, Carter's re-wearing Shox BB4 is by no means a whim, but represents that this revolutionary work that completely changed the history of basketball shoes in 2000 is about to return.
And in the game against the Lakers, Carter has been wearing Shox BB4, which is a trailer for the classic return and a reunion with his youth.
In addition to the regular color matching, Carter also put on special versions with Raptors dragon claw elements in that season. Although he has been away from the Raptors for more than ten years, the names of "Canadian Air Force", "UFO", and "New Flying Man" that fans once called him again with the appearance of these sneakers.
And, Carter is still very skilled at this time. Although his playing time has decreased due to his age compared to his youth, in his limited playing time, his elegant skills and occasionally showing the glorious years in the air can still make fans forget the passage of time in an instant.
As the most famous Sneakerhead among NBA players today, P.J. Tucker's love for sneakers is well known. In the 2018-19 season, he also specially paid tribute to Carter, the legendary superstar over 40 years old, with a pair of Shox BB4s, and invited VC to sign the sneakers after the game between the two sides.
On September 21, 2019, the Hawks officially announced that the team officially renewed its contract with 42-year-old Vince Carter. And this season will also become the "last dance" of Carter's career. Of course, from the Raptors to the Nets, to the Magic, Suns, Mavericks, Grizzlies , Kings, and the last Eagles, Carter has left his own footprints in too many places, but after wandering, being able to finish the curtain call in his favorite sneakers is also a kind of perfection.
In the summer of 2019, Nike officially replicated Shox BB4, which is also the third replica of Shox BB4 in history. While many classic color schemes are returning, Carter also puts a number of bright PE color schemes on the court, which seems to show that Shox BB4 can still shine as dazzling as it used to be 20 years after its birth. Will this goal of
be Carter's last score in his 22-year career?
At this moment, I really can't say whether I don't want to do this, or I hope that this will be so
No matter whether the 15 games that still exist in theory exist, Vince Carter, the greatest sky artist in NBA history, the popularity king who saved the league's ratings in the post-Jordan era, and the former number one spokesperson of basketball for Nike brand, have all reached the end of his career.
Maybe this is not a beautiful and warm farewell as people initially expected, but the chaos and hasty ending will not affect his greatness at all. Waving is a farewell and the beginning of the next reunion. I hope that in the near future, Carter can continue his love for basketball in other identities and continue our admiration for him. I also hope that those equally gorgeous Shox VC series, and even PUMA and AND1 sneakers, can meet us again in the near future, for Carter and for the memory of the sky.
