When people look back at the basketball sneakers of the 80s, many today tend to think of the Nike Air Jordans. It is the official shoe of the biggest NBA sensation of all time, after all. Plus, it’s grown into arguably the biggest basketball shoe brand since then. However, back in the 80s, the NBA hardcourt was actually dominated by another shoe, which found its way to the feet of players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Isiah Thomas. This year, they’re bringing that silhouette back in the form of the Converse Weapon.
No, it won’t be a reimagined version like they did with the Converse CX line back in 2021. Instead, it’s a full-on reprise of the original silhouette, recreating all the elements from the popular basketball shoe, so you can hit the courts looking like you just time traveled straight out of the David Stern NBA era.
The Converse Weapon recreates every visual element of the original from its glory days, albeit with modern materials that should allow it to strike a good balance of retro looks and modern comfort. It feature a full leather upper that mimics the look and feel of the 80s hardwood staple, with the same color blocking at the star chevron logo, collar underlay, and ankle. They’re doing two colorways, namely black with white color blocking and vintage white with ash color blocking, with a look that’s eerily reminiscent of the era the silhouette first launched.
It gets CX foam for cushioning, which, basically, combines a lightweight phylon midsole and a single-density PU insole to boost impact absorption and maximize foot comfort. At the bottom, it gets a full rubber outsole with plenty of traction to ensure it offers optimal grip if you ever decide to actually take this to the courts.
The Converse Weapon also gets a leather woven tongue with the same label as the original footwear and terry cloth lining for comfort. Of course, these new shoes aren’t designed to compete with modern basketball sneakers. Instead, they’re meant for use as streetwear, much like the rest of Converse’s shoes nowadays, so you can go out into the world injecting a dose of retro basketball flavor in your outfit. And yes, they got current NBA MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander repping the new footwear, which, we guess, is a perfect choice, since he’s not only scorching hot on the court the past two seasons, he’s also one of those NBA players who like to dress up as if they’re showing up to fashion week as they enter the arena.
While Converse has only officially announced two colorways for this run, you can expect a few more to come down the line, in case you’re not a big proponent of the standard black and white fare. In fact, fragment’s Hiroshi Fujiwara already has a version due in May that uses the same silhouette but dresses it up in slightly funkier color blocking, so you should probably expect them to milk this full reboot as far as they can take it.
The Converse Weapon is available now, priced at $120.