FADE TO BLACK.

If you are familiar with Jay-Z, then call this my Black Album.

There are 3 things I want to share:

///First.
As soon as I can open my eyes, my father has been encouraging me to watch basketball... And not just basketball... but LAKERS showtime basketball.

My first vivid memory of a great basketball game was way back 1991. It was the Bulls visiting the Lakers. The finals. I think that was game 1... I was 6, and my Dad, a die-hard Laker, was urging me to root for Magic and the showtime squad. I admired Magic, more so now because I mostly play point - but that Jordan guy was very, very hard to hate.

I didn't want to be like Mike... Because Magic, then and even now, is my only peg of a great basketball player. But as a kid growing up in a Laker household, I felt really guilty for being a Jordan fan. I felt awful coveting those black and red shoes that Mike had on... With the Porsche-like spoiler... And clear bottoms. I didn't know what they were called back then... All I knew was they were beautiful.

But at some point I realized, with the help of my Laker-loving family, that what I was feeling was not anything negative - rather a deeper sense of respect for the game.

And so, very much like Magic's beautiful game, Mike in these shoes were instrumental in birthing my love for basketball.

///Second.

I wouldn't call this my retirement... Because no one really does.

All it is is a conscious effort to end the days when I'd come home with 10 pairs of limiteds in the trunk of my car after just one night, or doubling up on a pair just for the heck of it, or doing something really financially stupid involving my wallet and eBay. I would still buy once in a while, a pair here, a pair there... But my "ball-so-hard" days are now behind me.

Truth be told, when all is said and done I wouldn't want to end it with copping just any pair. If I'm going out... I'm going out with a bang... switching hands in mid-air, banking it on the glass, and I would make it count.

And just like Jay-Z's ALLURE, I'll never leave this, I just can't. I don't think I can turn my back on this THING, this hobby that has made me so happy. I'm just taking a step back. I'll return... Wearing 45. I'm sure of it.

///Third.

In this game, we always put a premium on the footwear a little more than the people who wear them. Fortunately for me, I fell in the right circle. I'm pretty blessed to be with this group of people who, if I may say, are way more valuable than any pair of limiteds. You can't buy them, you can't trade them, and you can't cop them from eBay.

Clear soles yellow. Air units pop. Needless to say, shoes turn to dust. But these people, these friends... Brothers... Are all solid individuals.

Honor amongst hustlers - that is the rarest of all the grails in this culture. I am truly humbled to be in rarified AIR... In the company of great men.

Mackie Correa and Jason Tan are two of those people. These dudes gave "Presyong Kaibigan" (Friendly Price) a whole new meaning.

Mackie, thanks for hooking me up with these. And Jason, Pare, thank you for entrusting them to me. I can't thank you enough. Haha you lied tho, bro. You said they were VNDS... They seem very DS! Haha!

///

I know it's a lot to take in just from a pair of Infrared 6s. But please indulge me... I've come full circle.











What more can I say? :)