ÿþThere's also puma au now a new generation of Puma hoopers serving as ambassadors for the relaunch. Skylar Diggins-Smith , Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III, DeMarcus Cousins , Rudy Gay, Danny Green, Kevin Knox, Michael Porter Jr., Terry Rozier and Zhaire Smith. It's a loaded roster: five of the first 16 picks in the 2018 NBA draft , including the top two selections; two grizzled NBA veterans; a four-time WNBA All-Star; a 6-foot-11 monster of a big man who made a major comeback from a gruesome injury.

New York Knicks rookie Kevin Knox handles the ball while wearing the "London Calling" edition of puma creepers the Puma Clyde Court Disrupt during the NBA's annual London game on Jan. 17 at The O2 Arena in London, England. (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)Going back to my childhood, Puma certainly puma suede classic had a stake with people playing ball in parks," said legendary DJ, filmmaker and sneaker savant Bobbito Garcia, 52, who authored the acclaimed 2003 book Where'd You Get Those?

The Clyde ultimately emerged as one of the most influential sneakers of all time  a shoe that, after being embraced by hip-hop culture, transcended the sport of basketball. It was the epitome of style and puma sneakers embodiment of cool. Everyone, from ballplayers to break dancers, wanted to wear Puma  and Frazier was a huge reason why.I'd been a Frazier fan since I was a little kid," said retired two-time NBA champion Wes Matthews, 59, who endorsed Puma from 1984 to 1986.

The same year English began wearing Pumas, the Houston Rockets selected Ralph Sampson with the No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA draft. The 7-foot-4 Sampson had a history of wearing PRO-Keds in both high school and at the University of Virginia. Yet, as Sampson at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, puma ignite which he entered in 2012, PRO-Keds went on a hiatus shortly into his first season, halting the production of basketball sneakers.

Puma scooped up Sampson, making him the company's highest-profile basketball signing since Frazier. But there was one problem: Puma didn't manufacture shoes in his gargantuan size 17. So the brand had to produce prototypes, which Sampson wore for most of his rookie year, including in the inaugural NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1984.Sampson's exclusive prototypes, some game-worn versions of which have sold at auction over the years, turned into pairs of his own sneakers that Puma then cranked out tirelessly.