BEYOND QUESTION: The Legacy of Allen Iverson
In honor of the 25th Anniversary of Allen Iverson's first signature sneaker, Question Mid, Reebok presents "Beyond Question", a limited-edition magazine profiling the life and legacy of A.I., the immortal Question Mid, and Iverson's cultural impact for a new generation.
Chapter 2 titled “The OG Question Red Toe” was written by Luis Torres. You can find the entire digital magazine here.
WHAT IF?
In the early ‘90s, Todd Krinsky and Que Gaskins, two young members of the Reebok team, were in search of a star to spearhead their reintegration to basketball footwear. Krinsky and Gaskins were just two of the many basketball fanatics with their eyes on the outsized aura of a certain 6-foot sophomore guard.
After watching a college game where A.I. dunked on a player nearly a foot taller than him, Krinsky and Gaskins returned to headquarters adamant that Iverson was a once-in-a-generation player. They had a now-famous “what if?” conversation about what it would mean for the brand to sign him. Some executives within Reebok were concerned about the cost of signing A.I., but Krinsky and Gaskins convinced them all that Allen Iverson didn’t just walk the walk—he made it his own.
Krinsky, Gaskins and Reebok designer Scott Hewett created a shrine to A.I. in Hewett’s small house in Quincy, MA. They collected every newspaper clipping and magazine article they could find about A.I. and (to the dismay of Hewett’s wife) covered the living room walls to get into the mind of this young player. They got to work designing “The Prototype,” which would become the Reebok Question Mid—a fitting shoe for the player who had come to be known as “The Answer.”
1. HEEL
Originally, a “?” was set on the back of the Question Mid, to represent all of the questions surrounding A.I., his career and whether or not he would actually go pro. A.I. requested a “real logo” on the back, which resulted in the stitched Q with the Reebok Vector embedded.
2. TOE BOX
The colored toe is reminiscent of how A.I. used to tape (or spat) up his football cleats, so the shoe’s color only appeared on the toe. The original sample of the shoe came in a red and black pattern that the designers wanted to keep, however the design team had to keep the toe box simple to comply with the NBA’s standards. The original red suede toe gave the shoe a sophisticated look, but the suede bled so badly it made Iverson’s feet look like they were bleeding after games—so the suede was swapped out for a pearlized red leather toe after the first run of 5,000. “The color pops on the toe and heel worked so well for a player like A.I., who sped up and down the court,” said Krinsky.
3. MIDSOLE
The midsole was engineered for A.I.’s signature crossover move. Although the midsole had a bulky look to it, Iverson’s speed turned the Question into a speed bullet.
4. HEXALITE
Essentially a sheet of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), Hexalite technology works as a light and supportive form of shock absorption. Hexalite had historically been hidden but— in an era where visible technology was catching its stride—the honeycomb design and lateral panels on the Question revealed its distinctive aesthetic.
5. SOLE
The Question merges two different concepts and colors for an attention-catching aesthetic: The upper sole has a simple, clean look, while the translucent iced-out bottom sole stands out from a style perspective.
6. GHILLIE LACING SYSTEM
The ghillie lacing system allows the laces to zip through the loops and stands out aesthetically from typical eyelets. A Reebok logo adorns the lace system—a detail A.I. calls “icing on the cake.”
“ I REMEMBER THE DAY THAT A.I. HAD THE QUESTIONS ON FOR THE FIRST TIME ON-COURT. IT STOOD OUT LIKE NO OTHER SHOE. HE WAS MOVING AND RUNNING WITH THEM ON, AND JUST BLOWING BY PEOPLE. IT WAS INDESCRIBABLE.”
SUPERHERO COLORS
A.I. liked his shoes to always match his uniform.
“When I was coming up, I always thought basketball players looked like superheroes,” he said. “I always thought, ‘Superheroes stick to their colors: red, blue and yellow, or black and gold. Their boots aren’t going to be a different color.’”
Iverson became infamous for requesting new colorways, which he’d need delivered in just a couple of days.
“I’d call up Reebok damn near every other day—for the playoffs, for big games, TV games. I was just crazy with it,” A.I. laughed.
Reebok would have to fly someone to China to have the shoe produced in time for the game. Other times, A.I. would refuse to wear a new color.
“Allen was superstitious,” explained Krinsky. “If he played well in a certain colorway, he didn’t want to switch to a different one, even though that new color was arriving at stores and needed support.” All the efforts were well worth it when A.I.’s superstitions paid off. Regardless of what colors he was wearing, A.I.’s heart and mind were always in the game.
ROOKIE REVOLUTION
The Reebok Question arrived in 1996 at the heart of a revolution within basketball footwear. As an incoming rookie, it seemed unlikely that A.I. would be offered his own shoe before proving himself at the pro level.
Reebok brought their Prototype sneaker to their very first meeting with A.I. Seeing it for the first time, Iverson was in awe.
“It was a dream come true,” he said. “It was close to the same feeling of when you get drafted. Only a certain amount of people have their own signature shoe; that really means you’re special. And for it to happen to me, it was just a beautiful thing.” A.I. gave a couple minor fit tweaks before The Prototype became the first version of the Question Mid.
Though, in some ways, it was enough just to have his own shoe—any shoe. “You could have got me a pair of boots and put a Reebok sign on them and I would have played in them,” said A.I.
Reebok’s pitch was about even more than the shoe itself. It was about their commitment to A.I. and his electric personality. The shoe was the platform for a bigger dream. Right out of the gate, Reebok ensured that A.I. would be the face of the brand rather than another roster filler. The best part? They didn’t want to change anything about him.
“IT WAS CLOSE TO THE SAME FEELING OF WHEN YOU GET DRAFTED. ONLY A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF PEOPLE HAVE THEIR OWN SIGNATURE SHOE; THAT REALLY MEANS YOU’RE SPECIAL. AND FOR IT TO HAPPEN TO ME, IT WAS JUST A BEAUTIFUL THING.”
“It was special for Reebok to just let me continue to go my way, not try to make me out to be nobody else,” said A.I. “Market and promote me for who I am. That was special.” At the end of the day though, A.I. said the deal ultimately came down to one big thing: “[Reebok] put up the numbers.”
A.I.’s impact on Reebok as a brand was revolutionary. Allen Brown, a Reebok exec who works closely with Iverson, has one word about where the brand would be without A.I.: “Nowhere.” As Brown puts it, A.I. sparked a shift within Reebok as the brand aligned itself with A.I.’s culture. “He inspired everybody inside Reebok... I was born and raised in the hood too, and having that mindset in corporate America—if he can do that then I can do that too,” said Brown. The partnership has proven to be mutually beneficial. “For us to still be here with each other decades and decades later, you know it was authentic from the beginning,” A.I. said. “Reebok has just been loyal as hell to me from day one, and it just never changed.”
