The Nike Dunk wave of the mid-2000s was something special. From the iconic colorways and non-traditional storytelling of that era, the genie was out of the bottle for sneaker culture in terms of using a single silhouette to represent so much for so many. From classics like the Staple Pigeon, D.U.N.K.L.E. and the Tiffany, Nike SB has largely been attributed to giving the dunk new life. But the shoe’s origins forever remain in basketball. Which is why the newest notable dunk release stands out with a focus on hoops lineage over sales hype.

Advertisement

Earlier this week, the Nike Dunk Low “Sail Multi-Camo” was released with Sail / Vintage Green, Total Orange and White detailing. A flipped version with a mostly Black leather base, Oil Green, Orange and White color scheme will debut this upcoming week. The colorways are dope and only add to the resurgence of attention Nike dunks have been getting. Only for this colorway, it’s not a random Travis Scott post or a play on nostalgia that’s driving these kicks home. Well, not the nostalgia we’re used to thinking about.

As a native New Yorker and someone who came of age in the aforementioned mid-2000s, the series called “Nike Battlegrounds” was a huge part of sport, pop and basketball culture for its time. Its premise was about finding the best one-on-one players from across North America, featuring players representing cities like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto and Philadelphia. The series aired on MTV and would later have a global iteration, in search for the best one-on-one ballers in the world.

The one-on-one aspect of challenging opponents to prove who was not only the best player, but also willing to put forth the most effort stays true to the core of New York City basketball. It’s about toughness, both mental and physical, skill and fortitude. And in the midst of a pandemic, nearly two decades later, a group of young players based in New Jersey would reignite that feeling.

Enter Newark, New Jersey, native Joe Nickerson. As a pro player overseas, he looks forward to connecting with other friends fresh from college or foreign leagues through summer basketball tournaments around the Tri-State area. Only last May, amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, basketball seemed unlikely. Especially once rims were removed from local courts to prohibit play. That is until Nickerson and other players found one court in nearby West Orange, New Jersey, and with all the pent-up restlessness, began to challenge each other to games of one-on-one. At first, it was maybe 12 people at the courts, including the players. But after hotly contested games and some online trash talking to add fuel to the fiery matches, 12 quickly turned to 200. Before Nickerson and company knew it, they had formed a new one-on-one league that they call the Trenches Basketball League. 

Why is it called the Trenches?

Advertisement

“Newark just kinda looks rough,” Nickerson said. “It’s not really just about your skill level here. We’ve had NBA players lose games. I mean it’s all fair and we have refs. You can even bring your own ref. But here, it’s about your heart. You play with people heckling you the whole time. You’ve got to come out there and play through the environment. It’s like a trench.”

The league’s unique rules of three dribbles to get a shot off and missing a shot equaling a turnover does nothing to make things any easier either. When Nike got wind of what was going on, they tapped in with Nickerson and highlighted him and the league in their latest House of Hoops spot. While they haven’t outwardly said anything about the ties to Battlegrounds, if you were there then, you know what’s up now. There’s an absolute lineage of hoops heritage in that camo.

Aside from seeing something innovative happening in the community, I’m also happy to see the Nike Dunk return to its roots. Even if only symbolically, as the game has evolved past playing in a Dunk low or high. Seeing it all tie together means it still has a place in the game. For as appealing as the shoe is, there’s something gritty about this version. Which could be said about hard-nosed, one-on-one games too. And that’s where the beauty in this is: the storytelling of a shoe tied back to its blacktop origins.

(Photo: StockX)