From Robbins, Illinois…

"From Robbins, Illinois…”

If you haven't seen the commercial yet, you can see it here.

And if you haven't seen the Converse Wade 3 yet, you can see them here. (You can check out more angles, and even buy them, here. Not that I'm pushing you in one direction or another.) They dropped on November 3rd (all Wade shoes have dropped on the 3rd of the month, for obvious reasons). And this shoe, more than the others, was based on that number.

"It started out from my number, from 3,” Wade told me for a story I wrote in KICKS. "Of course I wear it because of the Holy Trinity. But then it went from there to my designer, who brought the idea to me how triangles are one of the strongest shapes in the universe—he's tellin' me how they symbolize strength and success and unity. And that's kind of how—that's the definition of me, in basketball that's kind of what I symbolize.”

His designer, Duane Lawrence, came with something that you'll either love or hate. The Wade 3 is a big step from the more organic—and more generic—Wade 2.0. It's a distinctive shoe, made up of mostly straight lines and sharp angles, with a tall tongue and high ankle collar. Triangles wound up playing a large role in the design, providing cushioning on the bottom, ventilation up front, and support up the Achilles. (They remind me a little—at least in colorway and height—of the Converses Dennis Rodman wore during his last dance with the Bulls.) When I talked to Wade about the shoe, I suggested he get Pat Riley to implement the triangle offense for marketing purposes. He just laughed. I pushed it: "It could work!” Wade remained skeptical. "It could work, huh?” He laughed again. "I don't think I'm gonna do that, but it's a good idea, though.”

I think he was humoring me.

Lawrence mentioned other details, such as the triple stitching on the upper (in different thicknesses of red, black and white) representing the Blood, Water and Spirit Ministries, which Wade grew up with in Chicago. And there will be a LOT of colorways, including a black-based one with irridescent green and silver highlights set to drop around Christmas.

Anyways, since then there's been the "From Robbins…” campaign (which started on October 28th), complete with a letter Dwyane wrote to the game (which reminded me of this, but not at all in a bad way). From Prop 48 casualty to March Madness breakout star to NBA champion and All-Star in such a short period of time, Wade's story is of the fairy tale variety. It's cool that he appreciates it as much as we do.

(And hey, if you want a more personal bit of D-Wade memorabilia, you can always buy his house.)