Rare Obama Kicks For Sale
For a cool $25,000 at Sotheby’s, you could be hooping it in Nike basketball shoes made for President Obama.
While they were made for a president, you could be king of the court for the princely amount of $25,000 for a pair of Nike basketball shoes exclusively designed for President Barack Obama..
Available at Sotheby's, the shoes—known as Nike Hyperdunks—are one of only two pairs in existence, with the other made in 2009 for Obama, a passionate basketball fan known for playing on a basketball court of the South Lawn during his two terms in the White House.
While not worn by the president, the shoes are the only confirmed sample of the Nike shoes given to Obama. Custom details of the Hyperdunks include the official Presidential Seal and embroidered number 44 on each shoe, commemorating Obama as the 44th president. The insoles are printed with patriotic graphics including bald eagles with the date 1776, the year of America's founding.
The original Hyperdunk model was created for and worn by players on Team USA at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. The style was part of the "United We Rise" collection of USA Olympic sneakers.
Obama played basketball at Punahou High School in Hawaii, winning a state championship in 1979. His high school basketball jersey sold for $120,000 at auction in 2019.
During his presidency, Obama’s famous pickup games were a “who’s who” made up of former college players like personal aide Reggie Love (who played at Duke), ex-Illinois treasurer Alexi Giannoulias — a former pro player in Greece — and former Secretary of Education and Harvard co-captain Arne Duncan, who played countless games with Obama over the past few decades. Obama, a lefty with a decent outside shot and solid handle, once beat CBS Sports college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg, a former All-American and pro player, in HORSE.
Paul Kennedy is Editorial Director of the Collectibles Group at AIM Media. He enjoys Mid-century design, photography, vintage movie posters and people with a good story to share. Kennedy has more than twenty-five years of experience in the antiques and collectibles field, including book publishing. Reach him at PKennedy@aimmedia.com.
