NBA players are dealing with the Orlando bubble life in different ways but Houston Rockets’ P.J. Tucker’s shoe collection will last him well past the playoffs. Tucker told teammate Austin Rivers that he brought 91 pairs of shoes with him to Walt Disney World.
This creates so many questions including how Tucker managed to transport all these sneakers to his hotel along with how the big man has space for anything else in his hotel room. Tucker already showed off his collection in multiple social media videos which show stacks of shoe boxes in his room. A recent post from Tucker indicates he landed a rare original pair of Jordan 1s which were preserved from 1985.
Tucker is arguably the most dedicated shoe collector in the NBA, and it is no surprise the big man spent his quarantine life ordering sneakers. Tucker told ESPN’s Nick DePaula that buying shoes is “all I’ve been doing” since COVID-19 put the NBA and nearly every other facet of American life on pause back in March.
“I’ve bought more shoes during the coronavirus than I ever have,” Tucker noted. “Probably in my entire life. …I’ve been bored. I’ve just been talking to people online [tracking down shoes], and it’s been crazy. It’s all I’ve been doing.”
Here’s a look at Tucker’s sneaker collection at Disney.
Tucker’s Bubble Collection Includes Original Air Jordans
Tucker admitted to ESPN that he consistently has “upwards of 40 sneakers” in his eBay cart at any point in the day. What shoes made the cut for Tucker’s trip to Orlando?
Aside from the original Jordans, the Nike Air Total Foamposite Max shoes which Tim Duncan made famous in the 1998 NBA playoffs made the trip. Additional shoes in Tucker’s Disney collection include the Nike Vis Zoom Uptempo, Nike Air Max CW, Nike Zoom Flightposite 1s and a rare pair of Nike Air Max 1 “Parra” Amsterdams. Tucker has enough sneakers to wear a new pair in Orlando without reusing for close to three months.
Tucker Spends an Estimated $200,000 Each Season on Shoes
NBA players are known for frequently getting free pairs of shoes sent to them, but Tucker has no problem footing the bill when he sees something that he wants to add to his collection. During a 2018 interview on Complex’s Flight Club, Tucker estimated that he spends $200,000 on shoes in one season.
“You know what’s crazy about that whole thing… I had just been in New York before that and I went to Flight Club,” Tucker explained. “I don’t know what happened, but I think someone just dropped off a bunch of their collections there. [I spent] double what we did on the actual episode [of Sneaker Shopping]. Guys in the the store were laughing [during the shoot], and they were like, “People don’t even know that you were here a couple of weeks ago.” It was O.G. old stuff, the stuff I had been looking at for years.”
With basketball set to resume, Tucker will have bigger things on his mind than just shoes as the Rockets look to make a playoff run. Tucker started in all 64 games he has played for the Rockets this season averaging 7.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals prior to the break in action.
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Rockets’ P.J. Tucker Brings Surprising Number of Shoes to Orlando Bubble