P.J. Tucker debuts sneaker collaboration with Giuseppe Zanotti

P.J. Tucker is showing the world that he’s more than just the Sneaker King of the NBA- he’s a man of high fashion.

With respect to P.J., if you follow both the NBA and the world of fashion, you’ve known this for quite some time. But in case you didn’t know this about Tucker, he formally introduced himself to the high fashion world this week.

On Sunday night, Tucker, along with his teammates and other exclusive invitees, debuted his sneaker collaboration with Giuseppe Zanotti at the brand’s location in Rivers Oaks District.

Named “Urchin Rocks,” the sneakers boast a beautiful leather and suede upper with a red, black, and white colorway that pays homage to the Rockets. It sits on unique 3D-molded scale midsole, and what’s most intriguing about the shoe is the one-of-a-kind lacing system that features two zippers on each side.

The partnership came to be after mutual friends from Tucker’s camp and representatives from the Italian luxury brand reached out to him and pitched the idea of working together- a huge honor in of itself- and a collaboration that he immediately thought would be the “perfect.” Tucker, even though new to the game of designing, played a large part in helping shape the look of the sneaker and learned a lot along the way.

“They pretty much let me do whatever I wanted, which was the dope part,” Tucker told Highsnobiety.

“We played around with a lot of different materials and they gave me a bunch of options on stuff that I could do and how it could work. They also let me pick and help guide the whole process. It was fun with it being the first time for me and seeing what kind of combinations work with different materials, and layering and all the detailed stuff you don’t really think about.”

A limited number of pairs were made, 30 according to Highsnobiety, and it comes with a price tag of $995.

Arguably the best part of the event itself was P.J. wanting to make sure that his teammates were there and heavily involved.

“It was awesome,” Tucker said of his teammates coming out to the event. “They’re the main guys that are always on me about fashion and wearing certain things all the time. To have them there supporting me was pretty dope.”

Their efforts were recognized too. In the store, there were 15 custom lockers made for all members of the team, each containing a pair of the exclusive shoe in their respective sizes.

This incredible accomplishment comes just a week after the Rockets forward received his first-ever player exclusive shoes from Nike in 15 years of his professional career. For Tucker, this is more than sneakers; it’s a piece of him.

“Sneakers for me are more than just an obsession, they’re a form of self-expression, a reflection of how I feel,” Tucker said via Nice Kicks. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Giuseppe and creating this sneaker with him has been a dream come true.”

At 33 years old and well into his NBA career, something tells me that this is just the start for Tucker and his ventures into the fashion world.