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#NBArank All-Time Kicks: Photos of the best hoops shoes in action

We counted down the greatest basketball sneakers in NBA history. Now check out some of the stars in their shoes.

Converse All-Star: Wilt Chamberlain

These were so engrained in the culture that they outlasted Converse as a company (it's now a division of Nike) and didn't get a redesign until 2015, nearly 100 years after the original was first released. -- Adam Reisinger

Puma "Clyde": Walt Frazier

It's more an off-court sneaker these days, but still just as stylish as the day Clyde first slipped them on. -- Adam Resinger

Converse Weapon: Magic Johnson

If you haven't heard the story by now, here's the Cliffs Notes version: Magic Johnson and Larry Bird started the journey from being respectful rivals to close friends while filming a commercial for this sneaker at Bird's home in French Lick, Indiana. But this shoe was far bigger than that one moment -- during the mid-'80s, the biggest stars in the league (not named Michael Jordan) were almost all wearing the Weapon. -- Adam Resinger

Air Jordan 1: Michael Jordan

The perfect player with the perfect shoe, at the perfect time. A time when sports, culture and commercialism combined. -- Jesse Washington

Air Jordan V: Michael Jordan

This shoe took the mesh side panels from the Air Jordan IV and built upon them, adding 3M reflective coating on the tongue and clear soles on the bottom -- two pieces of styling that seemed outlandish at the time but are commonplace now. It was just one of the many examples of how the earliest Air Jordans set the standard for sneakers for years to come. -- Adam Reisinger

Reebok Pump: Dee Brown

The moment Dee Brown pumped up his sneakers before unleashing the dunk to win the 1991 Slam Dunk Contest, you knew these shoes had secured their place in basketball history. Though the pump technology hasn't endured, the memory has. -- Adam Reisinger

Air Jordan XI: Michael Jordan

Would the XI be as fondly remembered if it hadn't been so closely associated with the greatest season ever (72 wins, All-Star MVP, regular-season MVP, Finals MVP, NBA title)? Maybe not, but the sneaker and the moment are forever linked by history as defining greatness. -- Adam Reisinger

Nike More Uptempo: Scottie Pippen

Instead of the large swoosh we'd become accustomed to on Nike sneakers, this model -- worn by Scottie Pippen during the 1996 Finals and Olympics -- focused on the "AIR," literally. There was no missing the giant word on the side of each sneaker. -- Adam Reisinger

Reebok Question: Allen Iverson

If Nike's familiar Air Max technology was NASA, looking at Reebok's honeycomb heel (dubbed Hexalite technology) and "pearlized" red toe on the Questions was like floating through the Mir space station. And the shoe continues its orbit two decades later. -- Dave McMenamin

Air Jordan XII: Michael Jordan

Is there a shoe more associated with a single game than this one? Probably not. You can't think of the Air Jordan XII without thinking of the Flu Game, Michael Jordan's iconic performance in Game 5 of the 1997 Finals. -- Adam Reisinger

Nike Foamposite: Penny Hardaway

No matter where you saw them, you knew you were looking at the future -- like something had come back in time from outer space to land on the feet of basketball players nationwide. And that was before Nike even thought about slapping a galaxy on the side, creating a whole new frenzy for this legendary sneaker. -- Adam Reisinger

Nike Flight 98: Gary Payton

Rarely has a player's nickname lent itself so literally to his sneaker's design, but that was the case with this Gary Payton sneaker, which was enveloped by a neoprene sleeve encasing the entire upper of the shoe. The inner design was cool too, but if you were a '90s kid, you wanted to wear these zipped up like GP did. -- Adam Reisinger

Nike Air Zoom Generation: LeBron James

These didn't carry his name, but LeBron James' debut sneaker set the tone for what would become one of the better signature lines of all time. -- Adam Reisinger

Nike Zoom KD IV: Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant's signature sneaker -- seen here during the 2012 All-Star Game in Orlando -- brought back the strap from the KD 2s, resulting in a peak combination of performance and comfort. -- Adam Reisinger

Nike Kobe Elite 9: Kobe Bryant

After years of low-cut models, Nike went extra high for Kobe Bryant's first post-Achilles injury sneaker, introducing a signature model that combined a style that pushed the envelope and top-of-the-line performance. -- Adam Reisinger