Q&A: P.J. Tucker discusses his plan to auction off 100 pairs of his extremely rare personal sneakers
Miami Heat veteran P.J. Tucker is not only an NBA champion but also one of the basketball world's most prominent and beloved sneakerheads.
Tucker, who is currently shooting a career-best 45.8% on 3-pointers while also matching his personal-best mark for assists per game, has more shoes than any one person could ever know what to do with.
So thanks to his partnership with eBay, the NBA's sneaker champion will auction off his personal pairs of extremely rare and hard to find grail sneakers.
Tucker caught up with For The Win to discuss how he came up with the idea, what shoe he feels is the most impressive in the collection, his assessment on the state of the sneaker world, what he learned from winning the NBA title, and so much more.
The sneaker sale launches 6 am. Eastern Standard Time on Dec. 20 at eBay.com/PJTucker and a portion of proceeds will benefit Soles 4 Souls.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What inspired the idea to auction off some of your game-worn sneakers?
Tucker: It was an idea that my crew came up with because when we moved out of my house from Houston, we had so many pairs of shoes just there and in storage and sitting around. I was thinking about ways to get some use for them, man. These were some things I actually wore in games and once we started going through it, we saw all kinds of stuff. There were so many that I had worn one time but never again. I had multiple pairs of some stuff. So I thought it would be cool to have some of my actual pairs of shoes to be available.
You played for three teams during the 2021 calendar year. Is moving your shoe collection one of the hardest parts about changing teams?
Tucker: That is definitely the toughest part of my life. [Laughs] I can move or switch teams any time if I have to and I’ll be fine. But moving my stuff?! Oh my God. It is an actual process. This year was the toughest because I had to go from Houston to Milwaukee to Miami. I just had so many things that didn’t make it with me on the trips from Houston to Milwaukee and then Milwaukee to Houston. There was just so much! It’s not easy to transport the stuff that I wear during games. My assistant had to fly down to Houston and ship boxes down to Miami that I knew I wanted to wear during games and also just off the court. It’s a process, man.
Is there anything in this collection that you think people are going to be particularly hyped about?
Tucker: The beauty of it is that it’s all across the board. Different people will say different things. It’s some super rare pairs. But that might not be the style for some people. They may not like those shoes. There are some old, game-worn stuff people might remember. That’ll intrigue them for sure. But for me, I know there is a Diana Taurasi P.E. LeBron’s and most people probably have not seen them before. If they have, they probably haven’t seen them in size 14. So to have the opportunity to get something like that is once in a lifetime because there aren’t a lot of those pairs out there.
When you use eBay to buy sneakers, do you hide behind anonymity or are you open about who you are?
Tucker: My eBay account username says PJ Tucker. I interact with people as “PJ Tucker” literally to a fault. It’s not always a good thing. [Laughs] They try to sell me high and get the most that they can possibly get out of me. But it’s pretty cool, though. People who don’t know may end up wondering, like, is this actually PJ Tucker or is this a fake name? I’m like, nah, it’s me. They’ll sometimes send cards to sign with the package that I bought from them. I have all kinds of crazy interactions. It’s always pretty fun.
How did you choose the charity you are giving a portion of the proceeds to for this?
Tucker: We went with Souls4Soles. I probably give away two times more than I actually wear throughout the year. I give shoes to different AAU teams and different organizations. We literally send shoes all the time, everywhere. To be able to give back to Souls4Soles, if you’re me, you have to be able to look out for people. It’s not about the charities. I give shoes to people who need shoes. It’s kind of useless to have thousands of pairs of shoes if you’re not giving some away to people who need them. That’s everything.
Is it frustrating being known as the “sneaker guy” sometimes more than as the quality NBA player and champion that you are?
Tucker: For sure! [Laughs] It’s funny. But it just goes to show you how big and powerful and how fast shoes have taken off. Sneaker culture is unbelievably exciting. People are dying for every drop and everything that comes out has people anticipating. So much stuff gets hyped and it’s craziness. I’m for sure one hundred times more known for my sneakers but that speaks more to how big sneakers are as opposed to me as a basketball player.
Do you have any perspective on where the sneaker market is headed in the next few years?
Tucker: It’s actually weird you ask that because I was literally just having that conversation right before this. It’s so hard to predict! I saw somewhere that tried to predict the annual growth of the sneaker market and it was astronomical numbers. It’s so hard to put a limit on it because with social media and how crazy the internet is, sneakers go viral so fast. When a new designer does something, it gets so much attention. More and more people get access and get all this stuff and to be able to see what’s coming, it’s so hard. I have no idea.
Which of the shoes that you’ve worn do you think has gotten the most attention?
Tucker: That’s a good question. This may sound stupid but I never get the full branding. I rely on my team. I ask my boys to tell me what’s going on. After I post stuff, I never really see what happens afterward. I never see it unless my best friend, Marq, sends it to me. If he doesn’t send it to me, I’ll almost never know. Outside of that, I almost never see the end game of my actions.
[Tucker asked his media lead Josh Abba, who was also on the call, what he thought. Abba suggested the Red October Yeezy’s or the Nike Fear of God sneakers.]
Tucker (con’t): Yeah, the Red October moment went crazy because people were begging for that and nobody had worn them. There is a lot of stuff that people consider to be a grail that they would never wear. So to wear those in games usually lead to the biggest moments.
One basketball question: What lessons from winning an NBA title can you apply towards winning another one?
Tucker: It’s just the knowledge. It’s been sixteen years playing at every single level in this league. I’ve been on bad teams and good teams. But now I know what it takes to just win a championship and that’s the biggest thing I’ll take from doing that. Going to a team like the Heat, we actually have a few guys who have done that already. We have experience and knowledge that we are all able to share with the younger guys that we need to help us stay alive while guys like Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are down. I want to feed that experience to them so they can hold us over until those guys get back.
FULL LIST OF AVAILABLE SNEAKERS
Kyrie 6 SR Sneaker Room MOM PE - Game Worn
Hyperdunk 2012 Low PE Area 72
Zoom Kobe 2 ID Black Yellow King of NJ - Game Worn
Air Jordan 1 Low Navy/Grey Test Sample - Game Worn
Kobe 4 Protro PE - Game Worn
Air Force 1 Low PRM TZ Bearbrick
Kobe 6 Protro x PJ Tucker Texas2Toronto
Air Trainer 3 Premium Super Bowl
Jordan Zoom Tenacity 88 White/Valour Blue/Navy PE
Kyrie 5 Duke Black PE
Kyrie 5 UCONN PE
Kyrie 5 Duke Blue PE
Kyrie 4 Academy PE
Kyrie 4 All Star PE
Dunk Low Pro SB Heineken
Zoom Lebron 4 Playoff PE - Game Worn
Zoom LeBron 3 SuperBron - Game Worn
Lebron 7 University of Kentucky PE - Game Worn
Kobe 4 Protro White/Black/Purple PE
LeBron 8 V/2 Diana Taurasi All-Star PE
Zoom Kobe 6 Think Pink
Kobe 4 Protro White/University Red PE
Zoom Kobe 5 Ink
Zoom Kobe 3 All Star
Air Jordan 10 Double Nicke
Zoom Kobe 7 System TB White Metallic Silver
Air Jordan 11 Retro Low Tuxedo
Air Jordan 5 Blackout Test Sample
Air Jordan Super Fly SE Russell Westbrook OKC Away PE
Zoom KD 3 Skills Academy PE - Game Worn
Air Jordan 12 Low Bred Derek Anderson Loyal 1 PE - Game Worn
Air Jordan 23 OG Chicago Bulls - Game Worn
Air Max LeBron 7 Retro QS Red Carpet
Air Max LeBron 7 NFW White Varsity Red - Game Worn
Jordan CP3.X Chris Paul PE
Hyperdunk x Low MSCO PE
KD 6 Supreme DC Preheat
Air Jordan 6 Retro Bulls - Game Worn
Zoom Huarache TR Low Premium x EA Sports - Game Worn
LeBron 9 Shooting Stars PE
Air Max LeBron 7 CavFanatic PE
Louis Vuitton Trainer Sneaker Boot
Air Jordan 10 Retro x PSNY Public School Promo - Game Worn
Dunk High Black Old Royal
Air Jordan 2 Retro Eminem - Game Worn
LeBron Zoom 3 PE SVSM Sample - Game Worn
Air Trainer 1.3 Max Breathe LeBron James PE - Game Worn
Air Jordan 5 Retro Low Derek Anderson PE - Game Worn
Air Foamposite One x Comme des Garçons Homme Plus White - Game Worn
Jordan 32 JBC Pure Platinum PE - Game Worn