Long before he was dunking on defenders in the League, Rockets forward Montrezl Harrell was following his older cousins around North Carolina, learning about sneakers. It was the “He Got Game” XIIIs that hooked him.
“Me growing up when I was younger, I hung around a lot of my older cousins,” the 23-year-old Harrell says. “I seen those, they had them. So I was like, Yo! Those were always the ones that stuck out to me.”
He was hooked on Jordans. Between those, Air Force Ones and the Foams (“Growing up in high school, I seen, like, one person with those” he says about the famous “Galaxy” Foams), Trezz started to develop a well of sneaker knowledge.
Fast-forward a few years and now Harrell’s taking to the air in a new pair of neck-breaking kicks every night. We’ve seen him in flashy Air Jordans this season, ranging from custom Xs to “Playoff” VIIIs to XVIs and IXs. He even broke out the “Gold Medal” KD IVs. He says each night he picks from an on-court shoe collection that runs about 70 pairs deep—he has about 300 more that he doesn’t play in—and that he just goes with what he’s feeling.
“I’m not one of those guys that needs to break in their game shoe a thousand times before they wear them. With me playing a lot since high school, I would always change shoes a lot like that. It doesn’t really faze me. Whatever shoe I put on when we do shootarounds that morning, I’ll have it on. I’m good to go after that.”
Harrell’s been going hard for the unofficial NBA sneakerhead crown this season. As his numbers have nearly tripled since his rookie year, with averages of 9.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, Trez has more than solidified himself in the League’s sneaker culture. And he’s on the lookout for one more pair: the “Fruity Pebble” LeBron IVs.
He’s been showing off all his years of studying in his two-year career. Peep the gallery up top to see his best kicks.
Photos via Getty Images
