Allen Iverson Live

Allen Iverson is back with a new shoe re-release. Without doubt, after The Questions, Allen Iverson’s most well-known shoe has to be The Answer IV. Worn during his 2000-01 MVP season, the classic Reebok’s most enduring image was created in Los Angeles, when following a right-to-left cross and corner jumper at the Staples Center, Iverson stepped over a prone Tyronn Lue on his way to handing the Laker juggernaut their first—and, as it would turn out, only—loss of the postseason.

The best way to describe The Answer IV to someone who’s never seen it is this: a sleek and streamlined update of The Question. The Answer IV utilized similar colorblocking and the same ghilly lacing, but featured a lower cut and a zip-up upper, as well as new tech—full-length DMX as opposed to Hexalite—in the midsole.

“The Answer IV, we really set out to create a lightweight shoe with a great speed graphic,” says Reebok Global VP Todd Krinsky. “So when you look at the Answer IV, it’s got a very strong front-to-back graphic that goes throughout the shoe. We created shoes that have a 3M reflective shot because we were always wondering what a shoe would look like when it was shot, flashes going on in the arena. It’s got a 3D Ultralite bottom so it makes the shoe two or three ounces lighter than a normal rubber shoe—back in the day before there was light everywhere, it was one of the lightest basketball shoes. And then from a fashion perspective we added the zipper, and so kids could wear it laced up when they were playing, and they could zipper it down with jeans when they weren’t playing.”

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