The 10 Best Third Signature Shoes Ever

There’s no room for excuses by Year 3, whether it’s athletes or signature shoes. The public tends to give everybody grace that first year because if they are rookies to their respective sport or if the first signature product feels a little too familiar to what’s already out there. In Year 2, the athlete and the shoe are still afforded the room to grow and develop because the potential has yet to be fulfilled. It’s the third year when the room for excuses runs out, and it’s time to see if this someone a team and a sneaker brand can build around.

Sneaker historians love to point to the third signature shoe as the fork in the road moment for everybody involved. Number 3 is typically the first to truly personify the athlete and sheds away the conventional and conservative choices that might have been found in the first two releases. The result is a jumping-off point to something greater or maybe something that won’t have staying power.

10. Nike Air Griffey Max 3

If you’re reading with the belief that this is nothing more than an attempt to send Nike a hint that they should retro the Air Griffey Max 3, we are neither going to confirm nor deny your truth. With an asymmetrical lacing system that brings to mind sneakers like the Nike Air Footscape or the Nike KD 6 and a cross strap for lockdown, it feels like a sneaker that should have been brought back already. At the very least, we could do without the fifth or seventh retro of the Freshwater Griffey Max 1 and get one for the Griffey Max 3.

9. Nike Zoom LeBron 3

Nike designer Ken Link’s work for LeBron James’ signature line tends to get pushed to the side after Jason Petrie took over with the LeBron 7, but as the years have passed, the appreciation for those early days, especially from King James himself, grows. By his third season, it was clear that James was not some overhyped kid out of high school and that Nike was absolutely right in signing him to a record-breaking contract so early. After the prototype phase that was the Zoom Generation and the incubative feel of the LeBron 2, the LeBron 3 felt like a refined amalgamation of both while establishing its own identity. The sneaker also helped usher in The LeBrons, the fictional family that represented different aspects of his personality and gave us a peek into the machine that was seemingly built to dominate the game of basketball and his goofy sense of humor.

8. Reebok Answer 2

Yes, the Answer 2. The Reebok Question was Allen Iverson’s first signature shoe, followed by the Reebok Answer 1. The Answer 2 was worn by Allen Iverson during his breakout 1998-99 season when he led the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Playoffs and eliminated Penny Hardaway and the Orlando Magic in the first round. For reasons unexplained, the Question, Answer 1, Answer 3, Answer 4, and Answer 5 all received numerous retros, while sneakerheads are left to scour reseller platforms and second-hand stores to find wearable pairs of the Answer 2. With Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson in charge at Reebok Basketball, the time is now to petition our legends to bring them back.

7. Nike Air Tech Challenge 3

It’s hard to blame a newer sneakerhead if they don’t know that Andre Agassi has more than one signature shoe. The Air Tech Challenge 2 is a certified classic that deserves all the attention and retro releases, but it would be nice if Nike showed a little more love to the Tech Challenge 1 and Tech Challenge 3 if only for the sake of variety. Perhaps the infamous failed 2007 retro has something to do with Nike being hesitant to bring them back with any regularity. They were able to do a mostly faithful retro in 2015, but it’s been radio silence since then. And that’s a shame beyond just wanting to seem more tennis ball/volt-colored sneakers. Designed by Tinker Hatfield, the 1990 Tech Challenge 3 featured the same cushioning as the Tech Challenge 2 but with the updated upper that features the neoprene bootie construction that we would find on the Nike Air Huaraches soon thereafter.

6. adidas T-Mac 3

Much like his career, we get real selective when we talk about Tracy McGrady’s sneakers. There’s a passing mention given to his early days with the Toronto Raptors, but there is absolutely zero desire to talk about his post-prime days when he was bouncing from team to team before landing with the San Antonio Spurs in 2013 for a tragically funny playoff run where he barely played but saw him get out of the first round for the only time in his career. When it comes to his signature sneakers, most discussion centers around the T-Mac 1, 2, and 3. Everything else past the 3 might as well not exist to casual sneakerheads. In any case, the T-Mac 3 was a fitting “finale” because of its sleek design and energetic patent leather colorways, highlighted by the 2004 NBA All-Star Game when McGrady wore a mismatched blue and red pair.

5. Nike Zoom Kobe 3

The Nike Kobe 3 deserved better during its first run. They were the late Kobe Bryant’s sneakers during his lone MVP season, a redemptive campaign that flipped the on-court narrative that had been placed on him in the wake of Shaquille O’Neal’s departure and subsequent championship success elsewhere. Admittedly, the shoes’ stealthy, no-nonsense look was always going to be a barrier to entry, but there were two things that happened on the way to the Kobe 3’s path to legendary status: the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2008 Finals, and the follow-ups were the original Hyperdunk and the revolutionary Kobe 4. By the time Kobe was hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2009, the Kobe 3 was a distant memory. It would take Kobe himself expressing his darkly comedic love of the shoe for the Prelude Pack and the recent Protro releases for people to remember or discover the sneaker for the first time.

4. Nike Ja 3

The Nike Ja 3 is an instant classic. Aura is a term that gets thrown around so often that it has ironically lost its own aura, but the Ja 3 might be the most successful signature shoe in capturing an athlete’s aura. When you mix Ja’s penchant for chaos both on and off the court, you get a chaotic marvel like the Ja 3. It almost makes you wonder what Nike was thinking with the Ja 1 and Ja 2 because they both feel so tame and downright conservative in hindsight. With colorways and collaborations that matched the sneaker and the athlete, sneakerheads are going to look back fondly on the Ja 3 in 10 years, 20 years, and beyond. Ja Morant? That’s still to be determined.

3. Nike DT Max ‘96

In the 2010s, the idea of Deion Sanders and Nike reconciling their differences felt like a pipe dream. After a breakup that saw him leave The Swoosh over royalties and disputes over credit for the designs of his legendary Diamond Turf line, Sanders signed with Under Armour in 2009, seemingly burning every bridge on the way out. It took Coach Prime becoming a force of nature in college football for both sides to finally get over their lingering beef and get to the business of bringing back the Diamond Turf with proper branding. Since Sanders’ return to the brand, the Diamond Turf that has received the biggest retro push so far is his third entry, the Nike DT Max ‘96. With a shredded overlay that is supposed to represent Sanders tearing up the turf, it allowed for stunning contrasting colorways both during the original run and this current retro revival.

By the way, has anybody made a DT Max ’96 and Ja 3 pointing Spider-Man meme? Just saying…

2. Nike Air CB 34

No matter what Charles Barkley does, he just can’t seem to surpass Michael Jordan. Not even teaming up with Godzilla was enough to supplant CB at the top of the Nike hierarchy and on this list. But as Charles is quick to remind everybody, there’s never a need to feel sorry for him because he made a ton of money playing a silly game, he’s without a shadow of doubt the most beloved figure in all of sports media, and the Nike Air CB 34 is still the second-best third signature shoe of all-time (take a wild guess what topped our list…). Inspired by Chuck’s battles with the kaiju GOAT, the Air CB 34 is a powerhouse from first glance and was designed for going up against the kaijus of the NBA at the time, with an exaggerated midsole representing Godzilla’s claws.

1. Adidas Yeezy 950

Just kidding, we just wanted to see if you were still paying attention. Yes, this was the third adidas Yeezy model to drop, sandwiched between the Yeezy 350 and 700, both all-timers if we were ever to do a list of the best second and fourth signature shoes.

1. Air Jordan 3

If Tinker Hatfield had fumbled the pitch for the Air Jordan 3, sneaker history would be so much different. The Jumpman logo stays in the Nike vault forever and is nothing more than the answer to a trivia question, Michael Jordan signs with adidas, The Three Stripes becomes the symbol of excellence to kids all around the world, sneakerheads are lining up in 2009 for the retro of the adidas Jordan Space Jam 9, Derek Jeter, Randy Moss, Eddie Jones, and Roy Jones Jr. are the inaugural adidas Jordan athletes, Kobe Bryant never leaves, and Kanye West claims to jump over whatever MJ’s adidas signature logo before jumping ship to Nike.

In other words, everything hinged on Tinker nailing the Air Jordan 3, not only the greatest third signature shoe, but the greatest signature shoe of all-time*.

*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Juan Martinez and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Sole Retriever. But also, he ain’t wrong.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. After recently getting into Formula 1, he now has hot takes about who the greatest driver of all time is. Email: juan@soleretriever.com