Big, bold graffiti lettering on the sides. A thick 90’s basketball-inspired sole and a silhouette that turns heads. The Nike Air More Uptempo is a cult classic.
Nowhere in the world is this more true than in Bucharest. The capital of the (formerly communist) Eastern European country of Romania, where so many teens can be seen rocking the classic sneaker, that you’d think it was part of some fly-ass care package Nike carefully airdropped into every neighborhood.
But how has this renowned edition in the Air Max lineage been raised back up from the dead and why in Bucharest of all places? This is that story.
Moving A Generation
Before we get to why the Air More Uptempo’s reach is longer than Scottie Pippen’s arms, a short history lesson is in order📚
The sneaker’s daring design is the brainchild of one Wilson W. Smith III. An architect with an aristocratic-sounding name turned designer of “homes for the feet.”
A young Wilson started out at Nike in 1983, first as a Corporate Interior Designer working on showrooms and retail store designs before eventually moving over to footwear design in 1986.
If you’re an old head like me, you’ll remember this was a pivotal time in Nike’s history.
The shoe that would forever change the company’s fortune had just been released: The Air Jordan 1
Before this, Nike was a mere afterthought in the basketball market. Which at the time was dominated by Adidas and Converse with Reebok, and even Avia adorning the feet of no less than four future NBA Hall-of-Famers in the 80s.
Fast forward to 1993 and 265 of the 320 or so NBA players, were wearing Nikes. How did this transformation happen?
Simply put, the G.O.A.T., apart from the namesake of this website, had become the association’s face. Elevating it to new heights and raising basketball’s popularity among an entire generation in the process.
The Air Biggest
By the mid-90s, kids everywhere were clamoring for Nike kicks.
From 1990 to the end of 1997, Nike sales grew from $2.2 billion to $9.2 billion. A more than 300% increase for those that are mathematically challenged.
Sole Provider author Robert “Scoop” Jackson called these the company’s “golden years” and he was right. Air Jordans, Dunks, Air Max’s. Nike was putting out more hits during this time period than The Fugees.
To keep up with the times, Wilson Smith, who by now had designed the Air Max BW and Charles Barkley’s signature CB34 sneaker, was looking to go bigger and bolder.
The original name given to the Air More Uptempo when the design was being sketched was the Air Biggest. If I’m being completely honest, this sounds like a sneaker-shaped hamburger🍔 so I’m glad it wasn’t used.
The Air More Uptempo name, while a mouthful is apt. As it pays homage to Nike’s lightweight cushioning Air technology. While the “More” is a nod to the all-over design.
A Silent Assassin’s Endorsement
The Air More Uptempo originally dropped in 1996 and the shoes immediately stood out.
I mean how could they not, a deaf, dumb, blind, stuck-in-the-basement Stevie Wonder would notice these kicks from across the street.
But sales really began to pick up after MJ’s sidekick on the Bulls – Scottie Pippen saw and instantly became mesmerized with the Air Uptempo.
So much so that the mild-mannered Pippen apparently thought the loud shoe stood out more than Mike’s signature Air Jordan XI at the time. Proof that opposites do attract!
Scottie laced up in the Air Uptempo for the first time in the 1996 playoffs. The same season and playoffs that the Bulls ran through on the way to capturing their fourth championship in six years and cementing their legacy as arguably the best NBA team of all time.
This feat only added to the Air More Uptempo’s ascending cache.
Re-Releases, Availability & Peer Pressure
To keep it a buck, most kids in Bucharest today rocking the Air More Uptempo know more about Larsa Pippen than Scottie Pippen.
Such is the sad reality of TikTok-driven youth culture.
So if the former Bulls Dynasty has nothing to do with the Air More Uptempo’s ubiquity, then what does?
It’s a combination of factors…
Foremost among these are Nike’s four separate re-releases of the stereotypical 90s sneaker. The most recent of which came in 2020 with the Air More Uptempo ‘Olympic’, bringing back the shoe that Pippen wore during the ’96 Summer Olympics.
All of these re-releases have had the effect of widely increasing the Uptempo’s circulation, even in Vlad the Impaler’s home country.
Lastly, good old-fashioned peer pressure that nudges little Alexandru to buy sneakers he doesn’t really want or need is another factor.
Mix all of these things together and you get a potent crack-like elixir that makes the Air More Uptempo number one in Bucharest.
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