Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway was drafted third overall by the Golden State Warriors in the third round of the 1993 NBA draft – he was later traded to the Orlando Magic where he was paired with Shaq and formed one of the best tandems in all of the league. Not only was Penny’s game smooth on the court, he had one of the best player editions and signature lines of all time. The latest prized possession of the Penny line is the Nike Zoom Rookie LWP which takes inspiration from a couple of Hardaway’s past kicks and offers new Nike technology and design to capture Penny’s early years in the sneaker game.

We’ve seen the Jordan Brand take on different hybrids of the ever popular Jordan series and Marc Dolce looked to do the same with the Nike Zoom Rookie LWP. He took into account the first two sneakers Penny wore on the court that weren’t part of his line, but were made into PEs – the LWP,  and Flight 1 were two sneakers that brought inspiration to what we see today.

The Air Go LWP was responsible for the main silhouette that has been spawned into the Rookie LWP, while the Flight one shows off some of the detail such as the spheres on the lateral sides to the sole. The creation took two and a half years taking into account things Penny stressed such as the shoe fitting like a glove which allowed for the addition of the full booty, and midfoot support which is made possible by carbon fiber.

The logo that appears on the toe is inspiration from the mid 90s when Penny cemented his mark into the NBA. The first time we were able to see these hybrids in action was when Penny suited up for the Memphis Express to raise money for Charity and they were a fan favorite immediately.