APL reveals banned basketball edition shoe
California-based footwear company Athletic Propulsion Labs (APL) has unveiled a new, limited-edition shoe – the Concept 1 Red BANNED Edition – to commemorate the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) decision in 2010 to ban the shoe.
The carbon-fiber synthetic shoes are red with white trim and have the word BANNED inscribed on each insole. They feature the same ‘Load 'N Launch’ technology as the original Concept 1 shoes released in June 2010.
“The patent-pending Load 'N Launch device is implanted in a cavity in the forefoot of the shoe and serves as a ‘launch pad’ by taking the energy exerted by the player and increasing lift with the aid of an intricate, spring-based propulsion system,” said APL co-founder Ryan Goldston.
On October 19, 2010, the NBA banned the shoe, saying that no player in the most prestigious basketball championship in the world would be able to wear it in the 2010–11 season because the special technology built into it, which instantly increases vertical leap, would provide “an unfair advantage”.
APL co-founder Adam Goldston told local media he would like the ban to be removed. “Can you imagine if this year’s Dunk Contest contestants were able to wear the Athletic Propulsion Labs Concept 1 shoes? It would generate major excitement for an event that hasn’t had anything captivating since Vince Carter put on a great show in 2000 in Oakland,” he said. “It is scary to think about what Blake Griffin could do in APL Concept 1 shoes. The fans in LA and the rest of the world would see these guys doing things we could only dream about before.”
