Ah yes, the sneaker that was, and may still be, ahead of its time. The Nike Air Foamposite One. The Nike Air Foamposite One saw its initial release back in 1997, and were actually debuted by someone other than Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. Mike Bibby, then a guard in college at the University of Arizona, debuted the bold sneakers on national television during March Madness. The design was simple yet drew attention, the colors you could see from across the gym, and the one-piece upper was comprised of a material never before seen on a shoe. “Foamposite” was just that – a liquid foam that would harden into a “posite-like” material once you put in the mold you wanted for a certain sneaker. The idea was that as you were playing basketball in them the “foam” would start to heat up, due to your feet and inside the sneaker getting hotter, and eventually mold to your foot.

Although not typically used for performance basketball anymore, Nike Foamposites are still released in a plethora of colorways to this day. None, however, is more widely recognized or appreciated than the original royal blue/black colorway – dressed up in Orlando Magic colors for Penny Hardaway. Hardaway’s “1 Cent” logo can be seen on all of the heels of the Nike Air Foamposite One. Although some may think so, the Foamposite One was not actually a signature sneaker of Penny’s, he just helped endorse them. This somewhat mirrors how Kobe Bryant helped endorse the original Hyperdunk back in 2008 and even wore them on court, although they were never a signature sneaker of his. Back in the 90’s the NBA still had a few color restrictions when it came to the shoes players wore and the Foamposites were not “up to code” with the league’s standards. Apparently the shoe had too much blue in it (a primary color), and not enough of a base color (a black or a white). Nike and Penny still wanted to wear the shoes so Penny literally grabbed a sharpie and colored in lines on his royal blue Foamposites so that there would be equal amounts of blue and black. Nike even released a Foamposite “Sharpie Pack” back in 2015 commemorating this. In the years since Penny Hardaway’s playing days he has continued to sport foams in different varieties. Penny has worn numerous Foamposite One’s in the Celebrity All-Star Game during the NBA All-Star Weekend and most recently you can see the now head coach of Memphis State sporting them on the sidelines while he’s coaching his team.

With the Foamposite material leaving options for so many patterns and colorways, Nike has opened the door for pretty much any color combination on this model in recent years. From eye-popping colors, to storytelling patterns, to international inspiration – Nike has, and continues to, explore all options when it comes to the 23-year-old design. Some Foamposite One’s have garnered enormous hype, some have a more simpler, clean color scheme, while others have a cult following. Some colorways that garnish the design that was “ahead of its time” are just better than others. We took it upon ourselves to rank the best 15 Nike Air Foamposite One colorways of all-time. The only criteria is that the colorway had to release in some capacity to the public (no samples or player exclusives). We also took into account the wearability of the colorway, the theme behind it (if there was one), and the history of it. Look below to check out the list and to see if you own any of the colorways ranked in our Top 15!