15 years too late

My 90s basketball obsession is reaching critical mass. Today I copped a vintage Suns 34 jersey, just like the one Sir Charles is wearing below. Maybe it IS the one he's wearing below. Kidding. It's all worn and vintage like, and has 'Barkley' written on the back. Super sweet.
I was never a huge fan of basketball in the 90s, other than to attract the kind of attention boys give you when you rock a Lakers cap, watch the games and pretending you know what the hell is going on - even though I despised playing the bloody game because of my height impairment. Other than that, the only link I had to basketball back then was my ginormous Michael Jordan poster, that I watched White Men Can't Jump and I rocked a few pairs of Jordan's. But even so, from my somewhat ignorant view, I did know that Charles Barkley was a pretty big deal in the game. His attitude was pretty bold on court and his antics were always the talk of the playground every Monday morning at school...

But it seems I've got my second wind. Well, at least, I'm pretty obsessed with 90s basketball steez at the mo. I've been rocking a Jordan tee, got my Suns jersey tonight and fingers crossed my J3s turn up tomorrow. Not to mention I just found this amazing shop in Tokyo that stocks amazing retro Nikes including lots and lots of Jordan's.

This all got me thinking about Sir Charles' signature shoes over the years. Of course his models were no where near as popular as Michael Jordan's, but popular none the less. Pick Your Shoes has a great listing (including flicks) of Barkley models.

After hunting around looking at old Barkley models, my conclusion is that, mostly, they're pretty freaking ugly. But still I feel compelled to cop. And the mad spot I found in Tokyo apparently stocks some of these models. So having to choose, these are the models I'd go for...
Nike Air Force 180 Black/White/Royal Blue. I still find velcro pretty offensive, but I'm prepared to get past that. I imagine these things would look like moon boots on my midget feet.
Nike Air CB 34 in the Suns colourway - despite a baddass case of the fuglys, to me these are the quintessential Barkley boot. But I don't know if I can rock something so hideous, as well as velcro.

As much as my sense of asthetics is telling me no, my overwhelming compulsion to gather more sneaks is saying yes.