The moment has finally come to discover the sneaker moment of the NBA 2k25 cover. While the Standard Edition will feature Jayson Tatum and A’ja Wilson is on the WNBA Edition cover, with both players sharing the All-Star Edition cover, we are here to talk about how Vince Carter will be the one gracing the cover of the Hall of Fame Edition, and how this decision is lowkey resurrecting the iconic AND1 Tai Chi basketball shoe that has a story just as worthy as the legendary picture used in 2k25 cover.
The Hall of Fame Edition is created to pay tribute to the legends who have indelibly shaped the NBA.
While the 2k25 cover image captures Vince Carter’s legendary between-the-legs dunk from the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest that introduced him as one of the most electrifying talents in the game, it was the mysterious mid-tops he wore that truly caught everyone’s attention. That iconic dunk and Vince’s basketball shoes in clear display catapulted the little-known AND1 Tai Chi into the basketball footwear spotlight.
To fully grasp the significance of this sneaker moment, we need a rewind to when it all began in the late 90s when Carter began a storied sneaker “free agency” period, donning different basketball brands from game to game. Of course, the up-and-coming but still niche basketball sneaker brand AND 1 shot their shot, sending him some custom size 16.5 Tai Chis.
As fate would have it, in a huge win for AND1, the Tai Chi managed to find a spot in his rotation alongside Nike and adidas performance models leading up to All-Star Weekend.
In the dunk contest, now immortalized in the NBA 2k25 Hall of Fame cover, he singlehandedly changed the way the market looked at AND1 sneakers. In the months following, images of Carter’s gravity-defying feats were printed in countless newspapers and magazines globally, with those familiar half-and-half red/white Tai Chis front and center.
It was some rampant marketing, and the best thing of all is that AND1 didn’t have to pay a dime for it.
The Tai Chi remains one of the only AND1 silhouettes, alongside the Too Chillin, to sell over a million units. However, as the market shifted towards tech-packed performance basketball shoes from giants like Nike and Reebok, Tai Chi’s simpler design struggled to compete. Yet, for a brief, unforgettable period from the late ’90s to the early 2000s, AND1 was the brand that truly represented playground and hip-hop basketball culture to the world and was loved by both NBA players and fans.
Thanks to the NBA 2k25 cover paying homage to Vince Carter, we get to also reminisce and enjoy how the AND 1 Tai Chi was one of the most recognizable sneakers of its era and how it deserves its place in the basketball sneaker Hall of Fame.