The Family Camera ► Become a Member today ► See the best of Toronto with CityPASS ► Japan: Toys & Games Japan: Numbers & Soroban ROM in the News 11 Projects to See at the Contact Photography Festival Pincer-wielding 507m-year-old fossil sheds light on evolution of crabs The Blue Whale Talewords // Sole Collector On this date in 1992, the most dominant basketball team ever assembled (and Christian Laettner) defeated Croatia 117-85 to win the Olympic gold medal in Barcelona. Somewhat of a sports enigma, the Dream Team defeated its opponents by an average of nearly 44 points en route to gold. The showcase of 11 Hall of Famers changed the way the world viewed the game, leading to the influx of international talent that we see in today's NBA. Celebrating the Dream Team's golden anniversary, we're taking a look back at the best USA Basketball kicks to ever hit the court during international play — and you can bet the '92 team is well represented.

Scroll through and let us know which patriotic sneakers are your favorite. #10: Nike Air Hyperdunk (2008) Considering that most of our last Olympic team wore these (as well as many on the rosters of other countries), they had to make it into the list.  The original Hyperdunk from 2008 will go down as one of the all-time classic Nike basketball shoes whether the USA team wore them or not.  puma sports shoes priceThrow in the infamous Coach K. adidas-blocking pose in the official team photo, and the Hyperdunk becomes even a little more legendary.nike shoes for chinaReebok Preacher (Shaquille O'Neal, 1996)best running shoes sydney Shaquille O'Neal helped lead the 1996 USA team to the Gold in Atlanta while wearing the beastly Preacher from Reebok.  best shoes for walking all day in paris

One of the last Reebok models for Shaq, the Preacher was big and bad with lots of visible Hexalite.  Whether all of that Hexalite did anything is debatable, but it did look cool while he dominated the international paint. Ironically, both the tallest and shortest player on the Dream Team wore the same shoes.  That shoe was the Ballistic Force, which saw its best colorway during the 1992 Olympics.  running shoes katy txThe Ballistic Force was a standard FORCE shoe from 1992 in bland, mostly-white team colorways, but Nike did a special USA version with excellent color blocking of white and navy with gold accents.  toddler nike shoes size 8A lot of shoe nerds (or maybe just me) wished these would have came back with the recent USA retro pack.Nike Zoom Flight '96 (Penny Hardaway, 1996) Instead of opting for his Flight Ones, Penny got a customized #6 version of the classic Zoom Flight for the 1996 Olympics.

Again, a lot of us would have liked to see these released with the recent USA retro pack. Air Jordan VI (Ray Allen and Vin Baker, 2000) Especially with the recent retro, everybody knows what these are.  When the world saw Ray and Vin wearing these in the 2000 Olympics, many sneakerheads were quickly in search of their own pair.Flightposite II (Kevin Garnett, 2000) Known as the Flightposite II or Flightposite KG, it's one of the best models from Nike Basketball in the year 2000.  The white and blue gradient colorway KG wore for the Olympics was already great enough, but then he broke out a golden pair for the Gold Medal game.Nike Shox BB4 (Vince Carter, 2000) The shoe alone would be farther down, or maybe not make the list at all, but it's what Vince Carter did in the shoes that make them legendary.  In possibly the most famous dunk of all time, VC lept OVER 7'2" French Center Frederic Weiss while wearing this shoe.  And that's why they're #4.Nike Air Force 180 (Charles Barkely, 1992)

It was hard not to put this shoe even higher on the list, but the next two shoes narrowly edge it out.  Barkley's Air Force 180 is one of the best basketball shoes of the early 90's and the Olympic colorway is the best of them all.  With Nike's biggest visible Air unit to date and mid-foot strap, the Air Force 180 was primed and ready for the all-time greatest basketball team's leading scorer.Nike Air More Uptempo (Scottie Pippen, 1996) As if the Air More Uptempo wasn't bold enough with full length Air Max and giant "AIR" lettering plastered on the shoe, Nike made it even more noticeable with the color blocking for Scottie Pippen's Olympic pair.  Much to our delight, Nike blessed us with a retro this summer, complete with Scottie's #8 on the heels.   It may be the overall most memorable Olympic shoe as far as design, but it's not quite the best...Air Jordan VII (Michael Jordan, 1992) As you may have guessed from the start, the number one spot goes to the Olympic Air Jordan VII. 

It would be hard not to put the shoe worn by the greatest player on the greatest team of all time at #1.  Michael's Air Jordan VII got the Olympic treatment with a white, navy, red, silver and gold colorway.  It would be the only silver the Dream Team would see that summer. Some more great shoes worn in the Olympics that didn't quite make the cut. Magic Johnson -- Converse, 1992 Scottie Pippen -- Nike Air Flight Lite II, 1992 Larry Johnson -- Converse Destroyer, 1994 at World Basketball Championships Reggie Miller -- Nike Air Pound, 1994 Gary Payton -- Nike Air Much Uptempo, 1996 Grant Hill -- FILA GH2, 1996 LeBron James -- Nike Zoom LeBron VI, 2008 Kevin Durant -- The Soon-to-Be Classic Nike Zoom KD4, 2012 The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.Even if you haven’t forked over $2,000 for a hand-delivered, Kanye West-designed pair of Adidas Yeezy Boosts, you’ve probably had some dealings with America’s booming sneaker business.

The U.S. is the world’s largest sneaker market, and shoewear sales from the top sneaker triad — Adidas, Nike and Under Armour — climbed in 2013 to a total of more than $25 billion, a 47 percent jump since 2009. [Sneaker wars: How basketball shoes became a billion-dollar business] So who’s winning the sneaker game? You guessed it: Nike. In the U.S., the big Swoosh accounts for a staggering 90 percent of all basketball-sneaker sales. But what Americans buy, and why, might surprise you. Below are 10 of the top-selling sneakers in August, listed with their average sale price, according to sports industry analyst Matt Powell. 1. Nike Air Jordan 3 ($165.29)The top-selling Air Jordan 3, seen here in the Retro “Infrared 23” colorway, was first released in 1988, when Michael Jordan received his first NBA Most Valuable Player award. The sneaker has remained one of the Jordan brand’s perennial best-sellers, and has been re-released, “retro”-ed (and even re-“retroed”) several times over.

Even with the high price tag, it nailed the No. 1 spot (to the point that some sneakerheads feel it’s been played out). 2. Nike AIR FORCE 1 LOW ($88.70)Named for the plane that carries the president (and later celebrated by Nelly), the Air Force 1 has remained an icon. Its low-top version is a popular seller for men and women, and heavily customizable: The pictured version features a rainbow gradient in the sole. 3. Nike FREE 5.0+ 2014 ($92.33)Nike’s top running shoe on the list is lightweight and comes in a number of colorways, including this, “Blue Lagoon / Clearwater/Bright Crimson.” 4. Nike Air Jordan 6 ($157.46)Another pair of high-priced Jordan kicks (note all the Jumpman logos). Jordan sneakers alone pulled in more than $2 billion in American sales in 2013. 5. Nike AIR MAX 2014 ($151.84)These cushy runners trade on Nike’s Air branding with an offer of “cloud-like cushioning to soften your step and keep you focused on your fitness.”

6. Under Armour HIGHLIGHT MC ($127.80) (Courtesy of Under Armour) Under Armour is only on the best-seller list once, but it’s still a big deal for a shoe company that only last year overtook Adidas to become the No. 2 sportswear brand in America. These sneakers are the only football cleats on the list, underlining how well the Baltimore-based shoemaker has done with the pigskin crowd. 7. Nike AIR MONARCH IV ($50.04)Nike’s cheap, chunky, dad-centric cross-trainers won’t win any sneakerhead love anytime soon. But they still make the Swoosh a ton of cash. 8. Nike Air Jordan 14 ($168.65)Getting sick of Nike yet? Imagine how their competitors must feel. 9. Nike FREE 5.0 2014 (womens’) ($91.90)The first (and only) womens’ pair of sneaks on the list. Light and low-profile, designed for the run. 10. Nike ROSHE RUN ($73.15)These “lifestyle” sneaks, maybe Nike’s most fashion-centric on the list, debuted on the market in 2012 and have edged close to the top of the Swoosh’s sales rankings ever since.