Converses they are amazing if you are gangsta they do wonders for you 3 When the U S entered World War II in 1941 Converse shifted production to manufacturing rubberized footwear outerwear and protective suits for the military Widely popular during the 1950s and 1960s Converse promoted a distinctly American image with its Converse Yearbook Artist Charles Kerins created cover art that celebrated Converse s role in the lives of high school and college athletes Converse Jack Purcells Through its shoes Converse developed into an iconic brand and came to be seen as the essential sports shoe In the 1970s Converse purchased the trademark rights to Jack Purcell sneakers from B F Goodrich 2 Converse lost much of its apparent near monopoly from the 1970s onward with the surge of new competitors including Puma and Adidas then Nike Inc Nike then a decade later Reebok who introduced radical new designs to the market Converse found themselves no longer the official shoe of the National Basketball Association a title they had relished for many years While being employed at Converse one of its employees Jim Labadini 1968 78 created the chevron and star insignia logo that still remains on most Converse footwear items that are not classic Chuck Taylors The loss of market share combined with poor business decisions forced Converse to file for bankruptcy on January 22 2001 In April 2001 Footwear Acquisitions led by Mardsen Cason and Bill Simon purchased the brand from bankruptcy and added industry partners Jack Boys Jim Stroesser Lisa Kempa and David Maddocks to lead the turnaround of America s Original Sports Company The new team drove Converse from the 16th largest footwear company to number 7 in less than 2 1 2 years leading to a buyout by rival Nike on July 9 2003 for 305 million qualifying as the merger and acquisition of the year in 2003 3 Current NBA players wearing Converse include Kyle Korver Maurice Evans Udonis Haslem Elton Brand Louis Williams Larry Sanders Luke Harangody and Chris Andersen Big Baby Glen Davis wore Converse mainly for away games for 2011 2012 while also wearing Nike for some home games JJ Barea and Kirk Hinrich were former long time endorsers who switched to Nike during the course of the 2011 2012 season Converse skateboarding Converse launched its skateboarding program in 2009 with a team of ambassadors Anthony Pappalardo Nick Trapasso Sammy Baca Ethan Fowler Raymond Molina and Rune Glifberg 4 In 2012 the company added Jason Jessee and Mike Anderson to its ambassadors team 5 Shoes Chuck Taylor All Star basketball shoe Red Chuck Taylor All Star basketball shoe For more details on this topic see Chuck Taylor All Star The Chuck Taylor All Star shoe has developed a number of nicknames over the years such as Cons Connies Convics Convos Verses Chuckers Chucks Converse Chuckalos Chuckies Chuck Ts or Chucker Boots or Chuck Taylors for the higher styles citation needed For decades the Chuck Taylor All Star basketball shoe only came in black with a white variant released in 1947 Under pressure from basketball teams Converse decided in 1966 to manufacture other colors Different materials also began to be used starting in the 1970s including leather suede and vinyl and even hemp rather than just canvas Besides high tops low cuts and later knee high versions were produced The Weapon The Weapon manufactured in many different color schemes In 1986 Converse released The Weapon basketball shoe Manufactured in two color schemes to match the kit colors of basketball teams it has been available in both high top and low cut varieties The unique aspect of this shoe is the leather construction throughout including the inside heel which is also heavily padded for comfort Converse re released The Weapon classic which Kobe Bryant wore at least three times in 2002 and Andre Miller wore numerous times in 2002 from mid August to early September several times from 2001 2003 and after The Loaded Weapon in 2003 The Weapon 86 in 2008 and The Weapon EVO in 2009 The first endorsers of The Weapon were Larry Bird and Magic Johnson who were prominently featured in a Converse commercial set in Bird s hometown of French Lick Indiana in 1986 They were also worn by Axl Rose in the Guns N Roses music video Estranged Special editions Converse fashion in Paris Joshua Mueller Guinness Book of World Records holder for largest collection of Chucks Several special editions of Converse shoes have been made including DC Comics The Ramones AC DC the Sailor Jerry Metallica T