Converses they are amazing if you are gangsta they do wonders for you   When the US entered World War II in  Converse shifted production to manufacturing rubberized footwear outerwear and protective suits for the military Widely popular during the s and s Converse promoted a distinctly American image with its Converse Yearbook Artist Charles Kerins created cover art that celebrated Converses 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 s Converse purchased the trademark rights to Jack Purcell sneakers from BF Goodrich  Converse lost much of its apparent nearmonopoly from the s onward with the surge of new competitors including Puma and Adidas then Nike IncNike 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  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   In April  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 Americas Original Sports Company  The new team drove Converse from the th largest footwear company to number  in less than   years leading to a buyout by rival Nike on July   for  million qualifying as the merger and acquisition of the year in   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  while also wearing Nike for some home games JJ Barea and Kirk Hinrich were former longtime endorsers who switched to Nike during the course of the  season Converse skateboarding  Converse launched its skateboarding program in  with a team of ambassadors Anthony Pappalardo Nick Trapasso Sammy Baca Ethan Fowler Raymond Molina and Rune Glifberg  In  the company added Jason Jessee and Mike Anderson to its ambassadors team 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 stylescitation needed For decades the Chuck Taylor All Star basketball shoe only came in black with a white variant released in  Under pressure from basketball teams Converse decided in  to manufacture other colors Different materials also began to be used starting in the s including leather suede and vinyl and even hemp rather than just canvas Besides hightops lowcuts and later kneehigh versions were produced The Weapon The Weapon manufactured in many different color schemes  In  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 hightop 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 rereleased The Weapon classic which Kobe Bryant wore at least three times in  and Andre Miller wore numerous times in  from mid August to early September several times from  and after The Loaded Weapon in  The Weapon  in  and The Weapon EVO in   The first endorsers of The Weapon were Larry Bird and Magic Johnson who were prominently featured in a Converse commercial set in Birds hometown of French Lick Indiana in  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 ACDC the Sailor Jerry Metallica T