
There is no question that basketball is part of the Hoosier DNA, and our state has produced more than its fair share of icons and innovators. From homegrown legends like Larry Bird and Shawn Kemp to adopted sons like Victor Oladipo and Reggie Miller, the list of Hoosier basketball icons is impressive. The legacy is not limited to on-court exploits, either.
Bobby Knight and Gregg Popovich might be polar opposites in terms of personality, but both have strong ties to Indiana. The most famous basketball movie of all time was called ‘Hoosiers’ and even the game’s Canadian-born inventor. James Naismith, sent compliments our way, saying “Basketball really had its origins in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport.”

And yet, for all of Larry Bird’s exploits, Bobby Knight’s tirades and Reggie Miller’s buzzer-beating three-pointers, our most iconic contribution to basketball is arguably a shoe that hasn’t been used on the hard court for decades. We are talking, of course, of the famous Chuck Taylor All-Stars, marked by Indiana’s own Chuck Hollis Taylor.
These classic Converse sneakers started out as the premier basketball shoe in America, but have grown to become a fashion staple across the world.
Fashion-conscious teenage boys and girls that couldn’t pick Larry Bird out of a lineup regularly pick up Chuck Taylors at the mall. So too do punk rockers, college students and just about anybody else.
Chuck Taylors might have been replaced on the court by $300 signature shoes from Nike and Adidas but they’ve since found a second life as a fashion brand. From Tokyo to Berlin to Sao Paolo, the shoes have gone global.
