Forums > News > The biggest feet in basketball
With size 22s, Sonics’ James invades Squatch’s turf
He’s not there yet.
But you can hear Jerome James coming.
Hey kids! Want to see how big a pro basketball player’s feet are? Well, even by NBA standards, Jerome James’ size 22 boats are huge. Here’s an Acrobat PDF (87K) to show you just how big Jerome’s feet really are.
The Sonics’ starting center has not won an NBA MVP award, like Shaquille O’Neal. He has not won an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, like Dikembe Mutombo.
Nonetheless, James measures up to the biggest All-Stars when everyone looks down — at his feet.
Someday James will attempt to lead the league in blocked shots and rebounds; for now, he is tied with O’Neal and Mutombo for the largest shoe size in the NBA.
They’re all 22s.
No one has had bigger feet in the Sonics’ 35-year history than James. Ruben Patterson broke whatever the old record was with his size 17s last year.
When Calvin Booth signed as a free agent last August, he became the new leader with his size 19s.
Booth held the record for only three weeks, until James brought his mammoth footprints to Seattle in September.
Tonight at KeyArena, James and the Sonics take on the Memphis Grizzlies as the race for a playoff berth continues. With Seattle favored by 10 1/2 points, the Grizzlies figure to have the same chance as a cigarette butt under one of James’ shoes.
For years, the Sonics have searched for a competent center to replace the best one they ever had, Jack Sikma. The shoes are tough to fill. For James, they’re even tougher to find.
Most stores stock men’s shoes up to size 14, or maybe 17, but rarely 22. Shoes that big require a change in machinery at shoe factories. They must be specially made. It is a hassle and a half for shoe manufacturers and buyers.
That’s why James shops at Friedman’s in Atlanta, the only store in the country that stocks large supplies of shoes up to size 22, attracting business from wealthy athletes with super-sized feet — and salaries.
Yesterday, in preparation for their game against the Atlanta Hawks, the New Jersey Nets weren’t studying scouting reports or napping in their hotel rooms — they spent the afternoon at Friedman’s.
This is typical. This is where Don King once went on a one-day shopping spree, buying 110 pairs of shoes for $64,100.
It is where O’Neal bought 24 pairs of Donald J. Pliner rubber-bottomed shoes last year for $400 a pair, believing they brought him good luck during the playoffs. He wore a new pair every day.
It is also where Gary Payton shops. As proof, right there on Friedman’s Web site, largefeet.com, is a picture of the Glove holding a shoe.
And it is where James buys all of his shoes, including his Timberland boots, the ones that sell for $145 for the size-18-and-under customers, $400 for him.
Depending on the Nike Power Matics model, James will wear a size 21 or 22 when he plays basketball.
Though he weighs 285 pounds, James said he is supported by “really skinny feet.”
But he likes them. You would think he would trip over them from time to time, or stub those long toes on bedposts that get in his way.
“My feet are a big blessing,” James said. “They give me a great foundation. If I had small feet, I’d be falling all over the place.”
According to Sonics equipment manager Marc St. Yves, the average NBA player wears a size 14 or 15. In the WNBA, the Washington Mystics’ Chamique Holdsclaw has the biggest shoes, size 13 1/2s.
Mutombo’s late mother wore the biggest women’s shoes ever purchased from Friedman’s: size 17, EEE.
The smallest feet on this Sonics team belong to Shammond Williams, who wears 12s. Dana Barros and Jon Sundvold had the smallest in franchise history, 10 1/2.
By the time James turned 10, he could have slipped into Barros’ sneakers. For his first decade, James’ shoe size matched his age.
Then his feet grew like he did. At 12, he wore 14s. At 14, 16s. At 16, 18s.
One of 10 children from a poor family, James needed to improvise with his footwear. His grandmother used to cut out the top of his tennis shoes to give his toes wiggle room.
“The rest of the shoe was perfect,” James said. “The kids used to tease me. They’d call me ‘Open-toe, high-top sandals.’”
When he graduated from high school at Pentecostal Christian Academy in Tampa, Fla., the 18-year-old James was wearing size-21 shoes.
James goes through a pair of Nikes every five games, meaning over the course of the season, including preseason and playoffs, he would use more than 20 pairs of shoes.
Because of James, St. Yves is forced to stay on his, ahem, toes.
“We always carry two pairs around for him,” St. Yves said. “You’re not going to find another pair right away if he loses one or blows one out.”
As Jerome James states – If Coco had smaller feet – he may topple over!
James goes through a pair of Nikes every five games
That I don’t understand.
Here (PDF file) is the attached image from the article, for future reference.
That I don’t understand.
At the professional level, every game significantly reduces the traction and support of basketball trainers. After a few games, the degradation gets to the point where it becomes unsafe to wear them. Players are very aware of the dangers compromised footwear can present, especially doing fast cuts and slashes which require plenty of traction and ankle support.
Really dev? do you have to do that?
Thanks for clearing that up Dev.
Kenny George was on the varsity squad by his sophomore year at the Latin School of Chicago. “He was 6-11, huge for a kid that age, but even then he had exceptionally good control of his body,” said Latin’s coach, Dave VanderMeulen.
George’s body kept growing. By his senior year, his feet had grown beyond size 23, the largest athletic shoe made. In search of a size 25, VanderMeulen appealed to college and N.B.A. teams. Weeks later, Shaquille O’Neal sent several pairs of his size 22’s to Chicago. VanderMeulen shipped them to a New York City shoemaker who cut off the soles and toes and reshaped them into 25’s.
Asheville has a contract with Nike, which makes 12 pairs of size-26 shoes for George. They are the only shoes he wears.
“I suspect his shoe will go into the Hall of Fame because of its size,” said Asheville’s coach, Eddie Biedenbach. George’s wingspan, fingertip to fingertip, is 101 ½ inches, and with shoes on he stands 7-9.
I know of one guy who had even bigger feet. But he never went into the N.B.A. because he had foot problems and many surgeries. His name was Brad Millard and he played for Saint Mary’s college in Orinda here in California.When Brad was at college he was wearing a size 23.
A year ago Kenny George had part of his right foot amputated because of a bad staph infection:
http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/10/18/unc-ashevilles-kenny-george-has-part-of-right-foot-amputated/
I read that article also. Recently I read that he is back at home doing therapy and recovering. He is supposted to go back to college in January to finish his degree. It does not mention anyhting about him returning back on the basketball team.
Yeah I can’t see how he could possibly play ball now. It’s a very sad thing for him, but at the same time it’s great that he survived what sounded like a very serious infection.
very true. I understand he must feel very mucu upset, but he has is all life head and can do several things besides basket. Her still has his great height …
I think Robert Waflow died from the same thing. Big guys gotta watch their feet…
I think Wadlow’s infection was caused by his braces. I’m not sure how George’s infection started.
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