The ‘Town reps worldwide with Gametime Gear

A funny thing happened to me when I walked in the Northern California Super 100 Boys Basketball Camp last week, a gathering of the top NorCal high school ballers sponsored by the Slam N Jam Organization in the Bay Area. (www.slamnjam.org)

So I stroll in the gym with loads of Bounce magazines wearing an old pair of EBC shorts. It’s no big deal until two feet inside, this man suddenly says, “Those are my shorts.” Huh? At first, I don’t even trip off ole boy. Then he points to the logo on my baby blue Lady Mustang joints (what up Tone & Rocky!!) and says, “I made those. Those are my shorts.” It is very likely that if this stranger had said that to me back Uptown, I would have thought nothing of it really. But this is over 2,000 miles away and the Bay Area. I decide to investigate.

Gametime samples
So I surprisingly found another reason to give the hometown some love. Many people don’t know this, but most of the ill uniform designs out in the past few years have come from the mind of Mark Olivier. His company, Gametime Gear, has done all the heavyweight designs for major players including Entertainer’s Basketball Classic, adidas, Nike and Reebok. He has designed exclusive joints for tournaments and teams sponsored Jay-Z, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Antoine Walker, and Baron Davis. The company has serviced everyone from high schools to the Harlem Globetrotters. BX’s Fat Joe even wore a Gametime design on a cover of Dime this year.

‘55th knows that Oakland keeps the game so icy

If nothing else, we should give Olivier dap for this alone: Lebron James. It is Olivier & crew who really should get credit for introducing the world to King James. Mark can tell endless stories of basically breaking elite players in the AAU ranks nationwide through the reputed Oakland Soldiers program. If you know AAU basketball, you are familiar with the Soldiers. They are the ones with camouflage on their uniforms!

A look at the Soldiers Wall of Fame

LeBron James–who played with the Soldiers while in high school–is by far the most highly recognized talent from their roster to date, while Oakland native and Cavs teammate Drew Gooden is the local Soldiers product turned big-minute big man in the League. In fact, they recently named the team the Drew Gooden Soldiers. Check the butters at: www.gametimegear.net

Photos by CNL