LA Clippers star PJ Tucker is the undisputed sneaker king of the NBA.

The NBA journeyman has collected over 5,000 pairs of kicks, including a pair of diamond-encrusted Air Jordan 1s worth $250,000.

LA Clippers star PJ Tucker has over 5,000 sneakersCredit: NBA on ESPN

The NBA journeyman keeps the majority of them stored at his house in North CarolinaCredit: NBA at ESPN

Tucker once spent up to $250,000 on a pair of custom sneakersCredit: NBA on ESPN

He is known for wearing up to six different styles in a single gameCredit: Getty
Tucker’s shoe collection is so famous that even NBA legend Michael Jordan once asked him during a game where he got a pair of Shawn Marion 5 sneakers – a particularly rare set of Air Jordans – that he was wearing.

The sneakers were made specifically for former Phoenix Suns star Marion and did not go on sale to the general public.

“I’m literally in the corner and like, I just hear somebody calling my name,” Tucker told Complex’s Sneaker Shopping show.

“In NBA games, that happens all the time. But that voice was distinctive; I knew who it was.

“So as soon as I turned around and seen him, I couldn’t even respond.”

Jordan is not the only NBA player jealous of Tucker’s shoe collection.

“I wore the Gerald Green PE [Reebok] Pumps the other day, and Gerald couldn’t believe I even had them,” Tucker told ESPN in 2019.

“He said, ‘Yo! I don’t even have those anymore’.”

Tucker, who won an NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, is known for spending a lot of time, money and effort to build his epic sneaker collection.

Most of the shoes are stored in Tucker’s offseason house in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina.

But the collection is as well-travelled as Tucker, who has played 15 different professional teams from seven different countries over the course of his career.

And it is the envy of the most ardent sneakerheads in the NBA.

Tucker, who has earned over $78million during his career, is happy to pay over the odds for the most exclusive of sneakers.

“The most I have ever done was $40 to $50 thousand. I bought a pair of shoes for 30 grand,” Tucker told ESPN+ show The Boardroom.

“I just bought a whole collection of [Kevin Durant’s] old stuff, like old [Seattle] Sonics colors.
You have a high IQ if you can spot the three polka dot pairs of sneakers among the pinstripes in less than 10 seconds
“The KD 1’s, the All-Star shoes and the KD 2’s. Nike gotta retro the KD 2’s.”

Since then, he had a $250,000 pair of Air Jordan 1s commissioned to celebrate the Bucks winning the NBA title.

Former teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke in amazement of Tucker’s shoes.

“This guy today, he wore a $250,000 pair of shoes,” Antetokounmpo.

“He had real diamonds I swear.”

The 6-foot-6 wing, who had a long-running sneaker deal with Nike, has worn up to six different styles during a single game.

He even carries a travel-shoe bag that can store up to 16 pairs of sneakers designed for an entire team.

Tucker’s sneaker collection means so much to him that he often cannot put it into words.

“It means something. It puts you in a place and a time,” he told Slam magazine.

“And it gives you that feeling. And that feeling, like, there is nothing like that.

“It’s hard to put that feeling into words. It’s one of those things that only you know in your heart, like, how that s** makes you feel.

“No one else will ever understand it.”