Houston Rockets veteran P.J. Tucker has long been known as the NBA’s unofficial “Sneaker King,” and his collection will be on full display when the league restarts later this month near Orlando.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Tucker is bringing “upwards of 60 shoes” with him to Florida. Haynes also reported Thursday night that Tucker would likely order even more off online marketplace eBay during his downtime at the NBA’s bubble complex.
Tucker, who has an endorsement deal with Nike, is estimated to have more than 5,000 pairs of sneakers in total. But even by his standards, his rate of acquisitions has picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In fact, it might even be bringing the 35-year-old Tucker a new business opportunity. Haynes explains:
During this pandemic, P.J. has been ordering on eBay the whole time, because he wasn’t able to get out. He did it so much that him and eBay struck up a partnership deal. That’s going to be announced later on. So P.J. Tucker is going to be well equipped, on and off the court.
Even in Orlando, P.J. Tucker is still the sneaker king 😂👟 pic.twitter.com/TA63dyaVkb
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) July 10, 2020
Known best for his defense, toughness, leadership, and corner 3-point shooting, Tucker is averaging 7.1 points (37.0% on 3-pointers) and 6.9 rebounds in 34.4 minutes per game for Houston this season.
Tucker hasn’t missed a single regular season or postseason game since signing with the Rockets in July 2017. Dating back to the 2012-13 season, he’s played in more games than any NBA player.
Tucker and the Rockets (40-24) will enter the restart tied for the No. 5 spot in the tightly packed Western Conference, and they can finish anywhere between No. 2 and No. 7 when the regular season concludes. They have already clinched their spot in the 2020 NBA playoffs.
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