The most prolific collector in the NBA is parting with 100 pairs of sneakers to benefit Soles 4 Souls.
Heading into the holidays, the league’s longtime Sneaker Champ is teaming up with eBay to auction off 100 pairs from his prolific sneaker collection in support of non-profit Soles 4 Souls.
As PJ Tucker’s collection ballooned through the years, he amassed a mix of rare PEs hardly ever available at auction, including coveted classics from past decades, and even a few of his own Kobe PEs from last season’s “Journey Pack,” that highlighted different stops from throughout his career.
“eBay was the perfect place for me to unload some of my rare, player editions, and game worn pairs,” he said as part of an official statement. “eBay is now helping me give true sneakerheads an opportunity to get crazy sneakers they don’t normally have access to.”
Some of the size 13 and 14 sneakers hitting the auction, now live at eBay.com/PJTucker, include original “Heineken” Nike Dunk SB Lows, the mythical Diana Taurasi PE of the Nike LeBron 8 V2, “Eminem” Air Jordan 2 Retros, original Derek Anderson PEs of the Air Jordan 5 Retro, and a “Texas2Toronto” PE of the Kobe 6.
The Miami Heat forward’s stash that is up for grabs is part of a series of charity auctions on eBay from notable names throughout the sneaker industry. It also includes longtime leading YouTube host Jacques Slade’s collection.
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Tucker’s collection is listed in partnership with resell platform SolesStage, with a portion of proceeds providing economic impact to people in need throughout the world through Soles4Souls. Founded in 2006, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 30 million pairs of shoes throughout 127 countries around the globe.
Tucker once said he spends between 2-4 hours per day on his phone trying to track down rare and elusive sneakers, with eBay being his preferred platform to search.
“I’ve been part of the eBay community for a long time,” Tucker said.
He’s dead serious.
While a student-athlete at the University of Texas in the mid-2000s, Tucker took notice of packages that began to frequently show up to his teammate Royal Ivey’s apartment. Ivey said they were sneakers — “from eBay” — and broke down how the online marketplace worked.
On the spot, Tucker headed to the nearest campus bank in Austin and requested his first debit card, since Ivey explained that you needed a linked card in order to set up an eBay account.
His original screen name was fairly straightforward: @PJTucker.
“I don’t know anybody that buys more shoes on eBay than me,” he joked last summer. “I like eBay because I can always find rare gems in my size. I always have upwards of 40 sneakers in my cart at any given time.”
Almost two decades later, Tucker is an official eBay ambassador, first partnering on campaigns throughout 2020 and again now with his own charity auction.
“It’s the ultimate spot for sneakerheads to buy, sell and to connect,” he said.
In the first of many planned charity and community-based rollouts that could see Tucker parting with a portion of his rarest pairs, it’s the longtime connection to eBay that is bringing things full circle for the league’s most legendary sneakerhead.
“It’s the original for me,” he said. “That was my original place to buy shoes, and even now, I still think they’re the best.”
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