Nike Salutes Penny Hardaway's Memphis Roots with Special Air Penny 3 and Air Foamposite One
Nodding to Penny’s hometown, alma mater and current coaching position.









Nike Sportswear is celebrating Penny Hardaway‘s Memphis, TN roots with special takes on the Air Penny 3 and Air Foamposite One. Hardaway is as Memphis as soul, blues, rock & roll and Three 6 Mafia: he was born there, went to Treadwell High School there and is a former player for — and current head coach of — the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team. Therefore, both of his special kicks blend the red tones of Treadwell and the blue shades of the Tigers for a thoughtful homage to the decades-long relationship between man and city.
Out of the two pairs, the Air Penny 3 offers a more in-your-face style, with the left shoe using blue on its lateral side and toebox with a red medial overlay while the right shoe moves red to the outside and blue to the inside. Both are bolstered by the striking application of a partial Foamposite shell on their outer halves and feature Penny-centric One Cent branding on the lateral heel’s jeweled badge plus the outsoles. Small Tiger-striped midfoot Nike Swooshes and mismatching Air Max units — blue on the left foot, red on the right — finalize the look.
On the other end, the Air Foamposite One uses an iridescent silver tone trimmed with black on its beetle shell-inspired top half. Red and blue accents are mostly relegated to the two-tone translucent midsole, but also appear snaking up the throat in gradient fashion. One Cent branding hits tongues and heels alike, with a signature carbon fiber midfoot plate rounding off the look.
The Nike Air Penny 3 and Air Foamposite One “Memphis” are both available at retailers like Sneaker Politics now, with the former priced at $155 USD and the latter arriving at $230 USD.
For more footwear news, check out official images of the Nike Dunk High “Varsity Purple.”