Back in 1995, Jerry Stackhouse was the man!
Entering the NBA out of North Carolina, the Tarheel signed a lucrative deal with FILA and he had his own signature shoe: The FILA Stackhouse 1. The shoe was later changed to the FILA Spaghetti.
“I think that they were good to me at the beginning of my career,” Stackhouse said on Scoop B Radio Overtime
Both Grant Hill and Stackhouse were FILA sponsored athletes back then, but they ended up leaving for other brands. Stackhouse discussed why both players ended up parting ways.
“I think their brand was more of a leisure, that’s where it really got its start. That’s where people wear sweat suits, velour sweat suits that’s what it was. I think from a technology standpoint, it wasn’t giving out the same type of product.”
In spite of FILA and Stackhouse parting ways early in his career, they’d rejoin forces at the end of his career when he was a member of the Brooklyn Nets. “I went back to Brooklyn for my final year to try and commemorate how I started,” Stackhouse told Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. “I went out the same way I came in. They had like a colorway of the Nets for me and my original spaghetti.”
Check Out Stackhouse’s interview in its entirety
FILA even rolled out a green and red colorway for Christmas and a green version for St. Patrick’s Day. Now a Toronto Raptors assistant coach, Stackhouse is still involved with FILA. “I still get boxes and packages from FILA,” Stackhouse said with a grin. “Whenever they try to do an initiative now, they try to get back into the shoe game a little bit.”
