Sneakerhead Spotlight: Mike AKA @MikeDSykes
Question 1: What’s in your current sneaker rotation?
Mike: So I'm in the process of mentally preparing myself for the fall. I'm wearing more neutral tones these days. My current 4 are the Desert Elephant Jordan 3s, the Asics Gel-1130 in White Gold, the black Teddy Santis 990v2 and the Ishod Wair SBs in light olive.
Question 2: What's the last pair you UNDS'd?
Mike: Let me say, I'm pretty behind when it comes to UNDS'ing my stuff haha. Last pair was probably the Desert Elephant 3s? That's changing soon though. Just got the Ambush Air Adjust Force joints and am going to make it a point to put those on this week.
Question 3: What is your fave sneaker you currently own?
Mike: THIS IS LIKE ASKING ME TO PICK MY FAVORITE CHILDREN! It's so tough haha. Right now, though? I'd have to say it's the Aqua Noise Patta Air Max 1. It's been my go-to for so long and it's just a perfect sneaker to me. Ask me again tomorrow, though. I'm sure my answer will be different.
Question 4: What is your must-have grail?
Mike: For me, I'm a Nike SB lover. That's what got me into sneakers and, really, what I came up on. So my grail of grails (and I really only have 2 or 3) is the 2005 Raygun SB Dunk. It was the first SB that caught my attention and I've been hooked ever since. I have to get it someday.
Question 5: What got you started in the sneaker game?
Mike: It was really the music I listened to back in my early high school years. I'm from Maryland with lots of family in D.C., so I came up on Gogo music and Wale. Wale is one of the biggest sneaker heads out there and it's all in his music. I'm also a huge fan of the Cool Kids and the vintage style they flaunted back in the day was very influential in my upbringing. Sneakers have just been a natural part of my life for a long, long time.
Question 6: What's something that most people don't know about you?
Mike: I LOVE anime. I watch a ton of it. Naruto is my favorite show of all-time. It's literally perfect. Boruto? Not so much. But I still watch it because it's Naruto content and I can't say no to that.
Question 7 (optional): What do you do for a living?
Mike: I'm a sports writer and a content creator for USA Today's For The Win! I cover the NBA mostly, but I'll dabble in other sports as well. And when I'm not doing that, I'm working on our sneaker unboxing show Special Delivery! I'm also building out my own content space with my sneaker newsletter, The Kicks You Wear. I cover the sneaker industry as a whole every Monday and Friday with insights, numbers, data, reporting and more. Please go subscribe! I would love for everyone who loves sneakers to be part of the community. It's free! And I'm also giving away some sneakers over there soon so you don't want to miss that.
Question 8: Where can people follow you on social media? YT, Snapchat, IG etc
Mike: Subscribe to the Kicks You Wear at http://kyw.substack.com! Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @MikeDSykes! Search up USA Today Special Delivery on YouTube to hear me talk about sneakers and follow the team on TikTok @specialdelivery_ftw! Thank you so much for letting me rock out today. The Sneaker Admirals community is the greatest. I'm very happy to be a part of it.