Gary Payton’s Nike Air Zoom Flight The Glove Returns in OG Color for Fall 2026

Nostalgia really does have a chokehold on sneaker culture right now. We like to think freshly cooked-up designs have staying power, but most of the time, we’re all guilty of running right back to a pair of sneakers from the 20th century. Nike knows this all too well and is constantly digging through the archives to revive designs from decades past, most successfully doing so around the golden age of Nike Basketball, the mid-to-late ‘90s. A pair that perfectly fits this description, and with the recent zipper trend, is Gary Payton’s signature Nike sneaker, the Air Zoom Flight The Glove, which will finally be getting a retro release in 2026.

If you’re not familiar with Gary Payton, we’ll give you a quick rundown on the NBA star. Payton was drafted second overall in the 1990 NBA draft by the now-defunct Seattle SuperSonics. He would play for the franchise for 13 years, bouncing between the Bucks, Lakers, Celtics, and Miami Heat in his final years, the latter of which is where he won his only NBA title. He’s considered one of the greatest point guards to ever take the hardwood and earned his nickname “The Glove” for his stellar defense. More specifically, his ability to steal.