Stevie Williams Responds to the Nike SB Air Max 95 Drama

In 1997, Stevie Williams did a switch heel flip in Philadelphia’s Love Park wearing a pair of “Neon” Air Max 95s and a Green Bay Packers jersey. The photo didn’t circulate until years later, but it’s since become part of skate history.

Williams was one of the greatest and most influential skaters of his generation, on and off the board. Kids wanted to skate and dress like him.

When word came out that Nike was going to release an SB version of the Air Max 95 this year, a lot of people, myself included, assumed that it was based around the photo of Williams in the sneakers.

As time went on, and the shoe came closer to its release, it was made clear that the story of the shoe was centered around longtime pro, and equally or even more so influential skater, Eric Koston, who’s been signed to Nike SB since 2009.

Koston says he first remembers seeing the Air Max 95 at a skate demo in Birmingham, England, where Kareem Campbell was wearing the shoes.

Nike SB recently put out a short video that included this story, as well as a clip of Williams in the 95s. The drama started when a Nike SB ad with the SB 95s launched with the phrase “Run, Skate, Chill” on it. That comes from the 1999 Transworld Skateboarding video The Reason, where Williams said that about his lifestyle and skating Love Park back in that era—often evading police and security guards in the process.

Williams felt slighted about this, and posted on social media, accusing Nike SB of ripping him off, amongst other things. He took shots at Koston, claiming Nike SB and Koston stole from black culture.

The accusations caused a lot of stir, and rightfully so. I reached out to a handful of people in the skate industry to see what the heck was going on, how any of this happened, and couldn’t figure it out. So, I decided to talk to Williams himself. Here’s a slightly edited version, for length and clarity, of my interview with Williams.

How are you?
It’s pretty muddy out here these days, huh?

With the whole SB 95, when did you first find out about it? That they were going to do an SB 95?
Man, I found out about it when it hit social media. I’m not sure how long ago it was, but it was pretty exciting to know about. I pretty much found out when everybody else found out.

Nike never hit you up originally to tell you about the project?
No, but they don’t have to though. I don’t skate for Nike and they’re not obligated to do none of that, and I understand that. I ain’t tripping on that. They don’t have to reach out to me.

You have some sort of connection to them though, right? Because they send you shoes?
Yeah, that’s the only connection I have is that they send me the shoes here and there to skate in. But as far as being a part of any ad campaign or development or anything, that’s never been the situation.

Have they ever approached you to skate for them in the past?
A long time ago, they gave me an option, and then they passed on it. It’s no hard feelings.

What happened there, if you don’t mind saying, because you said they passed on it.
Well, I was getting shoes from Jordan at the time. They had tried to do a skate shoe, and I was coming off of my Reebok deal, and I kind of was talking to Jordan. And then SB was around as well.

So at one point, somebody from Nike asked me what would I rather do? Would I skate for Nike or Nike SB or brand Jordan? And to keep it real, I was like, “Fuck it, I’ll skate for Nike SB, because that’s where everybody at.”

I was getting shoes from them for a while until I seen the guy again and I asked him what was good, and he was like, “No, we’re going to pass.” So I was like, “Damn.”

But at that time, I probably don’t blame them because I probably wasn’t the image that they was looking for, you know what I mean? So I get it though. There’s no hard feelings about that. But it was just a point where I was like, “Damn, I should have just kind of took the other opportunity and now there’s nothing.” Shit. But it’s cool. I guess I always have DGK, and that’s where I can always relax and not feel any other kind of way because what I’ve been building for years has allowed me to just skate and show how much of a leader I am, and then just kind of just control the narrative of my own legacy.

I heard through the grapevine that Nino Scalia gave you the Air Max 95s that you took the pic in, and you had traded them some DCs for the shoes. Is that how it all came about?
Yeah, Nino, Ryan Gee. That’s crazy y’all remember that story, but Gee was like, “Let’s take a photo of the Switch Heel Flip in the Air Maxes.” Sometimes you come to skate, sometimes you come to chill. And sometimes you just skate in your chill shoes too, because skateboarding is just so addicting. You can’t just sit around and chill. And that’s where skateboarding in those shoes came from. A bunch of just street skaters that probably didn’t skate that day, but still wound up skating anyway and getting a photo in it. Or just being on some cool shit like, “Yo, I’m going to skate in these today just because I think they look fresh.”

Was that the first pair of 95s that you had back in the day, or did you have the shoes prior to that? Was it something you were wearing regularly at the time?
Yeah, you wore 95s if you were making money. Back then they were still like $100, $150. So if you had a pair of Air Maxes on whether you were skating or not, it was just cool to have. It’s more like I had so many pairs of shoes because I was making a lot of money, but as a skater, you’re supposed to skate in skate shoes. And me, I kind of always broke the mold of not skating in skate shoes or not wearing skate shoes because I used to get laughed at for wearing skate shoes. So once you start making money, you can wear the shoes that give you credibility and validation off the board, but when you wear those on the board, you’re not supposed to. So I was kind of like a rebel almost.

What were your first thoughts when you saw that little Nike SB video they put out with Koston and the “Run Skate Chill” from the Reason and all of that in it? And there’s the video of you in the 95s, too.
Yeah, I seen the video. They sent it to me and asked me, was I cool with it. And I’m like, “It’s cool.” You know what I mean? I don’t have a problem with the video, but I didn’t see the “Run, Skate, Chill” advertisement. I did not see that. And that was like, “OK, I don’t know really how to take this, but I know that this ain’t the move. That’s not the move.” I know marketing, you know what I’m saying?

I’m not just some skater that skates for DGK, like I’m the owner and I have a partner and we both, plus the family, we love what we do. So we have our own marketing team. We do things correctly by the core skateboard standards. We understand where the line is at, but we also know that you have to respect the culture as much as possible.

But me, everybody knows that I kind of low-key protect the culture, and if I felt as though that was inappropriate, I’m going to have to say something. And I did. I did.

You did the first Instagram story where you had the message and it was directed towards Koston. Have you and him been cool over the years, or has this been something that’s been bubbling underneath?
No, Koston’s cool. That’s one of my childhood heroes. It’s not about him per se, but he has trolled me a lot. And I was at the point where, OK, enough is enough with the trolling. And, since you used this situation, well, I felt like he used this situation to troll me again. I’m going to troll you back. That’s how I feel. But the way I do it is different. And yeah, I had to get on.

Do you feel like everything you you put in that story is what you want to say to him, or is there anything that, if you could say something to him you’d want to say right now?
Oh yeah. I always respect Koston. I’m not mad. I didn’t do it for me, to be honest with you. I didn’t do it for any money. I’m not doing it for any club. I really just did it for all of the people that know what’s right. For the next generation of kids that may not understand how to protect your legacy. I felt as though that was just an opportunity for me to just show everybody how well and how far I’m willing to go to protect my legacy, because no one else will. And I don’t want to be erased from history, because you can easily be forgotten about if you don’t have anything and if you don’t stand for anything.

So I just was making a point, and that’s it. I’m not mad. I don’t even own or trademark the name Run, Skate, Chill. The culture owns that shit. So I’m just kind of the protector of the culture that gets overlooked all the time, and I’m fine with that. I’m fine with that.

Did you feel like when he was telling that story about Kareem Campbell inspiring him to get the Air Max 95 in the UK back in the day, he was intentionally leaving you out of the story? Or was it just an oversight? Or did you feel like some sort of way about that?
Yeah, low key I did. I can’t front. Yeah, I did. I did. But it’s fine because as long as everybody know that I spoke up, I won’t be erased out of the situation. That’s how I feel. And maybe I could be wrong, but I don’t know. I don’t know.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but you have a close relationship, or at least a past friendship with Kelly Bird, the manager of SB.
Mhmm.

Have you spoken to him about anything or has he spoken to you about anything or anything along that line?
Yeah, I spoke to Bird first because that’s who sent me shoes, and I thanked him for sending me shoes because I know that after this situation I probably won’t get no shoes anymore. So I wanted to thank him, but I also just wanted to let him know that because he did show me the video and I told him that the video was cool. It’s OK. Even though they didn’t mention my name, they showed me, but they didn’t mention my name. I’m like, “Okay, that’s cool, that’s fine.” But then the Run, Skate, Chill stuff, not just takes away from me, but it takes away from a lot of friends that we all know.

And I’m just like, “Bro, that was diabolical. That wasn’t even cool. But I don’t think you guys understand who I am. I’m Stevie Williams, bro, the fucking owner of DGK, and y’all just stole from me.” And I’m like, “I’m going to flame you, bro. I’ll flame y’all.”

I have to, because I got woken up six o’clock in the fucking morning by so many phone calls that I had to calm people down, and I’m trying to figure out why everybody’s so mad. And then it hit me. It was like, “Damn, shit, I can’t let this slide.” Even if that means losing my Nike connect.

And fuck it, I did. I’m not even mad, but the amount of people that were mad, it was like, wow, I didn’t even think it was going to be that serious. There was a lot of people that was upset about that. There are people that have been erased from skateboarding that hold on to those type of things that were there, and that’s kind of erasing them as well.

So it’s all about principle. That’s it. It’s just principles. And at least everybody know where Stevie Williams stands, and I’m over it. I’m not even tripping. It was a good three-day run of me speaking up for the culture, myself, my brand, and then also the future generations of people that may not understand, but don’t let your hard work get erased. Because they will fucking try to erase you.

That goes for anybody, and it’s not even racial. But if you don’t stand on your hard work, there’s a chance that they will try to erase you and replace you.

Do you think that if they had hit you up originally to be like, “Hey, Stevie, we want to launch the SB 95 with you,” you totally would’ve been down for that?Yeah, absolutely. But Stevie Williams and DGK’s image isn’t what Nike SB want to promote, so I get it.

Do you think that with everything you posted online that they got the message and things are like, you’re going to get credit for something or they’re going to maybe apologize to you?
I don’t want anything. I’m not asking for anything. And I didn’t even do this for me. I did this for everybody else. This wasn’t for me. I’m not even like that. I’m pretty chill, but I did this for everybody else. So it’s not about money. It ain’t about what they should have did. Everything happens for a reason. I feel like God put this in front of me to show me how powerful I am. So I didn’t steal from anybody to get to where I’m at. I built everything off of blood, sweat, and tears. So it’s a compliment, to be honest with you. I just don’t like to be trolled.

Don’t troll me, bro. I’m different minded. And my friends know that about me, so they’re like, “Wow, damn they did fucking poke the bear.” And I’m like, “Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, I’mma flame off, but then I’mma put it away.” I don’t need to battle. It’s not a battle, it’s not a beef. Koston’s my skate brother, I just don’t like to be trolled. I could tell him that to his face. It’s no bad energy or I want to do anything to Koston. That’s my dude.

I could tell him where I feel that, but I also have jokes as well, so I was like, “Don’t really joke with me if you don’t want me to joke with you type shit, but I love you.” It’s like a brotherhood type thing. I don’t have anything against Nike, Nike SB, it’s whatever, bro. I don’t want anything. I can walk around knowing that everybody knows how far I’ll go to protect my legacy, and that’s priceless. That’s priceless.

If they did hit you up in the future, would you be open to doing anything with them? Or is it just like, “Nah, I’m good. You showed your true colors.”
I’m a team player. I’m not tripping. I mean, I don’t know. I doubt it that they will, but me and my homie was chopping it up today. I think it’s pretty funny. I’m still going to wear Nikes and shit. Like, “Bro, you ain’t throwing away your Nikes and shit.” I’m like, “Nah, I would never do that.” But I’m like, “Fuck, I probably won’t get anybody to send me the Nike shit no more,” but fuck it. I’m fine with that.

I’ve been kicked out of fucking all types of parties. It’s all good. At least people know that you just can’t take from my legacy, bro.

I just don’t want to be taken advantage of. So I don’t need to sue anybody. I don’t need to go trademark the name. I don’t need to go start my own shoe company. I don’t give a fuck. I don’t give a fuck, bro. I’m chill. I just, I’m happy knowing that people heard me, and that’s all I care about. So just do things correctly and you won’t run into no issues. Ain’t that the name of the game though?