Stop Hating on the Panda Dunk | The Complex Sneakers Show

Love it or hate it, the Nike Dunk Low “Panda,” the black and white colorway you’ve seen everywhere every day for the past three years, isn’t going anywhere. In this episode, cohosts Joe La Puma, Brendan Dunne, and Matt Wetly discuss the positives and negatives of the unavoidable sneaker, and react to Welty’s claim that it’s the most influential sneaker of the past five years. The group also discuss the ethics of sneaker mockups, Ben Affleck’s latest Dunk moment, and those questionable Off-White basketball sneakers.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - 1:33: Intros
1:34 - 4:45: Welty Ditches Sneakers After Stepping in Poop
4:46 - 8:08: "Defect Bred Reimagined" Air Jordan 4's With an Upside Down Tongue Logo
8:09 - 11:39 Three Sneakers Dunne is Considering to Buy
11:40 - 14:52: Sneaker Cam
14:53 - 15:44: Nike Air Max Day Sneakers
15:45 - 19:59: Nike Air Max 1/97 "Sean Wotherspoon"
20:00 - 21:29: Air Jordan 4 “Bred Reimagined”
21:30 23:12: Upcoming Joe Freshgoods x New Balance 1000
23:13 - 27:18: Does New Balance Have the Best Rollout Strategy Right Now?
27:19 - 40:58: Nike Air Max TN Cleats
30:15 - 40:59: Are Sneaker Mock Ups Hurting Brands?
41:00 - 43:25: Shaq and Allen Iverson on Sneaker Shopping
43:26 - 50:26: The Politics of Reporting in Sneaker Media
50:27 - 1:07:01: Why the Panda Dunk is the Most Influential Shoe in the Past 5 Years
1:08:02 - 1:11:27: Is the Panda Dunk Considered a Classic?
1:11:28 - 1:12:57: New Off-White Basketball Sneaker
1:12:58 - 1:14:37: Undefeated x Nike Air Terra Humara
1:14:38 - 1:14:54: Outro
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COMPLEX is a community of creators and curators, armed with the Internet, committed to surfacing and sharing the voices and conversations that define our new America. Our videos exemplify convergence culture, exploring topics that include music, sneakers, style, sports, and pop culture through original shows and Complex News segments. Featuring your favorite celebrities, authoritative commentary, and a unique voice, our videos make culture pop.

[@Complex]

Why do people hate the Panda Dunks?

[@csn2213]

The reality is people don’t want what everyone has; at least as far as material items. Not to mention the quality is awful.

[@qu3nt]

because they are NPC shoes like White AF1 tho i also have the Panda Dunks but they are the Panda Pigeon 😎

[@jasontalagtag1032]

Possibly because they were at a high resale but than once tons of pairs were available it wasn't as limited and in demand ❤

[@onthemyktvmike923]

no leaders anymore... all followers

[@rononealbeats3382]

Bc they’re the creative recs of the 2020s

[@csn2213]

Y’all should do an episode where you go over some of your favorite sleeper sneakers. Just like shoes people don’t often think of or give enough credit to. Always interesting finding out people’s gems that are less known. The talk of Pandas, Tiffany’s, etc is enjoyable but I’d personally like to hear about some less talked about sneakers as well!

[@simonstewart5277]

Second this 👏🏽

[@haydrogers]

Great shout!

[@premeloanthony1953]

im all for that but this is a business and they have to talk about whats hot or else nobody will care to listen.

[@tase25]

100%. My collection is mostly sleepers lol

[@Mr-nz9wx]

For real reeboks dropping some nostalgia pieces

[@jeremiahkharpuri4057]

I miss Full Size Run

[@andrewarceo2741]

Just about to Write this

[@heybudstfunow]

why did they cancel

[@Pyramidpat]

@@heybudstfunowmy guess is budget cuts. Complex recently got bought out from what I remember hearing.

[@ariakhosravi4309]

You guys will mention a sneaker and show a photo of it for reference for less than 5 seconds and then talk about said shoe for like 10 minutes without ever showing another photo of it. Leave the photo of shoes up for longer or have them in the corner of the screen while talking. Sometimes you guys mention very specific details on a shoe but we have no frame of reference to what you guys are talking about.

[@StormBooker]

Lol they do this with every reference - shoe doesn’t bother me as much as tweets. I’ll be trying read it and it’s gone with the quickness

[@evilutionvj]

trueee, agreed!!!

[@brendandunnecomplex]

Good call-we'll show off the shoes more in future episodes.

[@ariakhosravi4309]

​@@brendandunnecomplexthanks for listening Brendan! I've been listening to the podcast since episode 1, keep up the great work!

[@inalaboyy]

Drinking game: Take a shot everytime you hear ‘Ubiquitous’

[@heybudstfunow]

so no drinks

[@mikecolts21]

The Panda Dunk are Nike’s new white Air Force 1. Every size is available on the site.. they’re not going anywhere.

[@Mstrylowski]

This is a great take.

[@gregkelland]

I wish Nike had a white on white dunk always available

[@Nulljpg]

Bad take

[@T.H.U.G]

facts

[@belgianheskey]

Af1's are not manufactured hype, after all the white girls stop buying them and thinking they vans, black ppl will still keep buying them. Dunks are a good looking shoe but when everyone has them they are boring, AF1s maintain their value regardless if everyone on the planet has them. Its an all white shoe

[@user-ng4jg4ws7x]

New Balance, in my opinion, has hit timeless territory. Their heritage line is so solid.

[@SSGVB]

“We’re watching good fellas” 😂

[@MrHabeeb90]

Nice intro story, Welty. I love all 3 of you for different reasons. Nice group. Always remain friends please ❤

[@dominicsacdalan7649]

Title says not to hate on the pandas but has been hatin on them for years now, especially welty

[@kevinmacias6062]

Welty given Chito a Shout Out was the best of my day, Vamos Chito!

[@2g4u7y]

I missed that! Time stamp?

[@nohandlenofuture]

also the shirt!@@2g4u7y

[@MrTjuwi]

A dope video and the knowledge unmatched!!! Keep scholing us

[@victorbernal7142]

After years of hating Pandas in almost every show, now it turns out they have never hated them.

[@stalefacegoldteeth]

JLP also hated on the reimagined bred 4s since jump and swore he didn’t want them now all of a sudden he has them and loves them…the switch ups are crazy.

[@SouthJerseyBaitReviews]

All these guys flip flop like a chick on birth control. They contradict themselves all the time as well. They aren't the only ones who do it tho. A lot of the youtuber sneaker heads do it on the daily @@stalefacegoldteeth

[@brendandunnecomplex]

I feel like making jokes about the shoes is different than outright hating on them. Feel like we never came out mocking the shoes or people who wear them, but also we're allowed to change our opinions and views on sneakers.

[@stalefacegoldteeth]

JLP literally hated on the new reimagined bred 4s from the jump now after release he all of a sudden loves it, the switch up is CRAZY 😒

[@BryanMartinez-yh2kh]

The way Welty and Dunne looked at each other during the “funky as heck” moment…is why I love this show.

[@BookerT69]

Love is a strong word brother

[@BryanMartinez-yh2kh]

@@BookerT69 Indeed. A word that should certainly be used more these days.

[@BookerT69]

@@BryanMartinez-yh2kh yeah but the real stuff not forced love

[@BryanMartinez-yh2kh]

@@BookerT69 love is love, brother.

[@DwayneTacos21]

​@@BookerT69 we got the Love Lieutenant over here

[@superdino206]

Now that Joe has talked about his love for soccer, can we talk about the impact of Adidas predators? They are having an insane comeback - using players like Jude, Trent, etc. (Honestly, not many of us playing competitive soccer (or at least those around my league) don't necessarily go crazy about TN Mercurials... but everyone went crazy over predators)

[@hugocastro3268]

Nothing would be a T90 comeback

[@Traptinachangingmaze]

Geeez the back n fourth interruptions are INSANE!

[@nathanielmwangi6572]

love the convo ! and debates you guys have ! i don't hate on the pandas how someone spends their money is their business ,but i tell you what, its a great betting /guessing game to pick the over /under on how many panda dunks you see in the average mall food court!

[@AnthonyWilliams_83]

Love the shoutout for my boy SneakerDave!!

[@F4GRAPHICS]

32:09 I agree. HAL studios did this with a teaser of the Asics 1130 Forest shoe, and next to it was a green and grey colourway of the shoe that was only partially in shot. I got so hyped about that shoe and really wanted it, only for them not to actually release it.

[@EL_VIZUALZ]

To hate a panda dunk but love a white AF1 has never made sense to me.

[@cliftonbrown4051]

I hate both

[@CB12345]

Honestly, both shoes aren't that special.

[@brendandunnecomplex]

Thank you. Although I do feel like there are a few things separating them, which we talked about here.

[@EL_VIZUALZ]

@@brendandunnecomplex there is but there is also things that put them in the same category for me personally. The main one for me is that they are both a very versatile shoe. As Matt said if you aren’t sure what shoes you’re going to wear you just throw on some white AF1 and you’re good to go which is what people do with the panda. Yes the white AF1 is a cultural classic but I personally have never heard anyone around me say that’s the reason they wear it; they wear it because it’s a great shoe that matches with basically everything as is the panda. I agree with your take of it being a standard shoe that will probably be a classic for the next generation. I do not consider it a sneaker head shoe, but it doesn’t deserve the hate it gets. It just became one of those things that’s cool to hate.

[@BookerT69]

Prolly cuz the panda dunk is more of a white person shoe and Trump and Biden are white so everybody hates them

[@Air234evaa]

Welty is right … great convo / episode guys 👍🏽 Ty 🙏🏽

[@Cleonard-pl6nb]

Can see a day where the Panda’s are in the same category as a black chuck Taylor or black vans old Skool. Always on the shelf to be bought.

[@brendandunnecomplex]

Feels like we're already there.

[@adamneustaedter4820]

Joe pretending to swing the baseball bat without his batting gloves. Missed opportunity haha

[@mattkaminski1832]

Man jfg ripped off the tuned max hard with that colorway 😂

[@3d1k3]

55:52 I don't think we can actually quantify the sneaker head conversion rate for Panda Dunks. I think it was a popular shoe and the same person that bought Pandas is the same person who would have bought the most popular Skechers or white air force 1s or Jordan 1s etc. it was a shoe of the moment and that's it. It may have made sneaker heads out of 10% of the people that bought them.

[@Dubb910]

I love trainers. The air trainer the sc trainer...Very under rated shoe....Idk how i never seen the one joe got on but i might make that my next shoe. That shoe is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@gregkelland]

Tn have been going crazy in New Zealand for the past year. Air Max Plus are mostly worn with a gang patch and ankle bracelet.

[@inalaboyy]

NZ jus jumps any trend coming outta Aus 10 years too late

[@JCVantage1]

I think the fact that a podcast has a title to not hate on pandas is exactly the reason most hate them. To much popularity, little "personality" for a sneaker

[@CB12345]

Honestly, the Dunks look cool, but the Panda colorway is so boring and has no real story behind it.

[@eric36518708]

No it’s because most people are followers

[@JCVantage1]

@@CB12345 I'm with you on that one

[@TheHilltopperNation]

to a lot of people, “lack of personality” means that a sneaker is wearable

[@DwayneTacos21]

not that deep, its a simple shoe and a simple colorway that's easy to wear with everything. That's like complaints about white air forces for being too simple. Simplicity is the entire point.

[@sincealways2212]

On the topic of Union 1 never being retro'd, to be fair we never thought we'd see the Clot Air Max 1 Kiss of Death clear top boxes again and they were retro'd to low fan fare. Though I love them and bought 2 at the bottom of the curve. So that being said, I think there is a world were we see a few highly collectable collabs.

[@Memphis0000]

The chito vera shirt 🔥

[@aMkinfinity]

Other than my younger brother being in the know and us bonding over the shared interest - yes, GR dunks in 2020 and beyond and the hype around them were probably a large part of why I am now into sneakers and why I’m in the comment section of a video like this

[@vmorr1993]

Came back from a trip through the UK and panda dunks were everywhere, all the stores. I beat the bricks off of a pair of panda highs and green/yellow lows around '07-'08.

[@j5daniel182]

Panda dunk has reached White AF1s, Chucks Taylors, black vans old skools status. It's only hated on by sneakerheads. But the truth is, most of their outfits would look better if they just had plain panda dunks on .

[@T.H.U.G]

😂truth!

[@zhukov43]

I’ve hopped the fence from the Panda Dunks to Panda Jordan 1 lows, still love the Dunks though and will buy another pair soon, gotta keep them fresher than a field of daisies.

[@Pm_Kicks]

This year would have been great for Nike to bring back to the Air Max 2009’s for the 15th year anniversary of that silhouette

[@IBE-DOLO]

I was noticing that most people in the Bronx either wear Yeezys 350, 700, dunks or Jordans.

[@heybudstfunow]

what else is there

[@shadako2]

Around Jan 22 saw someone wearing panda dunks at the airport in Jo'burg south Africa, so they reached Africa even. Just a clean design and marketed well. With the DN, will get some people buying them as TNS stock is restricted. it's a thirty year design, and has a big following in UK + Australia. often sold out and around $120 USD for hyped models.

[@victortorres1901]

Welty respect on the magic sneakers reference, this man is JERSEY!

[@victortorres1901]

Specifically north Jersey 😂

[@Icy-E]

You think of panda, you think of pandemic hate to say it but its classic

[@T.H.U.G]

🎯

[@IBE-DOLO]

Love weltys shirt. Vera got this tomorrow

[@lilsyko3791]

“Nutmeg you to oblivion”😂 Talk that talk JLP.

[@brendandunnecomplex]

Need a video of this.

[@BookerT69]

@@brendandunnecomplexnah we good

[@leoperucca7314]

I think he said ‘nutmeg you into bolivian’ which is way funnier

[@DJANAK]

Panda dunks are fine. They are basically what Tom Sachs shoes supposed to be general purpose shoe. Used in-between days when not wearing ur heaters.

[@J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J]

Brendan, shut your mouth when the goat is giving a motivational speech

[@Air234evaa]

😂😂😂

[@seankusi1227]

Cool episode.

[@L17_8]

Jesus loves you ❤️ Please turn to him and repent before it's too late. The end times described in the Bible are already happening in the world.

[@bmot9955]

Great show as always ~@ Matthewjwelty in 50 hrs from now looking back at the popularity of 🐼 dunks overwrite the gatekeeping and will the future gatekeepers shut down any echos of past calling pandas for what they really were?

[@Blackchucky23]

As much as I love the show and all the guys are great I really miss the other show

[@belgianheskey]

I remember being in footlocker 2018, no one was buying dunks. At that time it was either yeezys or Jordans npcs were flocking to

[@boringfilms420]

weren’t y’all hating on Pandas back in 2021 when the restocks started pumping out? 😂

[@lanceblackston8105]

The panda dunk will always be close to my heart it’s the shoe that really got me into sneakers forreal 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@BookerT69]

It’s all good everybody gotta start somewhere.

[@dannytriggers]

It was like 30 people on that Sean Witherspoon show lol

[@victorserrano322]

Still no mention of the Saucony x Bodega Grid Shadow 2 “Jaunt Woven” … Sneaker of the year so far.

[@the.dove.effect]

Work on that excel database on shoe sales history Welty.

[@mico666_..]

What’s with the gore tex inside. Really don’t understand.

[@justintheconer]

The buyer for the $17,300 Jordan 4 has zero eBay transaction history. It’s a sham.

[@vmr956]

What shirt is welty wearing?? Supa fire

[@mattkaminski1832]

JLP with the Jeezy bars 😅

[@manupasta]

TN’s are huge in the UK and Australia. They’ve never died over here.

[@shockvalue5086]

The Vapormax plus are the only real TN that’s alive here

[@inalaboyy]

Australia always has been & always will be the TN capital of the world

[@Mstrylowski]

i already like this title

[@SouthJerseyBaitReviews]

There is plenty of defected Nike shoes out there that people have bought for a lot of money. There is even some that have gone for more then those bred 4s that sold on ebay. So its not really hard to believe that its possible someone would pay that price or that it could happen. There was even a dunk that someone got in December where it was missing an entire swoosh on one side. Its basically no different then people collecting defected cards , coins , money and etc and selling it for thousands of dollars lol. There is also people out there with so much money they can spend it on dumb stuff like that. An thinking Nike's Q&C is looking at every sneaker for Q&C issues ur buggin lol. The same way people get tons and tons of pairs with glue all over the shoes or stitching is completely trash, or major scratches on upper or the upper not being installed right on the midsole. Yet u expect them to check for a upside down tongue tag? Also Nike doesn't do 3rd party Q&C inspections. So they basically can just pass whatever and make it look like they don't have any issues with Q&C. Main reason some of the best Q&C shoes or clothing products use a 3rd party QC company. So there is no way for them to be bias or just pass items. So they can make as much as possible.

[@rononealbeats3382]

Eire sb’s def weren’t limited..most available cw back then excluding purple pigeons..

[@LgndaryJ]

Wearin my panda dunks 4L idc they fye

[@drewhenni2277]

First panda drop I had four pairs. Sold them or traded them all for profit. I don’t like dunks and I don’t really resell….. I think it’s funny…. If I was gonna wear a dunk it would probably be a panda!! No joke.

[@hs_matt]

I wouldn't buy Pandas, but we can't look at this just from a sneaker perspective. Not everybody wants to highlight their shoes and there is more to dressing up than just shoes. Pandas can go well with almost everything else you want to accentuate.

[@MyLife-td2vn]

350 was the wave before pandas lol

[@victortorres1901]

The thing I took away with pandas was how low the respect is for such a popular shoe especially by its peers, OGs hold certain sneakers as grails and pay respect to the kicks that had a moment in time and respect that shoe because of that moment, pandas don’t garner that same respect not sure if it’s the generation who doesn’t respect sneakers or the brands saturated the market, but one things for certain, these pandas made our favorite aunts and most loved mothers sneakerheads 😅

[@tstorm4489]

Pandas are a dope shoe. I was super excited to hit on a pair in 2021. That being said, I don’t wear mine anymore cuz everyone and their mother is wearing them. Classics.

[@stuartswanton1676]

Maybe influential is the wrong word - the panda got a lot of people into this sneaker space but it doesn't have an influential aspect to it like in a design way. We are lucky to have collections and rotations or shoes but if you want an everyday sneaker that's quite cool and versatile I think that's the panda dunk, whereas when I was younger it was a pair of converse hi tops or a vans authentic. A lot of people probably hate pandas because resellers can't make money from them

[@BookerT69]

That lady Brenda with the mustache is such a snob. Bet he voted for Sloppy Joe 😂

[@daboy1der13]

What are those that Joe has on? 🔥🔥

[@BookerT69]

Air Trainer 3

[@daboy1der13]

@@BookerT69 Thanks!

[@jeremiahfuertes5960]

Maybe they covered this before but I wanted to hear them talk about Kanye going at Adidas for the 350 release.

[@baltimoremel7168]

Had one pair back when they were hard to get and I sold them for 260 lol never wore a pair of pandas but I don’t hate on them

[@the.dove.effect]

Did the CEO of Reebok sign that pair of AF1's?

[@CreasedHeat]

It's funny hearing you guys talk about Nike trying to make the TN a thing because in Australia it's been a thing since they came out lol.. It's a whole sub culture.

[@tase25]

I still have a pair of custom panda dunks that I haven't worn yet and sitting for 2 years. Afraid to get hated on lol. But I'll bust them out eventually.

[@BookerT69]

I sold a pair on eBay they were Nike ID leather on them was worse than the retail pair

[@tase25]

@@BookerT69 the leather was worse or the price you sold them for? Because the leather I received is good

[@tyyohr1841]

Starting to watch every episode dope program

[@maricuchisdelafuente]

1:05:00 the xstock numbers is 333,780 sales so it could be a Milion

[@jasoncho5906]

🐼 dunk is a steady seller never going down

[@MrJustalmo]

ASICS should do a Welty collab 😂😂😂.

[@GORGON_OG]

350v2s will be hype forever

[@TheHilltopperNation]

The Panda Dunk is a fantastic shoe that just got over produced and over released to the point where most sneakerheads got tired of it. It got into the hands of too many normal people and to where it became not cool anymore. However, it’s an objectively good shoe hence why so many people wanted it

[@gfeast4518]

Well can you imagine how I feel being that I grew up skating and always wore sbs. Dunks janoskis, other brands like es emerica etnies and I was made fun of. I got all my sb dunks for retail or on sale for as low as $15 new and got plenty of holy grails. Then all of a sudden they’re impossible to get and every single corny person and their mom all of a sudden loves dunks it just really upset me. Since 2018 I’ve gotten maybe 5 pairs of sbs and I would never wear the non sbs so I don’t care what people do but it’s just a corny trendy fad. I never pay resale either. I would see at least 7 people a day wearing pandas, but never anyone wearing the stuff I got

[@Ratchetfan321]

The Dunk has superseded the AF1 in modern times for the general public and sneaker heads.

[@dunkkid23]

I went to journalism school, know tons about sneakers, and applied for Complex. Never got a call back 🥲

[@sneakerdad8324]

Golf sneakers need some energy with Steph Curry 1s making a golf sneaker debut

[@rexkicks_270]

I can’t judge or make fun of anyone who is rocking some Panda dunks… man that makes me feel like I’m rocking the real heat in town! So I’m cool with that!

[@jaykendall7468]

The off white shoe was apart of the “Black by popular demand” fashion show…. The creative director is trying new things out

[@Phamousillday]

I'm convinced Drake will never come on sneaker shopping because of 44:00 welty disrespect, and also having Pusha-T on sneaker shopping.

[@Phamousillday]

That being said "Drake come on the show"

[@tv68plus]

Thanks to Nelly… he really made Air Force Ones really famous

[@thee_others]

Boring works with most colors and fit of clothes, thats why ppl gets them. A special pair of J1 ain't gonna work with any color or fit of clothes. Most people do not have 20 to 50 pairs of sneakers at home.

[@foxx180]

No, the panda has NOT bought more people into sneakers than AF1. That doesn’t make sense. Stockx and Goat were opened before Pandas. It was a trend.

[@Edc_tj]

BLACK FOAM SUPREMACY!!! Lets go Brendan 😂 13:45

[@CIutchVS5]

4:01 Poo games

[@NorthridgeOG]

Nice shirt Welty 🫡 I would y mind a pair of pandas, there’s just other more exciting shoes I’d rather buy. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@vmr956]

Wat shirt is it

[@franklinyi6934]

It graduated to Shell toe status.

[@wl1896]

I want Nike to do a dunk SP in panda colour way using premium leather

[@chorreelbs1572]

FSR left a huge void and no one is filling it...

[@Bksgodson23]

I met jlapuma amazin human being, need to meet matt, brandon and trinidad my bucketlist will be half complete i love kicks cause of them

[@Mambacit0]

Vomero 5s is a miss on nike. Such a good hit, but the colors are terrible besides a select few.. Panda dunks are still some of my most complimented and pointed out shoes by every day consumers. Still a really awesome every day shoe.

[@bobdebuilda3877]

How many times do i have to request to connect with Matt and Brenden on Linkedin until these fools accept😂😂