How Jam Master Jay’s Best Friend Serves Underprivileged Youth With Help From Adidas and the Milwaukee Bucks

Ten years ago, Eric “Shake” James — who owns several Milwaukee-area sneaker stores — was looking for a way to honor his best friend, the late Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell of Run-DMC. For inspiration, the storeowner recalled times on tour with the hip-hop icon. “Back in the day, we used to get shipped all these boxes with Adidas in them. We would get massive amounts of T-shirts, tracksuits, Superstars. For a while, we would just leave them in the hotel rooms for housekeeping,” James explained. “One day, Jay was like, ‘We’re taking them back to New York.’ And when we would come off tour we’d pull up in Hollis, [Queens], and give it all away.” With this in mind, James launched the Jam Master Jay Back to School Bash in 2011, an annual event with an aim to help underprivileged kids in his hometown of Milwaukee who were heading back to school. Over the years, he couldn’t have found more fitting partners. For starters, Adidas — the brand that became synonymous with Mizell and Run-DMC after the group’s 1986 hit “My Adidas” — has provided the shoes and more since its inception. And the Milwaukee Bucks have helped align James with local nonprofits,

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