LA Clippers center Montrezl Harrell, one of the NBA's biggest sneakerheads, began the new year by pouring in 23 points in just 27 minutes and rotating through three different pairs of sneakers in a 126-112 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.

Harrell sported a duo of Jordans that included the recent Chicago Bulls-inspired, red-and-black Jordan Retro 10, along with a surprise original 2004 pair of the Air Jordan 19 SE. For his opening act, though, the center broke out a gleaming gold pair of the 2003 Nike Zoom Flightposite 3. One of three limited-edition colorways designed with a "Battlegrounds" theme, the molded gold Foamposite sneakers were originally made to celebrate Nike's nationwide one-on-one summer streetball tournament of the same name.

Harrell's Flightposites even caught the eye of the league's sneaker champ himself, Houston Rockets power forward PJ Tucker.

"Wow!! Maybe the best pair of the year for him," Tucker told ESPN in a text message.

Harrell's heat helped give Tucker an added nudge before his own debut in the new year, a Friday win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

"I literally just got inspired and stopped by my shoe condo and grabbed these," he jokingly texted a half-hour later. Yes -- his shoe condo.

While the shoes may share a similar shade of gold, Tucker's extremely rare Air Jordan Retro 5 was made by the brand a year ago as a 50th birthday gift to actor Will Smith. The satin metallic gold-tone was drafted off of classic 50th anniversary hues, with the modernized model honoring Smith for constantly wearing the original Jordan 5 throughout "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" in its early '90s height.

All 100 pairs were given to the Philadelphia native, who then dispersed them to his handpicked list of friends and family. Tucker chose the pair to fit the magnitude of the matchup.

"Philly on ESPN and the first game in 2020," Tucker said. "Statement game."

Portland Trail Blazers power forward Carmelo Anthony, another longtime icon in the Jordan Brand family, was also spotted in a nostalgic sneaker this week, as he debuted a retro edition of his signature Melo 5.5 model in Washington, D.C. The approach was entirely unique when it was originally released in the mid-2000s, though the brand has since found success with a variety of .5 and hybrid-style designs.

"Instead of giving him his own signature shoe [from scratch], we decided as a brand it was best to ease him into the brand through a concept called the .5," D'Wayne Edwards, the original designer and former Jordan design director, said. ".5 was a 'what if' concept of me redesigning Air Jordans as if they were originally designed for Carmelo, with Air Jordan DNA."

According to Edwards, Melo's second signature shoe was actually intended to be his first.

"I originally designed the 5.5 first and then we decided to start at the beginning with the 1.5," Edwards said.

Not only would the Melo 1.5 serve as a natural starting point to the series strategy, blending together the Air Jordan 1 and 2, but it also was a nod to Anthony's No. 15 jersey number with the Denver Nuggets.

Now back in the NBA after a yearlong hiatus, Anthony's debut of the Melo 5.5 was a welcome sight for his longtime fans. The all-black pair with white logos is actually a wear test sample of an upgraded retro edition, with the shoe's original Nike Air units switched out for heel Zoom Air and forefoot Flight Plate cushioning setup.

Jordan released a handful of Melo 1.5 Retro colorways during Anthony's season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it remains to be seen if the Melo 5.5 will actually be released.

Though Edwards has since left the company -- he founded the Pensole Academy in 2010 -- seeing some of his original Carmelo Anthony designs back on the court takes him back to the starting points of the Jordan Brand's relationship with the future Hall of Fame scorer.

"I met Melo when he was a rookie in his new top floor apartment overlooking the entire city of Denver," Edwards said. "Here was this 19-year-old young man with an entire city to save and I was responsible for designing his signature shoe. He was going to be one of the first Jordan basketball guys to have his own signature shoe, on top of being the face of the brand. That is a lot for a 19-year-old."

While Anthony has been with the Jordan Brand throughout his entire career, Miami Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler turned heads this week by opting to part ways with the company 10 months before the deal's original Sept 30 expiration date.

Butler was spotted in the Air Jordan 31 Low in the two games since the news broke on Thursday. The four-time All-Star is expected to continue wearing Jordan sneakers in the coming weeks, as he begins talks with potential new partners for a new multiyear sneaker deal in advance of All-Star Weekend on Feb. 14-16.

Check out each of the best sneakers worn around the league this week, and vote for your favorite pair in our poll below. For real-time updates on sneaker culture and NBA kicks, follow @SneakerCenter on Instagram.