Lights line for children. However, the brand failed to catch on. In 2003, LA Gear again went through a relaunch, this time with an emphasis on men's performance footwear as the Catapult line was reintroduced. Los Angeles Lakers rookie Luke Walton was signed on as the brand's spokesman and appeared in several print ads. Ron Artest also was endorsed for a brief period in 2004 and 2005 in conjunction with his "Tru Warrier" persona, but the company dropped him as spokesman following the 2004 Pacers–Pistons brawl. LA Gear primarily marketed fashion athletic shoes for women and continues to do so to this day, although a recent relaunch of the brand has resulted in the de-emphasis of these lines (with LA Gear discontinuing the new Catapult line for men altogether). In 2008, LA Gear rereleased its Unstoppable retro range, which saw sneaker lines such as the KAJ and Starshooter High available in a variety of new colors. It rereleased its Stardust women's fashion line in 2009 and later released a new version of the popular LA Lights. LA Gear also joined the rocker bottom shoe craze that year by releasing the Walk N Tone sneaker line for women. LA Gear released its Hollywood men's sneaker in 2012 alongside the Unstoppable range. In October 2014, LA Gear underwent another revamp of some of its product lines and announced its 2015 spring/summer launch with new sneakers such as the LA Lights Liquid gold edition and the T Raww Runner, endorsed by American rapper Tyga. In February 2022, Australian department store Big W launched an exclusive range of LA Gear to the Australian market. Endorsements One of the original athletes to endorse LA Gear shoes was NBA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who ended a long association with Adidas to sign with the upstart company toward the end of his playing career. Several other NBA stars wore the brand, perhaps the most notable being Karl Malone who appeared in several commercials for the brand beginning in the early 1990s. Hakeem Olajuwon was another LA Gear-endorsing basketball player who after being signed stayed with the brand until 1994 when he was contracted by Spalding to endorse a line of basketball shoes with his name and number. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana signed an endorsement deal with LA Gear in 1990 after working with Adidas and later Mizuno for most of his career and quickly became the