“Ooooo. They got crab cakes in here?” Yes, they did, and Dime‘s visit to Miami to check out the newest sneaker from LeBron James‘ line, the Nike LeBron 8 PS, had a lot more than that. Eating crab cakes and some other weird seafood (I heard the name countless times, but still can’t say or spell it) in a suite during the Heat’s Game 1 win over the Sixers was great. But the real reason why I went down there, the real reason why I got up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight on Friday morning, was to check out the kicks.
Nike pampered us all (there were around 20 media members in attendance for the weekend) as only they can. But it wouldn’t have mattered had the product been mediocre. As I saw in the media wear test, it definitely wasn’t.
The whole process of creating this three-sneaker-in-one-line for this season came from Jason Petrie, the lead designer for Nike’s LeBron line, and James himself. Nike released a signature shoe for the forward at the beginning of the season, the Nike LeBron 8 V1, then followed with another around the All-Star break, the Nike LeBron 8 V2. The PS is the final release of the trifecta. Petrie said James has always thought of the season in two parts: there’s the long, 82-game marathon and then a quick, 28-game sprint in the playoffs. Combining that with LeBron’s long love affair with the lion – “He’s the beast,” Petrie said. “The king of the jungle.” – brought the designers to think way outside of the box.
So Petrie started brainstorming the way a lion tracks prey. For those of you who aren’t Discovery Channel junkies (seriously slap yourself), you have the stalk, then the attack and then the kill. Lions will sometimes stalk their preys for hours, pick out the weakest animal and then devise a plan to separate it from the rest of the herd. Once, that happens, it’s over. It’ll be an ambush. And then, it’ll be a kill. Those three phases came to epitomize this new season of LeBron sneakers.
Said Petrie, “We wanted the shoe to literally morph from where it was at the beginning of the season until the end.”
The Nike LeBron 8 PS is the lightest shoe in the series, nearly 2.5 ounces lighter than the Nike LeBron 8 V1. Petrie wanted the shoe to symbolize a sprinter. Once the playoffs start, it’s two months of nonstop charging. You can’t pace yourself or look over your shoulder. It had to be as light as possible. Petrie wanted “pinnacle performance.” Still because LeBron is so big, Petrie found they couldn’t cut it all the way. It’s not always about being the lightest shoe possible, he says, especially with LeBron.
“You have to protect him from himself because he’s just so fast and so strong,” Petrie described. “The forces that he exerts on a shoe aren’t what a normal athlete would exert.”
Still, they incorporated Hyperfuse, which let them build a composite upper for peak performance. Instead of leather, which would have natural defects, they could design it perfectly right down to the millimeter to provide full zonal support. The full-length Max Air unit from the previous sneakers was slimmed down to just the heel. Then with the inclusion of carbon fiber, super light and super strong, it all added up to create a shoe that was noticeably lighter.
Petrie broke it all down mathematically for us. Basically, those tiny ounces might not seem like much, but over the course of a mile, that extra weight amounts to about 55-60 pounds. Considering James runs an average of three miles a game, that’s a ton of unnecessary weight.
“We could’ve gone lighter,” promised Petrie, “but LeBron said, ‘Hey wait. This feels great. I don’t want something…a slipper on there.'”
All of this took place on Friday afternoon in a locker room inside AmericanAirlines Arena, the home of the Miami Heat. Upon entering, we got through security and ventured down a hallway designed by Pat Riley. They call it Championship Alley, a way to inspire future teams. There were giant pictures plastered all over the walls of plays and celebrations from the 2006 NBA championship team. There were basketballs enclosed in a glass case, autographed from every member of the team. “There’s J-Will!” someone from the group yelled when we saw Williams’ signed ball and photo. Surprisingly, it wasn’t me.
On the court, the sneakers were too dope. I’ve been playing in the same Sharkleys since late 2009 only because I’ve convinced myself to give up the sneaker game to save dough. Still, I would consider myself a sneakerhead. Yet I felt like a different player wearing the V2 and most definitely, the PS. The breathability from the mesh was immediate. It performed better than any other shoe I’ve worn.
I love feeling supported when I’m playing, and that was my initial reaction to trying out the V2. My entire foot felt like someone was gripping it from the ankles to the toe box. We were running three-man weaves, outlet drills and did some dynamic stretching. But just before we started playing, Kenny Anderson (our coach, amazingly) told us to go grab a drink and throw on some different kicks. The different kicks happened to be sitting on the benches and they happened to be the Nike LeBron 8 PS, the sneaker James’ hadn’t worn at the time and the one he will wear throughout the playoffs. Literally the instant I put it on, I felt different, relaxed. Any type of tension that I had in my foot and legs from the V2, which can sometimes be both good and bad, was gone. Once we started playing, I never noticed the shoe again. That’s probably the best compliment a sneaker can ever receive.
Petrie said they began this long journey with LeBron just after the playoffs ended last year in Cleveland. They met together, penciled in some ideas and listened to James’ insights. Granted, this was right around the time that James’ free-agency romance was boiling over. Petrie said he had no clue where he was going. He just hoped it wasn’t some place cold.
“We were at his camp that week and you can imagine the rumors,” he said. “It was Miami one day, Chicago one day. It was a rampant rumor that was going crazy. I actually left thinking he was going to Dallas. That’s how wrong I was.”
While they hinted at doing something crazy should James and the Heat make the Finals, that’s a long way off. For now, everyone in Nike and LeBron’s camp are looking forward to an epic (the word was plastered everywhere) playoff in the new PS.
Who knows how Miami will do in the playoffs this year? All year, I thought Boston would beat them. I’m honestly coming around to them and am interested to see how they do. At least now, we know LeBron James will be equipped with some dope kicks. And I’ll be able to retire those old Sharkleys.
What’s your favorite sneaker from LeBron James?
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