There are a lot of options out there for basketball shoes, but no brand of shoe is as consistent as Kyrie Irving’s signature shoe with Nike. The Kyrie line of Nikes frequently are seen as some of the most comfortable wear casually or play in. They’re a great multiuse shoe that Irving has made versatile with a litany of colorways that pay tribute to everything from SpongeBob SquarePants to Friends.
On Monday, Nike and Irving unveiled the latest in his line of shoes, the Kyrie 6. We’ve already seen a preview of these on Irving’s feet, but the official release gives us more details about Nike’s attempt to mix old school while adding some new “swagger” that longtime sneakerheads look for. It’s an interesting mix.
“My identity has never been defined by the hardwood and it never will,” says Irving. “It really is defined by the philanthropy that I do, the interactions that I have with other human beings — treating them with compassion — and being empathetic to who they are.”
The facets of the KYRIE 6 allow for Irving’s past and present to coalesce in a silhouette that neatly balances his generation-defining guard play and his old-soul character.
The look of the shoes is clean. I’m personally a fan. Using a lot of simple colors can be boring, but Nike has managed to take those and put it in a way that comes off as fun to look at instead of boring and dull. The shoe features a Traction 360 grip and midfoot strap for increased stability and arch support, but many of the aesthetics from the last shoe remain the same, including the Air Zoom Turbo unit in the shoe’s forefoot.
Despite the similarities, Irving himself said the design was a “blank canvas” for himself and the Nike team.
The Undefeated's @aardodson caught up with @KyrieIrving to discuss the latest release in his @Nike Kyrie signature sneaker series.
Kyrie details living out his dream of designing his own shoe and how returning home has impacted his life on and off the court. pic.twitter.com/brwCN4MMSZ
— Andscape (@andscape) November 4, 2019
“It’s been a long journey…..what separates my Kyrie 6 from the rest of my line is the creative design behind it. I’ve had a huge hand in the designing process before, but this one was just a complete blank canvas Let’s start from Ground Zero and build this into a huge art piece we can be proud of.
If you’ve been a fan of the Kyries before then these will be more of the status quo, which is exactly what you should want to hear. You can get the Kyrie 6 for yourself when the first colorway drops on November 22.
