There have been a ton of changes this season for the Orlando Magic.  New arena, new teammates (one of whom is prominently rocking a huge variety of heat), and now a new direction for Dwight Howard‘s signature sneaker line from adidas.  The TS Beast was just unveiled in late summer and released to retail this fall, but just like a certain Nike Basketball superstar to the south, D-12 will be switching over to the even-lighter adidas Superbeast.

These joints are crafted with Three Stripes’ Sprint Skin technology, which along with a Torsion suspension, makes these the big man’s answer to the guard’s shoe in the adiZero Rose 1.5.  And just like those come in Chicago colors to match Derrick Rose’s uniforms, the first Superbeast colorway comes fit for Magic road games in a black-based palette whose techy construction allows for an impressive tonal depth, including a sick gradient on the medial sides.  Seems like basketball sneakers are getting increasingly synthetic and complex, but if they look as sweet as the Superbeast, keep ‘em comin!  Dwight Howard’s Superbeast will hit retailers like Eastbay next February and you can see a closer look when you click on the jump below.

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Were it not for an improbably solid season by the Kansas City Chiefs, a win this Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium would send the Oakland Raiders to the NFL playoffs for the first time since their 2002 Super Bowl.  Whether or not Da Raaaaidas can vanquish their hated foes in KC , there’s sure to be plenty of optimism in the Bay Area this spring, and that’s a perfect time to release this new Nike SB Dunk Mid Pro.  It’s got a mix of black suede and grey leather with metallic silver kept to the Swooshes to keep them clean, and this is one colorway in particular where the ubiquitous white Dunk midsole is more than welcome.  Check out some detailed images after the jump where you can see the new sole and our first look at the new tongue tag — anyone else wondering what’ll happen when they release a Premium?  via N-SB

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2008′s economic swoon brought with it a return to subtler sensibilities in the fashion world.  Sneaker design was not unaffected, and we’ve seen kicks get back to basics, including a 2010 when all black (and grey, and white) everythings ruled the lifestyle market.  What seems to be the first sign of life after a period of somewhat docile design is a trend toward animal prints, that, if looked at carefully, can be seen to have been foreshadowed nearly a year earlier.  Japan was (as always) ahead of the curve and we already saw something from Vans Japan that’s slightly similar to this new Zebra Pack from Vans Classic.  Interestingly enough, these Sk8-His and Authentics go for a tonal black-on-black look themselves, perhaps as something of a bridge to wilder looks we’ll see in the coming months.  Stick to Sneaker News for the first look at all these emerging trends, and click through to get a better look at the Vans Zebra Pack that’ll hit retailers in Q1.  via Provider

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Here’s a look at yet another Nike Retro running silhouette made relevant to today’s tech by being given a Lunar cushioning midsole. The Nike Lunar Venture features the Nike Air Venture upper with a seamless construction with a grooved Lunar foot-bed for added comfort. Quite the jump, going from the classic EVA cushioning and waffle-traction outsole to Lunar, which Nike describes as ‘rocket science’. Check out the extra shots after the jump and pick up this all new colorway of black, grey, and platinum over at Nikestore.

Style: 429768-002
Color: Black/Wolf Grey-Wolf Grey-Pro Platinum

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Late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s collaborative capsule with Puma will continue as with a posthumous tribute in Q1 2011.  The latest Alexander McQueen for Puma pack is perhaps the simplest we’ve seen in the history of this tag team, with just tonal uppers resting on white low-profile soles.  The key to these joints is the subtle elegance of how the satiny side panels contrast rich leather on the toe and heel, or the unique metallic tongue tag.  Have a closer look and let us know what you think; will you grab these when they hit at select Puma retailers early next year?  via HB

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Knock on wood, but the good times just keep on rolling for the Team SneakerNews fantasy b-ball squad. This past week, Santa brought us an extension on our season-long nine week unbeaten streak, this time with a punishing 7-2 smackdown on the guys from SLAM Magazine. We might not be basketball writers, but with basketball and the sneaker world being so closely tied in many ways, you know the crew over at SN knows their hoops too. Our mostly un-sexy crew of NBA boxscore beasts looks to continue on our dominating ways into the new year as we take on Brooklyn emcee, Skyzoo and his Emerson Park squad in week 10 of the FLuD Watches “Barksdale & Bell” fantasy basketball league. Check out the current Team SN roster after the jump and wish us luck as we head into the 2011 portion of the season.

TEAM SNEAKERNEWS WEEK 9 MVP
Monta Ellis – After a monster start to the 2010-11 season, Monta started to quiet down a little, but he perked back up in a big way this past week with 44, 36 and 39 points in his last three games along with an average of 7 assists and 3 steals per game over that span.

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The 2011 edition of the Air Max flagship will feature the uncaged 360 Air from the Air Max 2009 with a super-breathable triple-layer Fuse material on the upper. With the absence of Flywire and complete use of Fuse, Nike is focusing more on the breathable aspect of a running shoe – a requirement of a good running performance shoe. Sneaker News already showed you samples of the Air Max 2011, but here’s a look at an all-new colorway that you can expect for the Summer 2011 season; featuring a black upper with a Chlorine Blue Air bag and translucent outsole, this ‘Air Attack‘-esque colorway also features a neat insole with a graphic from the super-limited Air Max Powerwall collection of 2006. Is this a sign of another Nike Powerwall? That remains to be seen, but for now, take a look at the detailed images after the jump and grab this size 9 sample from dballaholic on eBay.

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You might’ve heard about the “ShoeZeum”, a jaw-dropping sneaker collection storage/display/museum from a devoted owner who values his sneaker collection at one million dollars. He’s looking to chop some of his collection down with this one-of-a-kind auction featuring ten Original pairs of the Air Jordan 1 and two Retro releases from 1994. Of the select originals are four pairs of the white/black/red colorway, two pairs of the banned black/red colorway, one each of the black/blue, white/grey, and sample white/metallic black, and two pairs of the Air Jordan AJKO. If you’ve got the money to pony up for this lot of shoes (which, we should add, will come once every two blue moons), check out each of the pairs for sale after the jump and check out the auction from authentic_sneaker_powerseller on eBay.

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It’s been quite a year for Sneaker News Blogs: Best of WDYWT, as we saw some jaw-dropping heat be submitted to Sneaker News Blogs: WDYWT on a daily basis. For the final Best of WDYWT feature of 2010, you’ll have the opportunity to vote for the best submission of 2010 from each and every winner from all previous Best of WDYWT features. There’s some serious heat in there so choose wisely, and we’ve got some multiple winners, like Mr. Anonymous of D.C. who stole four WDYWT crowns and Illy, who amazed us with his Custom Air Max 1 iDs. If you’re still not on the Sneaker News Blogs: WDYWT tip, the easy instructions are right ahead, so show off what ya got and don’t forget to vote!

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It’s a point guard’s league again and Chris Paul is largely responsible for the re-emergence of the ’1′ position. Jordan Brand hooked up with Chris Paul a few years back to create a signature line for the scoring/passing/defending point guard, but before they embarked upon that endeavor, Chris Paul was the recipient of some sweet Air Jordan PEs. Take a look at this Air Jordan V PE that dates back to 2006; it features a black upper with Hornets teal and gold providing the necessary accents to the colorway. We last showed you these in early Jaunary of 2007 but they’ve become available once more, so take a look at the extra images after the jump and check out the auction from bugginoutboy on eBay.

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LeBron James’ seventh Nike Basketball signature introduced Flywire to the line and marked a switch from Zoom to Max Air cushioning.  But did you know the Nike Air Max LeBron VII could have featured another new Swoosh trademark material instead?  Check out this crazy AML7 wear test sample that incorporates Hyperfuse synthetics into the most performance oriented ‘NFW’ edition we’ve ever seen.  It’s particularly interesting to see this ‘mashup’, cos the Zoom Hyperfuse didn’t hit retail till this summer, about three quarters of a year after the initial LeBron VII colorways dropped.  It’s unclear if we could expect further in-Fuse-on in, say, the Nike LeBron 9, or whether its absence in the VII and 8 mean King James simply prefers Flywire (-embedded carbon fiber).  What’s your take?  Is a Hyperfuse-equipped Air Max LeBron VII better than the released version?  If your answer is ‘yes’, be sure to check out the sample available for a short time from 343rebel on eBay.

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You might recognized these camel-brown leather-uppered Tokis if you can recall a certain somebody taking his certain talents to a certain beach. Check out these two upcoming colorways of the Nike Toki with soft leather uppers and perforated swooshes, similar to the early 2009 release that LeBron wore during his infamous one-hour Decision special. The broken-in leather look gives the Toki an added lux-lifestyle appeal with stitched reinforcements on the forefoot of the upper and thin, roped laces for an added touch. Both are set to drop in the Summer 2011 season, so take a look after the jump and let us know what you think. via Provider.

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