This past NBA season was one of the most entertaining in recent memory, thanks in large part to the league featuring more talent per roster slot (and per team in many cases) than at any time since Michael Jordan’s first retirement.  Nike Basketball finds themselves in the fortunate position of outfitting the majority of the league and most of that group is outfitted in one of two top-flight series that are also really starting to come into their own.  Just check out these Nike Zoom Hyperfuse 2011 player exclusive colorways we’ll be seeing on the hardwood if the NBA and its union ever resolve their ongoing negotiations.  You gotta hope the 2011-12 campaign isn’t shortened by even a game when guys like Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook, Rudy Gay and Lamar Odom are all making spectacular plays while jockeying for playoff positioning.  Click through to see those four Zoom Hyperfuse 2011 PEs along with the black, Photo Blue and Volt edition that’s becoming this model’s signature colorway and stick with Sneaker News for the release dates.  via HK-Kicks

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Wait a second, didn’t Supra just release a special edition sneaker in red, white and blue in celebration of national pride?  If you found yourself thinking that upon seeing the above pictured release, you’re probably thinking of the recent ‘Flag Pack’ Skytop II or perhaps the ‘Puerto Rican Day’ Vaider, and though this one has a much larger target audience than the latter, the Supra Skytop ‘Liberty’ is equally limited.  As with many Supra special releases, these babies represent a 413-pair run that you’ll find at top-tier Supra accounts starting Saturday, July 2nd, so click through to see more angles and stick with Sneaker News for the latest Supra release dates.

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Judging by their clear avoidance of any similar hoopla of late, it’s clear Nike Basketball learned that old lesson about eggs in a basket from the MVPuppets campaign back in ’09, though it now seems possible the Swoosh wasn’t entirely without premature celebration with regards to LeBron James‘ recently concluded campaign.  Or perhaps this Nike Air Max+ 2011 ‘King James’ edition was crafted to keep LeBron cool during a summer when much of the heat you’d expect him to be feeling would come from within.  The Air Max 2011′s carefully tuned full length Max Air cushion is precision designed to handle that kind of pressure, and this Heat ‘home’ style colorup is a refreshingly high-contrast take on the simple palettes that abound these days.  Click through to see more, let us know what you think and stick with Sneaker News for word on a possible retail release. via stickie/MN

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The Diamond Supply Co. x Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Tiffany’ just earned a primo slot on Complex’ list of the top 50 Nike Dunk SBs, a development that shocked a total of zero experienced sneakerheads when the list was published Monday morning.  Experienced collectors recognize the croc-textured leather and groundbreaking colorway as one of the GOATs, a fact that’s not lost on Swoosh Skateboarding as they continue to reprise the classics courtesy of new models.  In this case, it’s the Nike SB P-Rod 2.5 that takes on the classic Tiffany Blue, and while these lack the reptile texture on their muse’s overlay, the inclusion of this colorway with a vulc sole makes that a positive by setting these apart.  Click through to see more angles and look for these soon at select Nike SB accounts like Warped.

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Michael Jordan was, is and forever will be the unquestioned king of sneakers, but even His Airness can’t quite match the unique arc of Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway’s legacy.  Hardaway was an heir apparent to Air Jordan, a massive talent who like peer Grant Hill rose to dominate the game during MJ’s first absence but was met with a series of unfortunate injuries in the late ’90s and early ’00s that derailed what would have likely been a Hall of Fame career.  But Penny’s unique legend emerges from the fact that his career was plagued by ‘what ifs’, and he remains among the most beloved figures in Swoosh history despite his relatively short peak.  Fitting then, to pair Penny with a model that itself is one of the all-time greats and a model that has sustained its brilliance into its fourth decade, the Nike Air Force 1.  Penny’s AF1 Lows are based on the Air Max Penny 1 that along with Chris Rock’s Li’l Penny character, launched Hardaway as a household name back in 1995.  Click through to see some more angles and let us know if you’d buy a pair were this 1-of-1 to ever see a release date.  via SC

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Not since the days of Flight vs. Force has Nike Basketball featured a two towers lineup as formidable as they have now with the Nike Hyperdunk and Hyperfuse series.  These two beheamoths together outfit the majority of the NBA and have their sights set on the entire world, the Hyperfuse in particular having been designed with inspiration from Beijing’s outdoor basketball courts.  Nike Innovation Kitchen basketball lead Shane Kohatsu explains how the Swoosh learned from the streetballers’ ad hoc footwear choices, with Nike Basketball design director Leo Chang coming in to shed some more light on his Zoom Hyperfuse 2011 design.  Chang goes on to describe the Zoom Hyperfuse 2011 and how it improves upon its predecessors, including a new last for a more comfortable fit and a new heel counter design that sheds weight while providing the support necessary to take advantage of the superior Zoom Air cushioning.  Click through for the entire video, let us know what you think and stick with Sneaker News for the latest release dates.

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The fine folks over at Mark Ecko’s Complex.com have been putting out best of sneaker lists for nearly two years now, and it all started back in September 2009 with a look at twenty-five years of greatness in the form of the Nike Dunk.  Complex counted down until they got to the top of the list that includes collaborations, in-house designs, Nike Sportswear and SB releases, and since half-a-hundred barely gets you started with all the standouts over the years, this latest ranking focuses on that last group.  The 50 Best Nike Dunk SBs of all time features some of the most important releases of the last decade, and though seasoned sneakerheads will have little doubt as to which models scored highest, you might be surprised about which one comes out as the ultimate.  Click through for a sampling then head over to Complex for the entire feature.

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If you’ve been around the fashion and/or footwear scene for long enough, you’re bound to have heard someone somewhere exclaim some calendar as “The Year of . . . “  A recent example could be ‘The Year of (Cool) Grey’, with this neutral shade becoming even hotter than we could have ever expected during this post-recession era, thanks in no small part to last year’s blockbuster Air Jordan XI Retro.  It’s a model that people grew to love for its groundbreaking style and connection with MJ’s storybook first comeback, and one that’s held to similarly high esteem is its immediate successor, the Air Jordan 12.  Looks like ’12 is going to be the year of XIIs, at least when it comes to summer when the ‘Taxis’, ‘Obsidians’ and ‘Playoffs’ combine to set a record for most OG colorways of a single AJ Legacy model retroed in a single quarter.  Needless to say this is a huge development and along with word of a brand new Cool Grey, white and Team Orange model to be unveiled soon, it’s news that will have many sneakerheads absolutely giddy.  Click through to see what’s in store and stick with Sneaker News for the 2012 Air Jordan XII release dates.  via NT

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You’re not supposed to be able to mix navy blue and black this smoothly.  But then again, you’re not supposed to be able to cut out the hearts of an entire state for the second year in a row and do it so convincingly that Sneaker News readers old enough to remember ‘The Last Shot’ would have to admit we expected it.  The Air Jordan XIV shows you how to do all of that this holiday season, with a redux of the legendary original rumored to hit store shelves along with this brand new edition in Light Graphite nubuck (notice that the overlay sections are no longer tumbled as in the initial preview images) with black, white and Midnight Navy accents.  These offer an interesting twist on the greyed out trend we’ve seen over the past year or so, but will they ever be mentioned in the same breath as the ‘Cool Grey’ Air Jordan 11 that helped to fuel this fad?  Click through for some additional images, and if you feel the answer to the previous question is ‘yes’ and/or you just wanna grab yours before they hit retail, hit up Kicks-lab for a limited size run available now.

Air Jordan XIV
Light Graphite/Midnight Navy-Black
311832-011

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Nike has been known to generously celebrate its distributors special moments with collaborations and friends and family exclusives, and one such gem was bequeathed to Long Island’s Sneaker Bistro this weekend on the occasion of the store’s fifth anniversary.  The gift was a special Nike Air Force 1 Hyperfuse colorway that you’ll never see at stores because it was axed at the sample stage.  The reason why seems to be more of the simple fact that the market can only handle so much product, because it looks so nice in white and Medium Grey that it’s hard to imagine anyone looked at this shoe and thought “No.”  But unfortunately this one fell on the cutting room floor and the closest most of us will get to having won the AF1 Hyperfuses given away at the Sneaker Bistro 5th anny party, is to click on the jump below for some additional images.

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During a summer when most of the talk about basketball is about games that won’t be played, it’s refreshing to take some time and get back to the heart of the sport with some old fashioned streetball.  The annual Quai 54 International Streetball Tournament kicked off yesterday in Paris, where Ray Allen of Air Jordan XIII PE fame was on hand at the local House of Hoops to sign autographs and field a few questions from fans.  The Quai 54 Air Jordan V and Jordan Team ISO 2s were on display, but even more attention went to the first day of roundball action, where a slate of games leaves Monday’s survivors with a chance for the crown.  Click through to see more shots of the Jordan Brand-sponsored event and stick with Sneaker News for inside looks at the world’s biggest sneaker-centric events.

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Earlier this week Sneaker News filled you in one some interesting news: Andy Milonakis just dropped a pretty penny on some unreleased Nike SB Dunk High samples. Andy himself tweeted that the shoes were 1-of-1s, but he was rather close because we just got some clarification regarding these samples; mark these a 1-of-2, because another pair of these unreleased, scrapped samples sits somewhere in Beaverton. The designer of these SB Dunk Highs, who goes by the name Dr. Feelgood, used the ’89 Motley Crue album artwork as the inspiration, but that idea was shelved due to copyright infringement (a commonality with SB Dunks over the years). In any case, we’ve got new images of these samples owned by Nike and now, Andy Milonakis, so check out the extra shots below of the shoe and of Andy getting his kicks with these kicks and let us know what you think. via SW.

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