We just saw the Ambassador IV debut while LeBron James was on tour in China, but that’s not the only significant news for King James coming out of Asia.  It was in the Far East just this past weekend that the ‘Miami Nights’ V/2 Lows hit retail and now another model that we may never see on US store shelves: the Nike LeBron 8 P.S. ‘NBA Finals’ colorway.  This Finals PE was probably among the key components of what would have been LeBron’s first championship celebration, but instead they seem poised for a AP-exclusive release.  Click through to see more angles and if you don’t want to risk missing out on the ‘NBA Finals’ PE LeBron 8 PS, pick up a pair today from Kix-Files or on eBay.

Nike LeBron 8 P.S.
Sport Red/White-Del Sol-Black
441946-601

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One of the best parts about retro releases from models you remember dropping when you were a kid is the chance to reimagine them in new, never before seen colorways.  Take for instance this new Nike Air Diamond Turf in a mix of black, grey and Fresh Water, a color combo that you’d typically tend to associate with the Nike Griffey series from around the same time.  A ‘Jacksonville Jaguars’ colorway released about a year ago, but thanks to the total lack of gold and the presence of those dark neutral shades, these teal-accented Diamond Turfs come off quite a bit differently.  Click through to see more angles and look for these at NSW retailers like Eastbay or on eBay.

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Owing to the durability and support inherent in court shoes, basketball and skateboarding have been entertwined over the past three decades plus.  Skaters in the ’80s took to wearing models like the Nike Blazer and Dunk along with other popular hightops like the Air Jordan 1, often with modifications like the scissoring-off that changed Steve Caballero‘s signature Vans into the Half Cabs.  But did you know that Steve himself was wearing Puma First Rounds as recently as ’87 (just two years before the Caballero’s debut).  Click through to see a sampling of riders including Caballero along with some other guys you might recognize like Chrisian Hosoi, Tommy Guerrero and Joe Johnson (no, not that Joe Johnson).  Let us know if this inspires you to check out Nike Sportswear for skate shoes or if it’s clear the modern designs reign supreme, and be sure to check out the entire feature over at Complex.

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During a year that might be Jordan Brand’s most impressively complete retro effort to date, we’ve also seen quite a bit of progression from the cutting edge performance models in 2011 as well.  The Air Jordan 2011 started things off with its unprecedented interchangeable midsole construction and then took it even further with the advent of the Hyperfuse-equipped AJ2011 Q Flight.  The Q Flights could be seen as paralleling other secondary models like Carmelo Anthony’s M7 Advance and Chris Paul’s CP3 Advance.  And that’s where the Air Jordan 2011 A-Flight comes in, the ‘Advanced’ AJ2011 now featuring a Flywire-embedded TPU upper with a redesigned mudguard and really, almost everything else except for the overall shape of the shoe and its signature tooling.  Click through to see more of a ‘Concord’-like colorway and let us know how these stack up against all the other Air Jordan 2011 colorways and variations we’ve seen this year.  via Taobao

Air Jordan 2011 A-Flight
White/Black
453640-102
10/2011
$120

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During a summer when we don’t even know when to expect the next season of professional basketball in America, Kevin Durant has been doing his best to stay in the spotlight.  From rumors of him signing with a Turkish squad to dominating at the Rucker, Durant has furthered his position as the ‘anti-LeBron’ since the Finals ended, and you know he’s going to be ready whenever that opening tip occurs.  In fact, Durant was just spotted in Miami of all places working out with Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Joe Johnson of all people, and the Durantula was spotted for the first time in his upcoming Nike Zoom KD IV signature model.  Click through to see a video of KD and JJ ballin’ at UofM and stick with Sneaker News for the official Zoom KD IV release date.

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The huge disadvantage in crafting your cutting edge performance designs in lightweight yet ultrastrong synthetics is that you’re immediately precluded from using fan favorite materials like suede and good old fashioned canvas.  But what Nike Basketball has given up to use Flywire-embedded TPU has been made up tenfold, the Nike Zoom Hyperdunk 2011 proof that the precise color patterns afforded by synthetics go a long way to evening out the loss of varying textures.  Just like the Supreme-level drops slated for later this year, these geometrically-patterned Hyperdunk 2011s feature a patterned toe to stand out above the pack.  These six NBA team-oriented colorways among the most impressive squad specific colorways we can remember from the series’ four year run, so click through to see the Celtics, Clippers, Grizzlies, Lakers, Spurs and Thunder editions after the jump and let us know which of these Zoom Hyperfuse 2011s is your favorite.  via HK-kicks

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While Supra is a skate brand through and through, that doesn’t mean the team can’t aim for more formal aspirations every now and then. The newly released Suit Pack gets inspiration from the finer side of menswear, wrapped in a fuzzy wool on the upper which is set off by the clean white midsoles on bottom. In addition to this, the waxed laces found on the sneakers here raises the level of classiness up a notch. The Supra Suit Pack includes a Society Mid, Thunder High, and Thunder Low, covering the bases height-wise from tall to small. Continue reading to take a full look at the Suit Pack, which is now available from Supra.

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Geared towards the Asian market due to the lack of indoor gym availability, the Nike Air Max Ambassador IV is a shoe that is able to handle any outdoor-court adversity without losing a step in performance. Sneaker News recently gave you a look at detailed images of the White/Red-Black colorway of the Nike Air Max Ambassador IV as well as some other interesting upcoming varieties, but here we have the ‘Blackout’ colorway – a staple in the Nike LeBron line. LeBron James is undoubtedly an ambassador for the game of basketball, and he certainly acted as one during his trip to China where the Ambassador IV was first spotted. Despite the tonal black motif, the Ambassador IV ‘Blackout’ possesses a unique contrasting visual on the textured toe as well as the fierce lion logo on the heel. Check out the additional angles of the ‘Blackout’ Ambassador IV and let us know what you think. via Kenlu.

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Thank goodness for the transformative power of slang because Nike Sportswear is absolutely murdering the Air Force 1 Low right now.  The quickest of glances over the past year or so of Uptowns reveals a sharp increase in the quality of premium releases along with your standard informal ‘packs’, the patent leather trio pictured above being a fine example.  Each of these go with a tonal vamp plus white on the Swoosh to match the midsoles, their mix of patent toe and perforated hindfoot a motif reprised from a Team Red edition that released earlier this year.  Click through to see more angles of the Obsidian, Gorge Green, and Black pairs then pick up one or all-three of ‘em from Kix-files, and catch these at Nike Sportswear retailers near you.

Nike Air Force 1 Low
Gorge Green/White-Gorge Green
315122-303

Obsidian/White-Obsidian
315122-410

Black/White-Black
315122-047

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Light, powerful and ready for liftoff, the Nike Zoom Hyperdunk 2011 extends the series into its fourth year with a Flywire and carbon fiber-equipped revision we’ve been waiting on since Blake Griffin stole the spotlight at this year’s NBA All-Star weekend.  And now that the first pairs have dropped along with a sizeable run of general releases right around the corner, Nike Basketball has put pieced together an ensemble of video images highlighting the shoe’s strengths.  Click through to see what a ferris wheel, fighter jet and great white have in common; we’ve got the full ‘Superior Elevation’ video waiting for you after the jump.

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Nike’s roster of tennis athletes is undoubtedly the best in the world, with countless titles and tournament wins under its collective belts. They can partially thank their Nike performance footwear for their success, but don’t expect to serve like Nadal when wearing a pair of Nikes. Fact is, Nike tennis performance shoes are one of the most comfortable around, and the new Nike Zoom Breathe 2k11 is certainly a top pick if you’re on the lookout for some new tennis kicks for the rest of the summer. Sporting Zoom Air and Lunarlon cushioning with a mesh upper and foam overlays, the Nike Zoom Breathe 2k11 will help you bring out the best sets of your game. Nikestore has these new Black/Yellow and White/Blue colorways available now, so take a look at the images below and head there to get yours.

Nike Zoom Breathe 2K11
Black/White-Anthracite-Sonic Yellow
454127-001

White/Treasure Blue-Obsidian
454127-100

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So Converse did a collaboration with Woolworth and the result was . . . sorry, wrong post.  Pictured above is actually A Bathing Ape’s latest release, and it turns out that it’s far more difficult to come up with a new way of saying ‘BAPE copied Converse’ than it is for them to actually do it.  And that’s not a bad thing, either, when the results come out like this black and red BAPE Ape Sta hightop crafted in Harris Tweed.  Click through to see more, let us know what you think about this model in comparison to Converse’s various plaid Chucks and BAPE’s design strategy in general, and stick with Sneaker News for updates on this October 2011 release.  via EK.

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