Browsing the "Nike Basketball: 1992-2012" Tag
August 5th, 2012 by John K.
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Building off the successful Zoom platform of 2001′s Hyperflight, Aaron Cooper and Eric Avar set out to re-create the Hyperflight’s performance while incorporating an aesthetic element of “half tradition, half amazing”. Thus came the Nike Zoom Ultraflight in 2003, which seamlessly combined the luxurious feel of premium leather with a tech-driven translucent shell that exposed all the inner workings of the shoe – an idea form when Cooper and Avar visited a sporting goods store in New York City. This created the task of building a styish inner bootie now that the inner elements were completely exposed, and the finish product, of course, was another game-changer in Nike Basketball history. More of 2003′s Nike Zoom Ultraflight below, so take a look and read up on all of Nike Basketball: 1992-2012 if you need to catch up.
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August 4th, 2012 by John K.
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Designer Aaron Cooper had the high-pressure task of penning the first chapter of what Nike had projected to be a life-time partnership. Today, the Nike LeBron series is a certified hit, and it all started with Cooper’s Nike Zoom Generation of 2003; the sneaker was constructed inside-out and built on a foundation of comfort, while the design centered around the “modern soldier”, as LeBron transcended Force, Flight, and Uptempo altogether. The finished product was a sleek field-boot style that drew inspiration from the massive Hummer H2 SUV, and upon putting them on for the first time, LeBron stated the shoes were “the most comfortable shoes [he's] worn”. Study up on the first of the Nike LeBron saga below and let us know where the Zoom Generation ranks among your favorite all-time LeBrons!
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August 3rd, 2012 by Aaron Hope
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Sneaker News has followed Nike Basketball back through the first half of its examination of the past twenty years, and after Tinker Hatfield’s name rang out through the first week, this second go-round has been dominated by another legendary designer. But even with all the success of the Air Penny 1, Air Foamposite One, Flightposite and Shox BB4, Eric Avar looked to Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman for inspiration on the 2001 flagship release. The Nike Air Hyperflight was a response to the question with which Bowerman met Avar in product meetings over the years: “Can you make it lighter?” Click through to see the sketches that show the transition from the rocket-infused BB4 into a new era of synthetics and bold colorways and stick with Sneaker News for the second half of this series next week.
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August 2nd, 2012 by Aaron Hope
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Any serious sneakerhead could tell you of Tinker Hatfield’s immense influence on sneaker design and the first few entries in Nike Basketball’s 20 year retrospective echoed this fact. As we follow time forward into the middle ’90s, another legendary designer makes his name starting with Penny Hardaway and the revolutionary Foamposite line, then continues to build his star along with the new generation of freakishly athletic roundball stars. Eric Avar‘s 2000 Nike Shox BB4 was itself the culmination of two decades of research, a shoe whose core theme could finally be realized thanks to the invention of improved foam fabrication. The BB4′s unique ‘rocket and booster’ appearance proved Avar’s opinion that “every shoe should have one bold, iconic expression to it [and] sometimes you can get away with two,” and will forever be remembered as the shoe that made Fred Weis famous (did you get the ‘Dream Team’ pack retros?). Click through to see more of Vince Carter’s Shox debut, let us know how they compare to the other milestone designs we’ve chronicled and stick with Sneaker News as we continue to chronicle Nike Basketball’s best on this side of the millennium.
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August 1st, 2012 by Aaron Hope
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After a fairly thorough excavation of the legendary 1995-96 season and its immediate followups, Nike Basketball continues its journey through the past two decades of excellence with the spiritual successor to yesterday’s entrant. ’97′s Air Foamposite One set the bar with a then-record $170 MSRP and a design that remains ‘futuristic’ to this day, and two years later, Foamposite lead designer Eric Avar leveraged the technology to “create a seamless extension of your body.” The Nike Air Flightposite was born two years later with a sleeker design inspired by classical anatomy drawings and a unique zipper enclosure that made it one of the smoothest basketball shoes ever created. Click through to see more photos, sketches and words from the designer (conspicuous by a complete absence of Kevin Garnett references) and stick with Sneaker News for tomorrow’s look back over 20 years of Nike Basketball brilliance.
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July 31st, 2012 by Aaron Hope
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We’ve chronicled Nike Basketball’s trip back through the past twenty years over these past couple weeks and today we encounter the design that’s made more of an impact on the last few years than any other on the list. The Nike Air Foamposite One debuted in 1997 after a product meeting with Penny Hardaway left the star of the Air Max Penny 1 and II with absolute certainty that “This [was his] next shoe!” In fact, the Air Foamposite One was a Penny 2.5 of sorts, heavily influencing the III and taking cues from the wavy-lined predecessors, and the recent rise in all things Penny has seen these rise to the top as (along with the Pro edition) arguably the most collectible model released over the past three or so years. Click through to see more classic photos and promo materials as well as some insights from designer Eric Avar and stick with Sneaker News as we continue to examine the greatest Nike Basketball designs of all-time.
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July 30th, 2012 by Aaron Hope
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It debuted the summer after that legendary season and saw most of its on-court time in the next NBA campaign, the Nike Air More Uptempo could be seen as the bookend to Nike Basketball’s utterly superior 1995-96 campaign. Riding high on a wave of momentum built by standout designs like the Air Jordan XI, Air Max Penny 1, Zoom Flight 95 and even a slam dunk on the ladies end with the Air Swoopes, Swoosh designer Wilson Smith wanted to figure out how to make Nike’s triumph even more apparent. Scottie Pippen made this model his own as a part of Chicago’s triumph over Seattle in the ’96 Finals, then rocked the just-retroed patriotic pair at the Atlanta Olympics while a nation of young sneakerheads followed along as best we could (anyone else cop the Air Much Uptempo takedown version?). Have a closer look at sketches and promotional material as well as some words from the designer below and stick with Sneaker News for more on this trip down memory lane through two decades of Nike Basketball standouts.
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July 29th, 2012 by John K.
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With a name that rhymes with “hoops”, it seems like a future in basketball was in the stars. Nike Basketball continues its 20-shoe retrospective of Nike Basketball of the last two decades with the Air Swoopes – the first signature sneaker for a female basketball athlete. The pioneering era of Swoopes came right as the WNBA was born, and the league certainly flourished thanks to Sheryl’s bonafide superstar status and elite level of performance; Nike jumped at the bit and created the Nike Air Swoopes and create a reversal of trends as men sought after the shoe as well. More of the Air Swoopes below, so take a look and check out the entire story archive of Nike Basketball: 1992-2012 if you’ve missed out on any earlier entries.
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