John Kim 
One year ago, adidas launched the 9.8 oz. adidas adiZero Crazy Light basketball shoe – the lightest basketball shoe in history. adidas pulled no punches in their introductory marketing campaign, taking direct shots at the competition and putting forth one of the ballsiest advertisements in the history of cutthroat sneaker ads. The adidas Crazy Light legend blasted off with a bang and its calculated aggression paid dividends simply because the Crazy Light wasn’t a trend – it was engineered to meet the weighted demands of athletes worldwide. The anticipation of the Crazy Light 2 mounted after the original became one of the most popular on-court and on-feet sneakers in the world, and with the added exposure of adidas Basketball in the 2012 NCAA Tournament (seven of the sixteen schools in the Sweet Sixteen were adi’d out, with schools like Baylor and NC State wearing the new sneaker) and the start of the NBA Playoffs just around the corner, the timing of the Crazy Light 2 Launch could not have arrived at a better time.
With just a few days to go in the shortened 2012 NBA Season, adidas invited a select group of media covering sneakers, sports, and design to Los Angeles to experience first-hand the adidas Crazy Light 2. With special host and sports commentary legend Gus Johnson, adidas took over the Los Angeles Clippers Training Facility in Playa Vista, CA with the Crazy Light 2 at the center spotlight. An impressive display of Crazy Light 2 prototypes and sketches as well as detailed commentary from Crazy Light 2 designer Robbie Fuller and adidas VP of Global Basketball Lawrence Norman filled the first portion of the segment – the rest was up to the media to explore the Crazy Light 2 by way of firsthand wear-testing, one-on-one interviews, and thorough examination.
The obvious upgrade from Crazy Light to its sequel is that the Crazy Light is even lighter than the original, weighing in at 9.5 oz. (size 9, a full 0.3 oz. slimmer). While lighter, designer Robbie Fuller states that more was added to the sneaker, rewriting the old phrase as “subtraction by addition” and composing a design that not only speaks to the fashion-conscious basketball player, but appeals to the lifestyle crowd with a slim and sleek profile while fitting right in with the lifestyle-basketball renaissance. The adidas Crazy Light 2, shown earlier in the high-energy Electricity and the inline Black/Red color way, will launch on May 24th at an MSRP of $140, so check out the adidas Crazy Light 2 Launch experience below and stay tuned for a Q&A session with Robbie Fuller, Lawrence Norman, and sports research specialist Elysia Davis for a breakdown of the newly-crowned “lightest” basketball shoe in the world.
