John Kim The timeline of the Kyrie Infinity basketball shoe is a slice of life that Nike would probably like to forget. Despite the shoe being highly touted by ballers, the Infinity model will always be remembered as the shoe that Kyrie Irving “trashed” on social media in a now infamous social media post. What followed was an attempt to put out some fires via a relatively canned follow-up by the Brooklyn Nets guard, but the damage had been done.
With that said, this recently leaked sneaker was presumed to be the Nike Kyrie 9. The Kyrie Infinity never officially bore the Kyrie 8 distinction, but considering the infinity symbol is indeed a figure-8, it was safely assumed that the Infinity was the eighth chapter of Kyrie’s signature shoe lineage, and the name change was just a nod to the Brooklyn Nets star’s personal quirks.
This upcoming sneaker had been recently making its rounds on social media as Kyrie has begun to give the shoe good mileage during offseason runs. What’s more provoking is that the shoe is now being referred to as the Kyrie 8, not the Kyrie 9, according to Kyrie himself. First looks at the shoe back in July didn’t reveal anything explicitly connecting to either number.
Sources close to Sneaker News confirmed that a Nike Kyrie 9 shoe would be releasing beginning in November. This information includes the White/University Red/Black/Wolf Grey colorway seen here, but at least three more versions are arriving before year’s end throughout the Holiday 2022 season as well — and that’s not including kids-exclusive offerings.
Based on how things have unfolded, we can presume that this sneaker that Kyrie is wearing, captured in photos by Cassy Athena, was originally the Kyrie 9, but is now being called the Kyrie 8 and the Kyrie Infinity is being relegated to the off-signature models like the Kyrie Low, Kyrie Flytrap, and the Kyrie S2 hybrid.
Additionally, there have been reports that Nike and Kyrie Irving have not extended the signature shoe partnership, making this Kyrie 8 model potentially the last performance basketball shoe in the Kyrie signature line.
Further details are likely to surface en route to an official brand announcement, so check out these on-foot shots below and stay tuned for updates.
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