Sneaker News Devin Booker’s season of Player Exclusives is slowly coming to a close, but he might’ve saved his very best for last. In Phoenix’s one and only game at Madison Square Garden this season, Booker wore a special Nike Book 1 PE inspired by the original 1997 colorway of the Air Force 1 Jewel Swoosh, stamping the Book 1 as the grand master of the Player Exclusive game.
The Air Force 1 Jewel is a unique variation of the ’82 model that features a new-look logo that was considerably smaller than the standard Swoosh logo. Not only was it shrunken in size, it had a bubbled, jewel-like appearance that eventually became the nickname for this style of the Air Force 1. That Jewel swoosh eventually made its way onto other models such as the Cortez and Air Max 1, bringing energy to once forgotten models.
Given the Nike Book 1’s resemblance to the Air Force 1, translating the original 1997 Jewel Swoosh NYC appearance was a fluid transfer. Booker’s on-court shoes features the same dark navy blue upper with white laces/midsole and the translucent orange on the Swoosh logo. The iconic John Jay-designed Nike NYC logo appears on the fore-foot. Below is an image of the original ’97 pair that inspired this latest PE.
In addition to this PE, Booker sported a different pair for the pre-game shootaround; the colorful “What The PJ” was also given to former teammate PJ Tucker who has received several player-only Book 1 colorways since.
