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Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample Posted: 14 Mar 2009 09:30 AM PDT Last month, we showed you exclusive photos of the Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low White, and many of you thought it was a clean, fresh look. Well, to add to your positive opinion of the Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low, we have now spotted a Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample. It features a 100% army green leather upper with minimal white accents on the LeBron tongue logo. However, its accent color can be seen mostly on the single stitching midsole. Other features include LeBron James’s imprinted signature on the side of the heel and the tonal lion head that covers the top of the heel. Is the low versions as good as the regular mid-cuts? Via NikeLeBron. Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample Nike Zoom LeBron VI Low Army Green/White Sample

Kicks On Court: Chris Paul Moves Mardi Gras to Milwaukee Posted: 14 Mar 2009 09:03 AM PDT Yesterday evening, we gave you our Nice Kicks Performance Review of the Jordan CP3.II “Mardi Gras”. If you have laced it up, you will agree that the Jordan CP3.II is one of the better basketball sneaker out right now. With that said, isn’t it coincidental that our Kicks On Court spotted Chris Paul in the same exact colorway of his latest signature sneaker? In supposedly one of the more boring cities in the United States, Chris Paul brought out the most exotic, livest colorway of his latest shoe yet. It features a predominately black base with purple, sunstone and orion blue accents throughout the upper. Maybe he can influence some of the Wisconsinites to attend Mardi Gras next year. For more information, check our Performance Review. Chris Paul attacking the rim in the Jordan CP3.II “Mardi Gras” Chris Paul in the Jordan CP3.II “Mardi Gras” Andre Iguodala shooting a jumper in the Nike Foamposite Lite PE Gerald Wallace dunking in the Jordan 6 Rings PE Yao Ming posting up in the Reebok Omni Hexride PE Nick Young attacking the rim in the Nike Air Penny III Joe Johnson in the Jordan Jumpman Pro PE LeBron James in the Nike Zoom LeBron VI “New York Yankees” Kevin Martin shooting a jumper in the Jordan Pure Pressure PE Pics via Yahoo.

A Conversation with Jason Mayden Posted: 13 Mar 2009 09:24 PM PDT Nice Kicks caught up with Jordan Brand Senior Footwear Designer Jason Mayden, designer of both the Air Jordan 2009 and the Jordan CP3.II, to this Chicago native what it was like designing the flagship Air Jordan shoe as well as the Chris Paul line among other things.  Find out what lent inspirtation for the new CP3.II and what keeps this busy man going. Click here to read our conversation with Jason Mayden. How did you find out that you would be taking on the Air Jordan flagship model? Jason Mayden - Jordan Brand: The day started just like any other day, but D’Wayne [Edwards] calls me into his office towards the end of the day and shuts the door and sits me down and starts asking me a few questions.  D’Wayne is a pretty quiet guy, so when he starts talking, you start to wonder if you are in trouble.  He said that he liked what I was doing and wanted to see if I was interested in doing what I dreamed about which was designing an Air Jordan.  At first I thought that he was joking.  I thought that this couldn’t be real, but then he confirmed to me that it was.  I found out about this just before Christmas in 2007 so I started working on concepts and designs over the break and in early 2008. You weren’t going to say ‘no’ to working on that project? Jason Mayden: [laughs] No, no, no.  I don’t care if they asked me just to design the outsole, I would still say yes. What was your reaction like when you heard that you would be designing the Air Jordan 2009? Jason Mayden: It was a combination of relief that I was finally able to live my dream, but at the same time, that relief went away instantly and felt, “ok, now I have to get to work.”  I felt the pressure of needing to live up to standards set by the previous people who designed the shoe. Shifting gears towards Chris Paul, when did you first get the chance to meet Chris? Jason Mayden: I first met Chris in early 2006 when he was just about to come over to Jordan Brand from Nike and so there were a bunch of presentations going on and people were trying to get to know who Chris Paul really was as a person and an athlete and how he fit into the overall structure of the brand.  I had the fortune of working with Micha Cooper who formally worked with Chris at Nike Basketball and she gave me the heads up on how he was as a person and how he was as a family member because he always travels with his family.  So I kind of knew going in that we had some of the similar values.  A majority of the people in Jordan Brand have the same family values so we get along with Chris great.  The first time I met him was actually the first time that I got to present to him and show him some initial kinds of concepts of what his first shoe could be and we sat down with his mom and dad there, his brother and business manager CJ, and I showed him a pictorial book of my life from when I was a kid in Chicago growing up to getting in Jordan Brand.  I wanted to show to him that my family was just as important with me as it was to him and from that moment forward, we just hit it off and to this day we continue to have a great dialogue. What do you think Chris brings to Jordan Brand that sets him apart from his peers in the league? Jason Mayden: Chris is the soul of the brand.  He is the guy that people counted out because of his size, but he has the willingness to try and push himself forward.  He’s grounded, down to earth, and reminds us of that Hometown Hero.  The whole idea of dreaming bigger things while shooting a jumpshot in your driveway - that’s Chris.  I would say that Chris is simply that youthful childhood ambition of hitting the game winning shot brought to life. For the first Jordan CP3 you probably had to work on some designs and concepts before working with Chris. Jason Mayden: Yes. How was the process different for the Jordan CP3.II from the original CP3? Jason Mayden: Well the original CP3, alot of it was research based.  It was almost like I had to study a subject that I didn’t have a personal connection with, so I had to study him very objectively.  I broke his life down to the struggle of New Orleans.  At the time we were still in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and there was alot of emotions that were flying high around the city while it was being rebuilt.  So one of the things that I wanted to do was to tell a story of New Orleans that the average consumer might not know about.  Everybody knows about Mardi Gras, but few knew about the Mardi Gras Indians and what the history of that meant to the city of New Orleans.  So I wanted to take a soulful approach with that one and tie that back to Chris’ story and where he came from in Winston-Salem and his granddad and all of the things that he had to overcome as a person. Going into the CP3.II, the first time we sat down to discuss this shoe we were actually in Phoenix when they were playing the Suns.  In his hotel room was Chris, his trainer, equipment manager from the Hornets, and a few team members of the Hornets and this conversation was totally different because we just started talking about the sneaker industry.  Chris is a huge sneaker fan.  He’s always looking at Nice Kicks and other sites and we just talked about the industry and where he wanted to take his shoe.  How he wanted to ‘zig’ when everyone else ‘zags’ and when he said that comment, it reminded me so much of how MJ thinks.  From the onset of this project, Chris  was aware of what the industry was doing.  The athletes usually see each other’s shoes way before the consumers do, so he knew what Kobe was doing, he knew what LeBron was doing, and he wanted to go in a totally different direction, but at the same time he still understands that this is a business and that our shoes have to be stable and compliment, not compete with other Nike, Inc. products.    So he was very adamant about doing something different, something fun and fresh, and really attacking a youth angle because he studies the game and industry just as much as he knows the basketball game. What sort of research do you do so that it has custom performance features made for Chris? Jason Mayden: We go to the Nike Sports Research Lab and look at high speed video of how people cut in the shoe.  We have a lot of great testers who play Division 1 basketball, so they may not be Chris Paul level, but they are definitely better than average.  We look at how they cut in the video.  Also look at game footage of Chris and how he plays the game.  We also look at game worn shoes that Chris has beat up and we see where they are wearing out and where they are breaking down.  So our research is a combination of controlled testing in the lab environment and then completely random testing in the NBA environment where you don’t know what is going to happen in a game at any given moment.  So coming out of the first CP3 we knew that there were certain things going on in the midfoot area that we wanted to eliminate with the shank.  So we wanted to sculpt it up alot more and ease the heel to toe transition to make it faster. What kind of challenges does it create to make a shoe that is for Chris Paul, but is one that works for the average consumer? Jason Mayden: Overall I think its pretty easy because Chris isn’t an abnormally tall or big person.  He’s not 6-10, 220 lbs.  Chris is an average height guy who just has phenomenal athletic abilities.  When we design our shoes for Chris, we design it for the everyday athlete - Chris just uses them in a different way.  Anyone could drive a Ferrari, but there are only certain people that know how to drive a Ferrari the way that it’s meant to be driven.  We design our shoes like Ferraris and its up to the person wearing the shoes to activate and utilize the technologies that are in the shoes. Was Chris very active with the design and development of the CP3.II? Jason Mayden: Extremely active.  I actually set up Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop on his computer for him so he was sending me color combinations, ideas on the height of the shoe and different materials to use.  He was extremely involved in the design process.  We were in contact at least every couple of weeks whether it was through text messages or email.  The two of us really have a great dialogue.  Even if he has 100% of his time focussed on basketball, he will send a few questions through his brother CJ and we will communicate that way.  But we are always emailing or texting back and forth what we can do to improve his shoes. The CP3.II has an interesting inspiration from the game of Futsal.  How did that sport inspire the shoes? Jason Mayden: One of the things we wanted to do going into 2009 was to shift the paradigm of what a basketball shoe can be.  We looked at different sports that use footwork as an emphasis for defense for the Air Jordan 2009.  Already being in that mindset of comparing and contrasting two different worlds and finding that intersection between both of those, I wanted to look at a game that was more fast paced  than basketball.  That was more technical, that required more skill to perform.  The way that Chris moves on the court is very much like a motorcycle amongst cars, so it’s really hard to compare him to other basketball athletes - he’s not like the rest of them.  So I looked at the game of Futsal which is 5 on 5 indoor soccer that uses a smaller ball and is a really fast paced game and the skill level required is that of outdoor basketball.  And that’s what they say about Chris, that his style of play is like controlled playground basketball when he’s on the court.  So what we did is we identified a person in the world of Futsal who plays the game, has the attitude, his looks, and even his importance of family was thoroughly similar to CP.   The technical aspects of the game are extremely similar to basketball.  The game is played with 5 players per side, the footwork needed to play Futsal is the footwork needed to be a dominant point-guard.  We looked at how the shoes for Futsal functioned from heel to toe, we looked at the weight, the way the shoes were being supported on the foot, materials that they used to make the shoes lighter and more durable, and how the shoe was constructed.  The CP3.II doesn’t look like a Futsal shoe, but the shoe features all of the essentials that go into a pair designed for Futsal. Something that I noticed immediately on the CP3.II was a new material that went around the ankle.  Tell me about this product NuFoam.  Has it been used on other Jordan products before?  And what does the pattern represent? Jason Mayden: We have used similar versions of NuFoam, but not this technical version of it.  It has been used on ankle sleeves and compression products, but this particular one was strategically designed for CP to be lightweight, breathable, and structural.   Alot of those properties are not as important when it is used to make an arm sleeve or ankle sleeve, but when it was built into the upper of the shoe, it had to be specifically engineered to function to Chris’ standards. The pattern of the NuFoam is made to represent a chain-link fence tying back to outdoor basketball and Futsal.  Both sports are professionally played indoors, but are very often played outside on a court surrounded by a chain-link fence. You now have two major projects to take care of with the Chris Paul line as well as the Air Jordan line.  What keeps you going? Jason Mayden: You know, what keeps me going is that there are kids out there that are going to give up on their dreams before they even realize it and if they could see someone who is living their dream, doing a good  job, doing it the right way, it might inspire them to continue on whatever it is that they set out to do.  Whether it be a shoe designer, doctor, lawyer, politician, or elementary school teacher, they need an example outside of entertainers and athletes.  Myself, Reggie Saunders, Dale Allen, Terri Hines, always want kids to know that you don’t have to always be the person in front of the camera to live a good life.  You can be happy and do the things you want to do and definitely be a good person.   So giving back and letting kids know they can achieve what ever they want to do is what keeps me going.

Jordan CP3.II Performance Review Posted: 13 Mar 2009 06:55 PM PDT After an amazing year making the All-Star team, averaging a double-double (with assists), and helping bring home the Gold, Jordan Brand has another signature shoe for Chris Paul. Jordan Brand’s Senior Footwear Designer Jason Mayden designed Chris Paul’s second signature shoe, the Jordan CP3.II (”C-P three point two”) for what many would argue to be the game’s best point-guard. The Jordan CP3.II made its public debut in limited numbers, but many of you have been asking how the shoes perform leading up to the nationwide release tomorrow, March 14th.  Nice Kicks put the the new Jordan CP3.II to the test and the results are in!  Click here to see how they performed as well as some detailed shots of the Jordan CP3.II. Jordan CP3.II Jordan CP3.II Jordan CP3.II Jordan CP3.II Jordan CP3.II Jordan CP3.II Jordan CP3.II Jordan CP3.II Jordan CP3.II

Air Jordan Release Reminder Posted: 13 Mar 2009 06:54 PM PDT Jordan Brand is dropping serious heat this weekend in the form of over 10 releases! Four colorways of the Jordan Fusion 6 make their way to retailers this weekend. The latest “Championship Pack” paying homage to MJ’s victory of the Seattle Sonics drops, featuring two colorways of the Jordan Phat Low and one of the Jordan 6 Rings. The Jordan 1’s make their way into the mix as well, the Blue Sapphire high top version as well as a low top version with Velcro straps and Blue Sapphire accents. Last but most certainly not least the CP3.II makes it’s nationwide debut this weekend at Jordan retailers. Check out all the releases after the jump, and stay up to date by visiting our newly updated Jordan Release Dates page. Air Jordan Release Reminder March 14, 2009 Air Jordan Release Reminder March 14, 2009

Nice Kicks Staff Picks Week 26 Posted: 13 Mar 2009 05:26 PM PDT The second week of March brought us some of the best content we have received in a long time. We gathered photos and news about the Kanye West x Louis Vuitton collaboration, received photos of upcoming Air Jordan 1 releases, an exclusive photo of an Air Yeezy release and exclusive photos of the New Balance M850 and MTG580. With that said, our Nice Kicks staff had plenty of choices to choose from. Click the photo to read the analysis of our staff picks for week 26. What was your favorite sneaker of the week?

Nike Zoom Kobe IV MPLS Posted: 13 Mar 2009 05:25 PM PDT Arguably the best colorway of the Zoom Kobe IV so far, is about to hit retailers. We were able to spot a few sellers who already have them available on eBay. The Nike Zoom Kobe IV MPLS colorway features grey and blue to match those “turn back the clock” Minneapolis jersey’s the Lakers rock on occasion. The team hasn’t worn the 1950’s era colors yet this year, but we’ll keep an eye out in our Kicks On Court to keep you posted. Look for these at your local retailer soon or click here to grab your pair a little early. Nike Zoom Kobe IV MPLS

Nike Air Yeezy Zen Grey Posted: 13 Mar 2009 09:49 AM PDT Kanye has apparently started sending out his Nike Air Yeezy to his homies, maybe because they don’t want to fork over the big bucks for those Louis Vuitton’s? The rest of us looking forward to these kicks will have to wait until April to get our hands on this colorway. This colorup of the Nike Air Yeezy seems to be meeting mixed reviews, but also growing on people, at least here at Nice Kicks. The “Y” print across the strap and around the toebox is most definitely a unique look. The combination of grey and the peach colored inner liner is a combo not usually seen on many kicks, which is fitting for the Yeezy which is also a truly uncommon silhouette. Of course as seen before the glow in the dark sole also another element to these neck breaking kicks. Insta-copped? Copped? If the price is right? Let us know what you think by clicking here. Via Deadstock Don. Nike Air Yeezy Zen Grey Nike Air Yeezy Zen Grey Nike Air Yeezy Zen Grey

Puma Winner Pack Posted: 13 Mar 2009 09:21 AM PDT When we showed you the Puma Spring Collection 2009 last week, many of you stated that Puma stepped its game up from recent releases. However, if you think the 2009 Spring Collection was an upgrade, check out Puma’s upcoming Winner Pack. This soon-to be-released Puma Winner Pack consists of five premium models (El Rey Metallic WP, First Round Flip Metallic WP, Esito Metallic WP, Drift Cat WP, Basket Metallic WP) in three different colorways. All sneakers in the pack will feature some hint of gold on the upper. The El Rey and First Round Flip will release in black, white and gold color schemes, while the Esito Metallic WP and Drift Cat WP will be available in black and white with minimal gold accents. In addition, the Basket Metallic WP will release in black and gold colorways with white accents. Look for the collection to hit Puma retailers during this month. Via kenlu. Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack Puma Winner Pack

The Hundreds Footware Posted: 13 Mar 2009 08:39 AM PDT The Hundreds Footware line up has been slowly growing with classically styled premium kicks. Check out this vid of the many ways of how to put them to use. From skateboarding, fixed gears, to just daily grindin’, The Hundreds has got you covered.

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