Kyrie Irving thinks that his new signature Nike basketball sneaker sucks. To be exact, the outspoken Brooklyn Nets star commented on a leaked image of the shoes on Instagram, writing that the shoes are trash and that he “has nothing to do with the design or marketing” of the shoe.
Irving went on to write: “IMO these are trash! I have absolutely nothing to do with them! Nike plans to release it without my okay regardless of what I say, so I apologize in advance to all of my sneaker heads and true supporters of the #KAI11 brand.”
It’s no secret that players have varying degrees of input on the design of their signature sneaker. Usually, they tell the brand what they want in terms of performance and the team of in-house designers at the brand create the overall design, which then gets okay-ed by the player and his team. Some players take a more hands-on approach than others, however, it’s rare that a player comes out and says they had no input whatsoever and that they actively dislike the shoe.
Previous Nike Kyrie sneakers have been released in the fall, coinciding with the start of the NBA season. If that is the case for the Kyrie 8, it’s highly likely that the sneaker is ready to be released soon and that it would be too late for any major changes to the design and rollout.
Irving’s signature sneaker is one of Nike’s more popular designs, as it’s slightly more affordable than the brand’s other signature basketball shoes, generally performs very well, and is the canvas for a range of collaborations and special editions — most famously the ongoing partnership between Nike and Concepts.
It’s currently unclear what prompted Irving to reveal his disdain for the shoe so publically. Check out Irving’s comment below and stay tuned for updates to this developing story.
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