Nike Continues to Cash in on LeBron James’ Pending Free Agency
Written By: Scott | Category: Cleveland Cavaliers | Comments: 24
Remember those leaked-turned-photoshopped New York colorways of LeBron James Nike Air Max VII? Well, it turns out that they may not have been as fake as Nike wanted the world to think.
While they do not have the “I Heart New York” logo placed on the bottom of the heel – or question mark insoles - like the previously altered images, there will in fact be a royal blue and orange colorway of the LeBron James shoe. This edition will be one of four colorways that the shoe company will release that plays off of his pending free agency.
Among the “Rumor Pack” will be the blue/orange colorway (pictured to the right), a cool grey and navy blue colorway to represent the New Jersey Nets, a red and royal blue colorway for CSKA Moscow (yes, Moscow) and a light brown, dark brown and orange colorway to represent the Cleveland Browns.
On one hand, the Browns version is pretty slick. But on the other hand, it’s only one of four colorways with the other three paying homage to the other rumored landing spots. While Phil Jackson (and HoopsHype) may feel slighted due to a lack of plum and gold low LeBron’s, these four shoes will likely cause enough of a commotion among the rumor mongers.
Those that believe the rumor that Nike has a kicker involved in their contract with James should take note. While New York is a huge market, the ability to play off of the unknown looks to be paying even more dividends.
All images are courtesy of Dunk.ca – feel free to check out the Cleveland Browns editions below.
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(Fist bumps to TSB’s Chris Littman for the information)
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 2013 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
Damn I wish all this would end. Bill’s hair is changing color as quick as Lebron’s damn shoes.
A+ for Nike making mad money off of ludicrous rumors.
Sick! LeBron New York colorways of LeBron James Nike Air Max VII are my type of shoes!
If he comes to New York he’ll definitely be the K.O.N.Y.!!!
Oh, that must be the Hardwood Classics version. Love that slick royal blue and orange. Opposites on the color wheel!
You know how LBJ LOVES to pay homage to Mark Price & Co.
Konies. Are those like ponies, but stupider?
Props to Nike for not completely alianating all Cleveland fans by sporting us a Browns shoe. I like it. That said, how many versions have there been of LeBron’s shoe?! No wonder the dude has a 2k sq ft closet, he has like 7968356204 versions/colors of his own shoe.
It’d be awesome if Lebron played for Moscow next year. Then, we could finally watch the great Russian basketball in the U.S.
Nike told Lebron not to say where he was going so they could sell more shoes.
Yeah, that’s it.
The good news is that the Blue/Orange and the Brown/Orange are still all technically Cleveland colors. I have that electric blue 1980′s throwback that is being used this year and those shoes would go perfectly with it.
I’m starting to doubt LeBron will go to another city. The team has developed a patent on winning in the regular season under Mike Brown. The Playoffs are a given, and a championship is a step away.
The formula for success is here, people forget how difficult it is to win. That’s why winning is something special, because it’s a rarity.
NY shoes or not, it’s getting increasingly more difficult for LeBron to step out of Cleveland and play somewhere else. Given those facts and the fact that MB’s win percentage is a very respectable .663, other teams may want to start forgetting about it.
@8: It sounds crazy, but stuff like that happens. ex. Tiger’s “Hello, world.” When there’s a buck to be made, these companies try to get it.
I want the Browns version! NOW!
People more importantly consumers are so gullable!
I am not very up-to-date in the limited edition shoe scene, but if I wanted to get the Browns version, what is my best bet?
@12: looks like they can be yours for 868 yuan. whatever that is.
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dunk.com.cn%2Fshowshoes.asp%3Fid%3D6326&sl=zh-CN&tl=en
whether the pic is featuring Knicks colors or Cavs throwback colors is a toss-up to me.
The browns shoe is the one i’d like to knock around in.
regardless of what Nike is trying to make $$$ on…
the orange/blue look sweet.
the brown/orange look okay, but would have been better if they went with all-out and didn’t have so much white. take the orange/blue shoes and put orange where there is blue and brown where there is orange. that is a shoe I would buy.
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however, they are all secondary to the Ohio State version. now, that is a slick shoe:
http://sneakernews.com/2010/02/02/nike-air-max-lebron-vii-7-cool-grey-varsity-red-new-images/
All of these are coming out in April at Niketown. The cool gray version for the soon-to-be LeBron Brooklyn Nets is sweet too.
@Tron – This year is the Lebron 7. Starting in 2006 he also has the “soldier” shoe which is his playoff shoe. This year will be the “solider 4″. Having been in the middle of all this at Nike, Lebron has a NY shoe almost every year. I’ve got random Lebron color ways just sitting in my storage closet. Last year he had a Lebron 6 Ohio State version that is pretty tight.
Nike structures its retail outlets like this “Good, Better, Best”. Some of the Lebrons you see, can be purchased at foot locker. Others are only sold at House of Hoops, which usually on exist in major markets such as LA and NYC, which is why those shoes are designed and marketed to those specific areas. Also, many of the shoes you see him wearing can only be had as samples. They never made it to market, but he wore them. I had a pair of Lebron 6′s that was the original design, but it was then torn up and changed before release.
Even though Lebron has the biggest shoe line in basketball, he is small talk in comparison to what Jordan did. Jordan had his own brand within Nike, hell his own building on campus. Lebron is just a part of “Nike Basketball”. Much like Kobe.
Sent out my emails…..hope to land my Browns Lebrons in a week or two.
If Bron leaves, I am ending 18 years of NBA Fandom. I would be done.
@Jake In Ohio City You say you sent out your emails…who does one email to try and land a pair of the Browns colorway? I don’t feel real good about ordering them from a Chinese website, hoping there is another way.
Thanks!
@21 AdamPS – I just email people in basketball that I know from networking and working there. I would be careful where you order the shoe especially from China.
Have you guys seen the Ohio State Leborn 6′s. best shoe of his IMO
http://www.kicksonfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/nike-zoom-lebron-6-vi-new-colorways-now-available-1.jpg
Thanks Jake. I am not ordering them from China…hopefully a better alternative presents itself. If you cross paths with a pair of size 14′s let me know!