Kyrie 7: Old & New
Kyrie Irving's Nike basketball shoes line is based on the idea that the shoe focuses mainly on creative, fast-moving players. In designing the Kyrie 7, a beautiful creative process emerged that fits well with Kyrie Irving's character, namely spontaneity. Together, the athlete and Nike mark an important crossroads with the new Kyrie 7, namely the moment when improvisation and mastery meet.
“For us, being creative means exploring other disciplines at Nike. Our solutions as designers have to deliver technical advantages,” says Nike Footwear Designer Ben Nethongkome, who designs Irving's shoes. "Those advantages make this shoe better than the Kyrie 6 and the Kyrie S2 Hybrid."
On the basketball court, Kyrie is a creative ball handler who wants to be able to move quickly and easily, which is why new tools have been added to the basketball shoes to meet that need as much as possible.
Such as the sole, which also serves as a Kyrie trademark: a sole that wraps around the sides of the shoe to maximize surface traction when changing direction. The Nike NXT Studio that designed the Kyrie 7 tried to think as openly and creatively as possible, and that kind of thinking can lead to a better understanding of how refining the small details can lead to big improvements.
The Kyrie 7 is, for example, lighter than the Kyrie 6. That is partly thanks to Nethongkome's idea of removing the “color dams” that the Kyrie 4 through 6 had on the sole.
Although the colored dams added a touch of personality, they can also add unnecessary weight to the shoe's profile, creating a bump of about one millimeter when they are molded against the back of the traction nubs. That may not seem like much, but across an entire outsole it can mean a few extra grams.
Irving's creativity may include flashy, unthinkable dribbles, but his dance-like sequences always have a purpose. He is working to clear his path to the basket or to set up his teammates for a shot.
“New technologies and tools are pointless unless they power a new future,” says Nethongkome, adding that Kyrie's eagerness to think creatively about his own line himself shows how the point guard wants to shape a future that is bigger than himself.
"Kyrie wants to use the torch as the go-to performance model for that slashing type of player," he says. "The 7 was made with that kind of attention to detail."
Here's everything that's new about the Kyrie 7:
The redesigned sole provides more grip during quick and unexpected movements and, thanks to its new design, barely picks up any dust.
The well-known Kyrie strap that you would normally place over the laces to keep everything in place is old news on the Kyrie 7. They have now placed “2 fingers” on both sides of the shoe that put pressure on the laces so they stay tight and in place. The 2 fingers also symbolize an exercise Kyrie used to do at home with his father, namely pushing yourself off the wall with 2 fingers for as long as possible; he did this to train his hand muscles.
The Kyrie 7 uses a mesh fabric, which gives the shoe more flexibility during play and makes the shoe a lot lighter than its predecessors.
New colorways! On its release date, the Nike Kyrie 7 will be available in 4 different colorways in addition to its original color combination.
