LeBron James was on top of the basketball world in 2012. The reigning regular season MVP had just won his first championship in South Beach while his 28.6 points, 10.2 boards and 7.4 dimes in five games against a youthful OKC squad had cemented his case as Finals MVP. The then 8-time All-Star had just secured his fourth career All-Defensive First Team and sixth career All-NBA First Team.
Just a month later, #6 and the 11 best hoopers in the States brought home the Gold Medal in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
It’s safe to say a celebration was in order – even after alcohol had soaked the locker room carpet and thumping speakers ignited a Miami crowd as the Heat received their rings in the blistering sun. The culmination was a lifestyle hoops collab like we’ve never seen before, the LeBron X NSW “Cork”.
One constant remained beside Bron and his accolade-filled year: the tons of cork caps he’d popped off champagne bottles in celebration.
With Nike’s lifestyle leaning Sportswear division heading the design process, a new era of Nike Basketball had been spawned through the upper echelon that their top signature athlete resided in, incorporating premium fabrics and materials that amounted to James’ success. These weren’t meant to be laced up and hooped in. Nike had other plans, but we’ll get to that in a second.
What once was a boundary pushing hyperfuse upper had now been replaced for genuine cork. A mesh tongue now laid in smooth brown leather underneath leather wax laces that connected to hidden red flywire and golden eyelets. Incorporating a mixture of brown, university red, hazelnut and cream, the outside swoosh, medial swoosh and LeBron’s Sportswear logo are done up in a darkened cork contrast.
Interjecting between a detailed cream midsole and ice white outsole is a see-through 360 Zoom unit that caught fire in the sneaker community with the launch of Tinker Hatfield’s Air Jordan III. Perforations are added along the cork upper to provide additional ventilation as well.
The NSW X “Cork” did more than rile up both the sneaker and hoops community, it inspired other signature athletes like Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant to take on their own sportswear collections remixed with luxury materials.
The NXT’s, EXT’s and subsequent NSW releases weren’t long winded, and a few were misses, but the incorporation of suedes, premium leathers and denim alongside Nike’s performance basketball line harkened back to the days of the Air Jordan 11, providing the community with sleek and suave sneaks to kick in the streets while repping their favorite hooper with the KD 5 NSW, KD 6 Floral and Kobe 9 NSW.
But when it comes to the company that resides out in the Pacific Northwest, a celebration isn’t truly done right unless the presentation amounts to the surprise. As a result, Nike fashioned a deluxe box for limited release. Mirroring the silhouette, the box holding the pair of sneaks was made entirely out of cork with a LeBron branded leather bound which sat inside a laser-etched LeBron branded wooden box.
In terms of send offs, this sportswear collab might just take the cake, making it the perfect celebration for the man that still stands atop the basketball ecosystem a decade later.
@randomsneakerpage When cork meets a basketball sneaker. #fyp #lebron #sneakerhead #foryoupage #kickslookback ♬ original sound – randomsneakerpage