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Basketball is back, but who has been making waves in Kicks On Court since way, way back? Much like last year, we’re counting down the 25 most important NBA players ever from a sneaker standpoint. Retooled, re-listed and remastered, check out our final five picks below.
5. LeBron James
all photos by Getty Images, select via Zimbio
LeBron James has pushed the limits of how basketball shoes are created and what technology is used. How? By simply being 6’8″ 260 pounds and one of the most freakish athletes in all of sports. With that to work with, what kind of shoe do you create for a one-of-a-kind athlete like LeBron? Over the years, King James has forced Nike to push the envelope, which is why we see so many groundbreaking elements incorporated into King James’ shoes. Whether it’s a full-length Air Max unit or a hexagonal Air unit and MegaFuse, Nike has had the daunting task of creating a shoe for the best athlete in the world for quite some time.
There’s no denying the fact that Michael Jordan’s signature shoe line changed the entire sneaker industry forever, but LeBron James’ power and athleticism may have reinvented the limits of what can be integrated into basketball shoes as a whole. His signature series is undeniably the most prominent and favorable line in the game today and definitely the largest. Nike had already created a dozen signature silos for King James before the two-time NBA Champion’s 30th birthday. Michael Jordan, who currently has 29 flagship signature sneakers attached to his name, had eight by the age of 30. We might be witnessing the largest signature sneaker line ever created.
-George Kiel III
