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words // Nick DePaula:
In advance of the new Kyrie 4 unveil today, Nice Kicks caught up with Nike Basketball designer Ben Nethongkome for a deep dive into the process of creating Kyrie Irving’s latest signature sneaker.
Built with the Celtics franchise point guard’s speed and quickness in mind, along with his unique shiftiness and performance demands, Nethongkome was tasked with delivering a standout hoop shoe for one of the game’s greatest players. Irving is the basketball category’s 20th signature athlete in its storied history — the Kyrie 4 is the very first signature shoe that Ben was able to get his hands on designing. No pressure.
“You get excited to get an opportunity like this to work with a signature athlete your whole life, and that’s always been the ultimate goal,” he says.
Click below to listen to the entire episode with Ben Nethongkome, which starts at the 9:08 minute mark and details Kyrie’s input along the way, how the Nike Basketball team reacted to his league-shifting trade to the Boston Celtics, and whether or not you can keep an eye out for a plant-based or flat earth-inspired colorway.
Be sure to also subscribe to the Nice Kicks Cast on iTunes for future episodes and interviews.
