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No frills, no flash, no pizzaz – just a great basketball shoe.
Eric Avar took inspiration from one of Tinker Hatfield’s classics and one of Kobe Bryant’s favorite shoes, the Nike Air Huarache Flight, and brought the latest technology and inovation to create the ultimate basketball shoe – the Nike Air Zoom Huarache 2k4. ?The shoe was the first Nike shoe created for Kobe Bryant following his exit from adidas and one season of footwear free agency.
While the shoe made the magazine spreads and was the center point for arguably one of the best Nike Basketball ads featuring a product, the big coming out party for the Huarache 2k4 was center stage at the Staples Center for the 2004 NBA All-Star Game.
While teammate Shaq owned the paint and the player point totals, Kobe Bryant racked up a cool 20 points and was on court wearing the Nike Air Zoom Huarache 2k4 for 36 minutes spending double the amount of time some starters put on the hardwood.
Nike held nothing back for this special edition of the Huarache 2k4. ?The shoes came in special LA themed packaging complete with a dustbag, LA branding, and the date of the All-Star Game (2-15-2004) stitched on the inner collar of the shoes. ?The Huaraches were also not so easy of a get for sneakerheads being an exclusive to Niketown LA and Niketown.com .
Since it’s debut, the Huarache 2k4 has remained atop many basketball performance lists and is a frequent visitor to NikeiD as well as the college courts. ?Nothing too flashy, nothing too crazy, no wild materials or ground shattering technology. ?Sometimes a great shoe is just that – great.
