{"id":6368,"date":"2019-01-22T12:26:35","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T11:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/52.30.207.235\/nba-x-nike-sb-brief-history-basketballs-impact-nike-sb\/"},"modified":"2019-01-22T12:26:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T11:26:35","slug":"nba-x-nike-sb-brief-history-basketballs-impact-nike-sb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/nba-x-nike-sb-brief-history-basketballs-impact-nike-sb\/","title":{"rendered":"From Half Court to Half-Pipe: The History of Nike SB\u2019s Basketball Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Skateboarding and basketball are two sports about as different from one another as you can get. In fact, apart from a preference for big air, there\u2019s pretty much nothing in common between the two… and yet, Nike SB<\/a>\u2019s influx of basketball-inspired make-ups and official NBA collaborations makes so much sense!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Accidental Fandom<\/h2>\n

The likes of the Bruin, Blazer and, of course, the Dunk were all born specifically for the hardwood, adopted by pros, college athletes and amateurs alike. However \u2013 and completely unexpectedly \u2013 an entirely different group of athletes quickly became fans of the Nike<\/b><\/a>\u2019s newest b-ball offerings.<\/p>\n

Skateboarders throughout the 70s and 80s took to these models in droves, attracted by their excellent boardfeel, hard-wearing construction and ample cushioning. In fact, Nike\u2019s early basketball range performed so well, many skate rats favoured them to the skate-specific sneakers available at the time.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just amateurs that adopted Nike\u2019s basketball sneakers for skating, however – even the pros were doing it! In 1987, the Air Jordan 1 became immortalised in skate culture when the Bones Brigade laced up in OG Jays<\/b><\/a> for the classic flick The Search for Animal Chin<\/i>. The film concludes with a now-iconic quadruple spine handplant that featured Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain and Mike McGill all performing the manoeuvre in well-thrashed pairs of \u2018Bred\u2019 AJ1s. The remaining Bones Brigade member in the legendary snap, Tony Hawk, is the only one not wearing Jays in the shot \u2013 instead donning Sk8-His due to a newly inked Vans<\/b><\/a> endorsement deal \u2013 but even he has admitted to being partial to the legendary sneaker at the time.<\/p>\n

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The Bones Brigade in The Search for Animal Chin<\/em><\/p>\n

Culture Vultures<\/h2>\n

In the mid 90s, with mainstream interest in skate culture rising once again, Nike made a concentrated effort to crack the now-lucrative market. Their initial offerings were less than spectacular: thinly veiled attempts to mimic the designs of bonafide skate brands, without any true understanding of what defined a great skate shoe. Nike would continue to attempt to crack the market, releasing cumbersome models like the Air Choad and even purchasing upstart skate brand Savier in an attempted Trojan-horse approach<\/p>\n

It was only as the end of the 90s neared that Nike began to truly reflect upon their earlier unexpected success among skaters, realising that perhaps their older basketball models \u2013 which had long been superseded on the court \u2013 were already perfectly suited to skating. This resulted in the birth of the Dunk Pro B: essentially a prototype SB. The Dunk Pro B featured SB\u2019s now-signature puffy tongue, as well as materials better suited to finesse flip tricks<\/p>\n

Sincerity = Success<\/h2>\n

By the time 2002 rolled around, with the help of Sandy Bodecker, Nike launched SB<\/b><\/a>. Initial releases, which were carefully drip-fed through respected skate stores, shined the spotlight on the division\u2019s carefully tweaked Dunk, with just a hint of variety arriving care of a sole Blazer SB. In coincidental homage to the model\u2019s history, Nike SB team rider Danny Supa\u2019s debut Dunk embraced the colours of the New York Knicks. Supreme would further embrace the basketball connection, famously creating two collaborative designs based on the Air Jordan 3.<\/p>\n

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Danny Supa\u2019s New York Knicks-inspired SB Dunk Low<\/em><\/p>\n

Basketball-inspired SB designs would continue to appear over the years, including the nostalgic \u2018Be True to Your School\u2019 collection, the so-called \u2018J Pack\u2019 Dunks, (which utilised the beloved \u2018Royal\u2019 AJ1 colourway) and a duo of \u2018Rayguns\u2019 Dunks inspired by a fictional Roswell basketball team popularised in a memorable Nike Basketball advertising campaign.<\/p>\n

Nike SB would also give its superstar team riders an opportunity to show their love for the game through their pro model releases.\u00a0Paul Rodriguez, aka P-Rod, would flex his passion for basketball with countless Jordan<\/b><\/a>-inspired designs, including the highly-coveted \u2018J-Rod\u2019 and numerous little-seen creations made exclusively for Rodriguez and his close friends. Diehard Lakers fan Eric Koston\u2019s signing to Nike SB was celebrated with an unprecedented collaboration with Kobe Bryant, including a ridiculously limited hybrid of the Kobe 6 and Eric Koston 1 that came decadently packaged inside a genuine cigar humidor. This insanely rare collab was limited to just 24 units \u2013 in recognition of Kobe\u2019s jersey number at the time \u2013 and released at the Lakers\u2019 home ground, the Staples Center.<\/p>\n

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Paul Rodriquez Zoom Air Elite \u2018J-Rod\u2019 (2005) \u2013 Image via Project Blitz<\/em><\/p>\n

Jumpman Salute<\/h2>\n

In 2014, Nike would honour the Air Jordan 1s significance in skate history with the release of a metallic green AJ1 envisioned by legendary skate designer and photographer Craig Stecyk, and a black and white duo designed by Bones Brigade member Lance Mountain. Mountain\u2019s creations were a true throwback to the 80s that revealed mismatched \u2018Bred\u2019 and \u2018Royal\u2019 AJ1s beneath heavy coatings of paint.<\/p>\n

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Lance Mountain\u2019s \u2018White\u2019 Air Jordan 1 SB collab<\/em><\/p>\n

After the NBA\u2019s extensive endorsement deal with adidas came to an end in 2017, Nike were quick to take over the reigns. A selection of NBA-endorsed footwear was born from the newly established relationship, including a selection of Air Force 1s, but few collaborations have been as prevalent and extensive as that produced by Nike SB. 2018 gave birth to a NBA x Nike SB collection consisting of Dunks, Blazers and Bruins paired with matching NBA apparel.<\/p>\n

This debut collaborative collection was followed by the\u00a0NBA x Nike SB \u2018Wear-Away Pack\u2019 in early 2018. It consisted of a Cleveland\u00a0Cavaliers-inspired Dunk High Pro, Chicago Bulls-inspired Zoom Bruin Ultra and Golden State Warriors-inspired Blazer Low GT. Taking cues from Lance Mountain\u2019s Air Jordan 1 SB creations, each sneaker came coated in a layer of black paint that is intended to wear away and reveal the respective team colours beneath. Two matching NBA-branded satin bomber jackets\u00a0were also available as part of the collection.<\/p>\n

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A Welcome Comeback<\/h2>\n

Nike would continue the wearaway theme in mid 2019 with the reintroduction of the Air Jordan 1 into the SB lineup. Two new wearaway renditions were produced: an \u2018LA to Chicago\u2019 make-up inspired by the team colours of the LA Lakers and Chicago Bulls, and another dubbed \u2018NYC to Paris\u2019, which introduces splashes of pink to a box-fresh grayscale colourway.<\/p>\n

As 2019 continued, a new Jordan silhouette would join the Nike SB arsenal: the Air Jordan 1 Low. For the model\u2019s SB debut, the skate-ready AJ1 Low channeled the highly coveted Japan-exclusive \u2018Midnight Navy\u2019 Air Jordan 1 High from 2001. For an added touch, red mini Jumpman branding was added to the toe boxes \u2013 one of the rare instances when the Jumpman has been officially mirrored in its usage.<\/p>\n

On August 12, the Nike SB Air Jordan 1 Low returns once again and this time it\u2019s going all out on its basketball roots, replicating the legendary \u2018UNC\u2019 Air Jordan 1 colourway from 1985. The ultra-clean combination of white and cornflower blue was originally created to honour Michael Jordan\u2019s college basketball team: the North Carolina Tar Heels. The new low-cut SB release, spawned from the mind of Eric Koston, is officially nicknamed \u2018$24.99\u2019 as a nod to the bargain price that AJ1s were slashed down to on clearance back in \u201886, which was what led to them being so beloved among skaters in the first place \u2013 Eric Koston included!<\/p>\n

The Air Jordan 1 Low SB \u2018$24.99\u2019 releases on August 12 through all Foot District locations and the Foot District online store<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also releasing this week is the Air Jordan 1 High Defiant SB \u2018LA to Chicago\u2019, which finally lands in Europe after an unexpected delay. To score your pair, make sure you enter our online raffle<\/a> ASAP to go in the running!<\/p>\n

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Originally published January 22, 2019, as \u2018NBA x Nike SB: A Brief History of Basketball\u2019s Impact on Nike SB\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Skateboarding and basketball are two sports about as different from one another as you can get. In fact, apart from a preference for big air, there\u2019s pretty much nothing in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,63],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[4,7,5,6,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-6368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-noticias"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6368"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=6368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}