It wasn’t the ending the Lakers envisioned, dropping last night’s game against the Nuggets to lose in 5. As we’ve come to expect, though, on-court kicks provided a slight silver lining. LeBron James rocked a plush upscaling of his Nike LeBron 21, clad in a royal shade of gold.
The TPU/mesh mixture that dresses the upper of mainline LeBron 21 releases is absent here, replaced by a luxe crushed velvet. The lateral Swoosh is pronounced over top, another change from widely available pairs, but the characteristic curvy line-work makes a literal impression underneath the new hardware. While a splash of camouflage on the sole provides more limited edition appeal, black accents in the sockliner and at the heel keep these grounded. Finally, the design closes out with a contrast Swoosh on the medial side, the black stamped-on branding outlined in contrast tan.
As it’s been in past years, there’s sure to be a ton of speculation whether or not this is the last game we’ve seen of LeBron in a Lakers jersey (or his last game period.) Regardless of how that plays out, it seems all but certain that this is the end of the on-court life of the Nike LeBron 21, as the next signature edition will likely debut before the start of next season. The silhouette still has plenty of time in the consumer market, though. For some publicly available colorways, take a look at the impending LeBron 21 “Multi-Color” or LeBron 21 “James Gang.”
Staying with signature basketball shoes, the adidas AE1 continues to shine, the new AE1 Low adding more intrigue to the already popular model.