The newest “colorways” of Nike’s three signature basketball shoes are starting to look a lot like Christmas. The Kobe 8, Lebron X and KD V will all debut new looks on Dec. 26.
The Kobe 8, which was unveiled in November with black and yellow snakeskin-like designs behind a new mesh material, goes bright red and yellow for the Christmas season. The behind-the-mesh design looks less like the snakeskin of the original release and more like a Christmas tree in full decoration, even though Nike’s designers say the rhinoceros viper inspires the garland-like look.
There’s plenty of red in both the Miami Heat and the Lebron X Christmas edition. Highlighted by a gentle green, the main red of the Lebron X really gives the shoe a Christmas-inspired look. The red also contains a metallic-like reflection to give the visual identity of the color a little more pizazz.
Kevin Durant’s KD V took inspiration from video game graphics. Nike designers created the upper design, sockliner graphics and tongue tab logo for Durant’s special Christmas Day shoe with a red base to match the green of the sole and swoosh. KD’s signature blue gets the holiday treatment, with a touch of red sprinkled within to match the vibe of the video-game inspired graphics.
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Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest covering news, culture, sports design and entertainment. He has written on uniforms and sports logos for TIME Magazine, Sports Illustrated and more. You can follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb. Visit his website here.






Joseph
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 16:45waste of money
FUBLU
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 17:31^agreed
Jed
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 18:50They'll probably cost the same as a week's pay in salary...anything for Nike to make money on.
enio
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 19:29At this point I think Nike is messing with people. "Let's see how foolish we can make people look while still having them pay us hundreds of dollars!"
ingmar66
Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 15:34Horrible clown shoes. What a disgrace to basketball and to mankind in general: getting paid to wear and tout these? Shame on you, Nike and the players involved.