Nike & Kevin Durant: innovate to win

If you're Kevin Durant it is hard to stop thinking about the win, difficult to slow down the desire not to enter the team of the eternal defeated with talent, of which belong even NBA legends such as Barkley, Stockton & Malone, Allen Iverson. Every detail, every nuance becomes essential as well as aimed at that one goal. KD must have discussed it with Nike since his first approach in 2009, when with the transfer of the franchise to Oklahoma City, begins the contract that leads KD to become one of the faces of the company.

The landing of Kevin Wayne Durant in the league is indeed dated 2007/2008, when was chosen at number 2 in the NBA Draft by Seattle SuperSonics, one of the most beloved and historic NBA teams. Not even the time of settling in, however, and Durant has to fly at OKC; is planned to set up an entire culture, the OKC team is full of young people from the dominant perspectives. Seattle remains only the memory in the first signature that Nike makes available to the Washington DC talent: KD 1, in a special edition white with green and yellow inserts. The tastes of KD are immediately entrusted to Leo Chang, one of the most important and recognized NBA sneakers designers ever. Together they decide the basic color of the line, which will always be black with blue and orange inserts. The special orange edition is the one with which KD shines for the first time when, during the All Star Weekend, he won the first HORSE tournament - a traditional challenge of shooting drills – in the league history.

Despite the KD 3 remains one of the shoes that Durant (and Chang) are more loyal to, the next level, the transition to the future takes place with the Nike Zoom KD IV. From this signature onwards fact Durant enters the Olympus of athletes sponsorship, its sales exceed those of Kobe, asserting its presence as a perfect shoulder to Lebron James. The colors are multiplied and  Nike is lucky enough to see his two champions compete in the final. The last edition of the most hipster League team (OKC) arrives at the Finals to compete against Miami, led by Chosen One LeBron James, and they finished crashed 4-1.

After the disappointment of the final defeat and the abandonment of James Harden, Kevin Durant takes refuge in his undeniable design talent. In early 2013, the Nike still uses once the signature of Durant to anticipate market trends. Adapting it to his perimeter game, Nike produces a low sneaker, full of painstakingly sewn details (the primary inspiration stems from the accuracy of the mechanisms of a watch) him at number 35. The KD VI is in fact a merger between football boot and Air max and Zoom elements most usual of basketball line.

"The KD VI has the perfect mix of  lightness and composition I and Leo have conceived from the outset. I can not wait to start playing with it, "said Kevin. And he likes the KD 6 so much to delay the use of KD VII. His tastes, however, are not the only reason for the wait. Behind there is the big deal that Jay Z (in the meantime become Durant agent) is trying to wrest from Nike, making lever on the interest and the economic availability of Under Armour, which after convincing Curry (we talked about it here) is trying to replicate. It takes $ 30 million (highest contract also that of Lebron) to ensure the permanence of Durant until 2024.

"There is only one title I’m interested to and that is the NBA title." Time goes fast and the obsession of Durant starts to become real. A few months ago rumors of a possible departure from OKC (directions: most fertile land) began to drift, making restless the fans. In response KD and Nike have released an incredible new version of KD 8 elite, the Heightened. Once again innovation in Nike passes through the feet of Durant who will take the last part of the NBA season with the compression stocking calf and a new innovation of Flywire technology, introduced with the VI model and always present in all the further. In OKC or elsewhere, the conditions for Durant are fake, "I want to take my game to the next level, I have been working with Nike to be certain that my shoes will do the same: fast, without fail support for all 48 minutes , fresh and help with covers. So I feel comfortable and safe for my goal: the win. "