Dropped
LeBron James, a Clevelander through and through. Selected at Number 1 in the 2003 NBA draft by his home team, and carried the franchise on his back to the NBA Finals in 2007. It was something that every child dreams of growing up. But when circumstances lead the King to leave Ohio to join D-Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach, the entire basketball world was in shock. Many, myself included, thought that James would be a Cavalier for life. It was — and still is — one of the most momentous decisions in all of sports. Every eyeball in the sports world was on the King and Co. in SoFlo — and Nike had an enormous opportunity to leverage the situation for their hoops division — and what they came up with was pure perfection, the LeBron 8 “South Beach”. Given the surrounding circumstances and its epic color palette, it became one of the biggest hype drops of the Nike Basketball golden era, and still to this day, it fetches some epic prices on the aftermarket.
The signature Miami tones of teal and pink were completely different from methodical team-color releases we were accustomed to — it was far different from anything we’d seen before. It was one of the first few sneakers responsible for the explosion of aftermarket sales, and it put Nike Basketball into an entirely different league for the proceeding 4-to-5 years. From insane Christmas releases to What The drops — Nike Hoops was on a tear. Hell, people were even wearing current-day models as fashion pieces — What The? — and it all came back to this banger. Now, for its 10th anniversary in 2021, it’s tipped to make a return for arguably the biggest LeBron retro release to date.
Update 06.15.21 Euro retailers BSTN and SNS have confirmed a release for the LeBron 8 “South Beach” for June 22nd. A Stateside release is yet to be confirmed, but it is expected to arrive shortly thereafter.Update 06.18.21 Official images of the Nike LeBron 8 “South Beach” have landed ahead of their European release next week. A Stateside drop has also been confirmed for July 10th.Update 07.02.21 Nike has postponed the release of the Nike LeBron 8 “South Beach”, shifting the release from July 10th to July 21st. If you are planning on picking up a pair on the day, make sure you head to our dedicated Nike Release Dates Calendar to set yourself a reminder for the drop.Nike LeBron 8 “South Beach”
EU Release Date: June 22nd, 2021
US Release Date: July 21st, 2021
Style Code: CZ0328-400
Color: Pink Flash-Filament Green-Black
Retail: $200
Update 04.29.21 Fresh looks at the 2021 LeBron 8 “South Beach” has landed via SNS. A release date for the pair has not yet been set, but there are whispers of a release in June. Grab a quick look at the pairing here below, and be sure to keep your eyes glued to our official Twitter account for updates.
Update 04.29.21 A first look at the 2021 LeBron 8 “South Beach” has landed courtesy of @brandon1an.
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