Nike Officially Unveil the LeBron 16

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Fresh Bred.

King James has once again teamed up with Nike Jason Petrie for his 16th signature sneaker with the Swoosh, and today it has officially been unveiled.

“The knit team at Nike are geniuses,” says Petrie. As the Nike LeBron 16 introduces Battleknit 2.0, an evolved version of the scalloped knit featured on the LeBron 15. Its structure increases tensile strength (important to contain James’s lateral force on court) and it has an elegant finish matching James’s current style.

Other notable features on the LeBron 16 is its height. At the direction of James, Petrie formed the shoe with a lower collar, which allows the athlete to move more freely.

“The first thing we wanted to do was get a little lower in the cut of the shoe,” says James. “I wanted to get a little faster, ride a little bit closer to the court and be a little bit more dynamic.”

Underfoot, a simple evolution of the Max Air cushioning platform introduced in the LeBron 15 supports James’s dynamic desires. “LeBron liked the cushioning so much last year that we just focused on refining it,” says Petrie. “For this addition, we removed the tendril that connected the forefoot to the under-toe bag, and instead included an outrigger to create some additional support to complement the lower height.”

Look for the Nike LeBron 16 “Fresh Bred” to release on Thursday, September 20th at select Nike Basketball retailers and Nike.com. The retail price tag is set at $185 USD.