Devin Booker Calls Signature Shoe One of Top Career Accomplishments
Phoenix Suns SG Devin Booker has elevated himself in every way since joining the NBA in 2015. Though he battled through some awfully tough-to-watch teams, Booker now finds himself as one of the best players in the league, on one of the best teams.
Time will tell if Booker will add another accomplishment to his resume with an NBA title coming back to the desert this season, though a recent collab with Nike for his first signature shoe - the BOOK 1 - is already one of his most proud.
In an interview with GQ, Booker opened up on what it meant:
Devin Booker Calls Signature Shoe One of Top Career Accomplishments
Devin Booker is set to release his first signature shoe with Nike later next spring.
"Top of the top when it comes to career accomplishments. Sneakers have always been a part of my childhood. I’ve always dreamed of it. I’d draw sketches and create logos when I was a kid. Now to see it all come full circle and come to life—it’s hard to put into words," said Booker before later getting into the design process and how involved he was.
"Very involved. We started looking for a theme or a phrase for the shoe, and the consistent theme was 'future classic.' We wanted something that would be able to live 20 years from now. I wanted it to feel collected with all the materials. It’s a classic silhouette, but I’m more excited for people to feel the performance of them. We are trying to transcend off the court, and make a shoe. Not just a lifestyle shoe, not just a basketball shoe, but something people can feel comfortable rockin’ around, and playing basketball if they feel like doing that too."
More about the shoe from Nike's official press release:
"Booker gave the design team a few silhouettes as starting points, such as the Air Force 1, the Blazer and the AJ1. Design inspiration also came from one of his restored cars: his ’72 Chevy Blazer K5, a blue beauty he nicknamed “Uncle Larry” and turned into a low-rider. It’s LS-swapped, he says, so the original engine is replaced by a modern, high-performance one. He preserved the car’s original patina, so it has a vintage exterior. High-tech on the inside. Classic on the outside.
"Using insights from Booker and young hoopers around the world, the Nike Book 1 offers athletes a tailored combination of lateral stability, cushioning, and responsiveness underfoot. To accomplish this, Nike design teams stacked a Cushlon 2.0 foam midsole with a rigid TPU sidewall for added support, with a top-loaded Nike Zoom air bag in the heel.
"On the outside, a workwear-inspired canvas and twill upper adds durability, while a suede collar and genuine leather across the forefoot provide more reinforcement and a familiar, plush, broken-in feel. The pull tab at the heel was inspired by a book spine, with numbers referencing chapters in an ongoing story."
The shoes are set to be released in Spring of 2024 with multiple colorways.
