A few years ago, Nike decided to switch up Kevin Durant’s sneaker releases to Summer. The KD 6 released during the month July and now, two years later, we have the KD 8 scheduled for a late June launch. It hasn’t been an exciting year for the Oklahoma City All-Star as he was sidelined the majority of the regular season. Despite the foot injury, Nike Basketball has not taken any time off from Durant’s line as the first images of Kevin’s next signature shoe emerges.
The first leaked photos look to be legitimate, however these might just be early samples of the KD 8. First off, the sneaker clearly comes off as an Air Max shoe. You can clearly see the segmented forefoot Air Max bubbles that are similar to the Air Max 2015 models. This is quite a surprise and bit of a change in direction from a design standpoint. Not only is the cushion a surprise to me, but the upper looks to be new as well.
Nike looks to be using a Engineered Mesh material or perhaps a combination of Flyknit and mesh, just like the Nike Zoom Air Structure 18. Whatever it is, it looks to be comfortable and well ventilated. This is the first time Kevin Durant will have a full mesh and knit upper in his series. Flywire also makes a return (not a surprise) to the KD line with strands on the mid-foot for lcokdown purposes. Lastly, the outsole uses some type of herringbone traction. It’s a bit difficult to see, but the grooves are quite close to each other making it possible for it to attract a lot more dust than it should. This is all just speculation right now so take it with a grain of salt.
Personally, if this is the final product, i’m very surprised. I was hoping they could go back to the old Nike Zoom without the Air Max units as Durant hasn’t had quite the luck with Air Max. These look too much like the Air Max running sneakers. Hopefully Leo Chang and Kevin Durant made this sneaker knowing that he now has some foot issues that they have to attend to. As long as Durant is happy, then i’ll trust his judgement. Until then, look for the Nike KD 8 to release in late June. No information on price point
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