NBA Media Day brought out plenty of new sneakers, but one of the more interesting pairs never actually made it onto the court. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a new orange version of the Shai 001 sitting in his Oklahoma City locker, and this time the shoe carries Nike branding.
The pair showed up in a locker-room photo posted by @twoshai, where it was sitting next to a pair of V.A.A. x Nike Air Force 1s. The Shai 001 keeps the same overall shape seen on the Converse version, including the clean upper and low-profile build, but a Nike logo now appears on the heel.
Shai moved from Converse to Nike earlier this year, which immediately raised questions about what would happen with his signature line. This first look suggests Nike is keeping the Shai 001 name and design mostly intact rather than starting over with a completely different model.
The pair shown is finished almost entirely in orange with matching laces and very little contrast outside of the heel branding. From the quick look, the changes seem small, but the Nike logo makes the switch clear.
Nike has not officially introduced the Shai 001 yet, though more details should surface as the NBA season gets closer.
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