The Kyrie 4 is the latest in a number of signature shoes for Kyrie Irving. It represents a significant departure from its predecessor. However, it remains true to the line’s commitment to excellence. Currently, the Kyrie 4 is available in a number of color schemes, which should come as welcome news for Irving fans who are looking for something that suits their color preferences. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Nike’s Kyrie 4:
1. Designed for Kyrie Irving
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Kyrie 4 is designed for Kyrie Irving. Primarily, basketball fans will recognize him because of his NBA championship win with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. However, there are other people who might recognize him because of his stated belief of various conspiracy theories, with an excellent example being his belief of the very literally named Flat Earth Theory.
2. Kyrie Means Lord
Kyrie is a transliteration of a Greek term that translates to something along the lines of “lord” or “master.” There are a lot of people out there who should recognize it because of the famous phrase “Kyrie, eleison,” meaning “Lord, have mercy.” After all, it is one of the most famous prayers in the whole of Christianity, so much so that the phrase still sees use even in contexts in which the Greek has otherwise fallen away.
3. Designed by Benjamin Nethongkome
The Kyrie 4 featured senior designer Benjamin Nethongkome. Previously, Nethongkome has worked with Jordan Brand on shoes for both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, which are in addition to his work on other projects as well. Due to this, Nethongkome brought plenty of expertise and experience to the project that serves as his first signature shoe.
4. Based on Feedback from Kyrie Irving
Naturally, Nethongkome and his team consulted Irving in the process of designing the Kyrie 4. However, while getting the basketball player’s feedback sounds simple and straightforward, there was a fair amount of work involved in translating said information into more concrete factors that could serve to guide the way forward. For example, Irving revealed that the Kyrie 3 was the most responsive shoe from his line, but Nethongkome and his team had to figure out what that meant as well as what factors made it so before being able to make its successor even better in that regard.
5. Focused on Increasing Responsiveness
One of the major focuses for the people behind the Kyrie 4 was improving its responsiveness even further. To this end, Nethongkome and his team changed the traction patterns to enable smoother footwork, selected smarter materials, and implemented various other changes.
6. Most Comfortable Shoe in Kyrie Irving’s Line
As a result, Kyrie Irving has stated that the Kyrie 4 is the most comfortable shoe that he has ever worn, which is a huge step-up compared to what he said about its predecessor. Said information is based on Irving’s personal experience wearing the shoe while playing and practicing.
7. Features Usual Key Details
Kyrie Irving’s shoes feature key details that are drawn from his life. Some common examples range from JBY for “Just Be You” to H+H for “Hungry and Humble.” Naturally, the Kyrie 4 is no exception to this rule, meaning that it makes use of these key details as well.
8. Includes Some New Key Details
With that said, it is interesting to note that the Kyrie 4 makes use of some new key details. For example, it includes a very well-concealed mention of New Jersey, which is meant to honor the place where Irving came from. Likewise, it has the motto “Fear Is Not Real,” which is a sentiment that Irving has stressed while engaged in communications with the team behind the Kyrie 4.
9. Includes the All-Seeing Eye
In particular, the Kyrie 4 includes the All-Seeing Eye, which should be recognizable to most people as the open eye enclosed in a triangle. Said symbol’s proper name is the Eye of Providence, so-called because it started out as a representation of God watching over the human race. However, the All-Seeing Eye has become associated with the Illuminati and other popular subjects of conspiracy theories in recent times. Nethongkome has stated that the use of the All-Seeing Eye in the Kyrie 4 isn’t meant to refer to conspiracy theories but rather to the idea that people should see beyond superficial impressions.
10. Nethongkome Inspired by Kyrie Irving
Nethongkome has stated that he felt personally inspired by Irving when he and his team met the basketball player. The gist of it is that Irving was a very positive person with a strong determination to continue improving, which inspired Nethongkome and his team to fine-tune the shoe to get as much performance out of it as possible.
ncG1vNJzZmiln6OyurXNnGWcp51ku6q3xKxkpLGinrJugI4%3D