“Built like a suspension bridge.” Can you imagine the old Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars being described that way? We’ll give you a piece of canvas and you can strap it tightly around your ankle so hopefully you won’t break anything — that sounds more like it.
I have to admit, I’ve been “out of the game” when it comes to basketball shoes for a while. As a teenager, following the latest trends in basketball shoe technologies was one of my favourite pastimes. However as I’ve grown older and ironically as I’ve had the economic ability to purchase said shoes, my desire has waned somewhat for the previously unobtainable kicks. That’s not to say that I’ve been totally ignorant of what is going on in the industry — being a basketball nut makes that impossible — just that the finer points in shoe design have escaped me a little.
Thus the recent release of the Nike Air Max LeBron VII shoes was an eye-opener for me in some respects. Watching the video below, with commentary from both LeBron James himself and the shoe’s designer, Jason Petrie, revealed all of the minute details that go into putting together a shoe suitable for an elite multi-million dollar athlete. LeBron can’t be getting around in two pieces of canvas. Those feet of his are worth millions — and that’s just the value of the sick leave taken by fans of his if he were to get injured.
The highlight of this clip for me in particular, was the comparison between the design of these shoes and a suspension bridge. Wow.
I await the day when a suspension bridge is designed loosely upon the principles employed in the creation of a Nike shoe… or to hear an architectural firm declare that they had drawn up a new office tower based on the structure of Dwight Howard. Don’t laugh — that day will come.
