John Kim 
The Nike Hyperdunk series has amassed a decorated history since it was first unveiled in 2008. It’s touched the feet of almost every significant Nike Basketball athlete, been used as a platform to unveil some incredible new innovation, and acted as a bridge to connect basketball-crazed countries around the globe. With that said, this prized legacy might have as much historical significance as any other sneaker lineage in the Nike archives, and as it reinvents itself into an all-new iteration in the 2014 model, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t expect the Hyperdunk to be a big player in the culture of the sport of basketball and the accompanying footwear landscape.
Each Hyperdunk model in the past has aligned with a significant event or athlete. The first model was all about Kobe and the 2008 Games, the 2010 sequel was a World Basketball Festival affair, the following year was all about Blake Griffin, and so on. It’s true that this “flagship” model of sorts doesn’t get the off-the-court love as the signature models do, but that shouldn’t matter – the sneaker was built for the court and happily thrives within those confines. Take a walk back through Hyperdunk history here, because there are some incredible memories here that might’ve slipped through the cracks!
The basic colored nike and jordans blue black shoes launches tomorrow at Nike Basketball retailers worldwide.
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Nike Flywire burst into the scene in 2008, and since then it;s become a standard feature for almost all of Nike’s performance shoes. The idea was inspired by suspension bridges and was originally intended to be in use for track spikes, but after thorough testing in the Nike Sports Research Lab, the tensile fibers eventually made their way into the Basketball category. In fact, it was the centerpiece of the Hyperdunk basketball shoe, which later served a pivotal purpose for Kobe Bryant’s 2008 campaign; Kobe’s god-like performance in the sport’s final contest was the sole reason why the Redeem Team recaptured the Olympic Gold.
The Hyperdunk was, in fact, an unofficial signature shoe for the Lakers star; although the shoe never featured his name, the Kobe shozoku logo appeared on several Lakers colorways, and who can forget those hilarious commercials with the Jackass squad and the amazing “Snakepool” colorway? Perhaps the most memorable off-the-court moment for Kobe and the Hyperdunk was when he showed up at UNDFTD LA in a DeLorean for the launch of the McFly Hyperdunk, which to this day is the most coveted Hyperdunk release in history.
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In the Summer of 2010, Nike celebrated its first ever World Basketball Festival in New York City. This event, which brought in media outlets from every basketball-crazed corner of the globe, unveiled several new sneaker models – one of which was the long-awaited sequel to the original Hyperdunk. The 2010 issue represented the globalization of the game thanks to a series of country-specific colorways, which were worn during the 2010 FIBA game in August.
The Hyperdunk 2010 was also privy to a number of PEs for NBA players like Chris Bosh, Yi Jianlian, Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala, and more. Two variations of the Hyperdunk 2010 were also released – one as a Low, and another with a full-length 360 Max Air unit. The Hyperdunk 2010 was indeed a proper sophomore effort to one of the most significant shoes in Nike Basketball history, and its success catapulted the sneaker into a legacy.
“10.0”
The third model of the Hyperdunk series was given quite a boost thanks to one man – Blake Griffin. In his first full season in the NBA, Blake’s nightly dunking showcases propelled him to global stardom, and his performances in the Dunk Contest, Rookie/Sophomore Challenge, and All-Star Game sealed his name among the best players in the league. For the All-Star Weekend, Nike fashioned a special “10.0” PE for the Hyperdunk 2011, which featured a vibrant orange colorway with graphics of cracked pavement on the midsole.
The sneaker was also a member of the top-shelf Nike Basketball Elite Series, which made its debut in April 2011. Joined by the LeBron 9 Elite and the Kobe 7 Elite, the Hyperdunk 2011 Elite featured a revamped upper bolstered with ample Flywire, a carbon-fiber heel clip, and a lightweight upper. The sneaker was spotted on feet on a number of Nike athletes during the Playoffs, but perhaps the moment that stands out the most was when Blake literally tore through the pair he was wearing!
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It’s easy to obtain hard numbers on speed, a vertical jump, or any other physical activity that is contingent on time, but what about the intangibles? Nike made a strong attempt at quantifying these movements that were at once immeasurable with the introduction of Nike+; with movement-based currencies like Fuel and Hyper, this new technology gave athletes unprecedented insight into a different level of physical data that allowed for enlarged potential in performance.
The Hyperdunk 2012 was used as the primary platform for the Basketball category, with a space-age design and innovative arsenal of Dynamic Flywire and LunarLon deeming the shoe a top performer even without the Nike+ capabilities. This technology was featured during the 2012 Olympics, when LeBron James wore the Hyperdunk 2012 throughout the Games and let his personal numbers be known to the Nike+ community.
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The Hyperdunk isn’t a signature shoe, but it carries as much weight as the Big Three because it is usually attached to a player that is deemed “next” by Nike Basketball. Kyrie Irving earned that distinction in 2013, with this energetic “Australia” Quickstrike release leading off the series of team-based colors that hit store shelves. Why Australia? An awesome tidbit of trivia regarding Irving’s life is that he was born in the far-off continent.
Who’s next? Paul George, of course
Already a star, but is Paul George an Elite player? The verdict is still out on that, although we don’t doubt that George has the potential to be among the game’s best. Nike seems to agree, which is why the Pacers Small Forward was confused to represent the latest installment of the Hyperdunk series, which launches tomorrow at Nike Basketball retailers worldwide.
That leads us to another topic: is Paul George a Nike signature athlete in waiting? 2015 will prove to be a pivotal year for the popular sport category considering the aging process of the two elder statesmen of the Big Three.
