Nike Basketball

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "Nike Basketball Shoes"? Most people probably immediately think of the Nike Jordan brand. But the first Nike basketball shoes made with the "air sole" was actually the Nike Air Force 1. That took place in 1983. Obviously Nike wasn't big on basketball shoes before the 80s.

For Nike, it was more about the fitness shoes and running shoes before the 80s. But in a way, Nike got really "big" because of basketball shoes. It was 1984 when Nike signed a rookie before this rookie entered NBA. A year later the first Nike signature basketball shoes were introduced as the Nike Air Jordan 1 (I). We will not talk too much about the Nike Air Jordan shoes here but we do have to mention it here.

It was the 90s when Nike rolled out a series of other NBA signature player shoes that really made its mark in world of basketball shoes. Charles Barkley(Nike Cb34), Scottie Pippen(Nike More uptempo), Anfernee (Penny) Hardaway (Nike foamposite), David Robinson, Chris Webber, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Gary Payton(Nike GP), Jason Kidd(Nike Zoom Flight 95), and Dennis Rodman(Nike air Worm Ndestrukt) just to name a few.

In 1997, Nike made Jordan a sub-brand for Nike, the Nike Jordan Brand. And it doesn't bear the swoosh logo or the Nike word on the outside of the shoes anymore. Nike Shox was introduced around 2000, with Vince Carter jumping over a 7-footer during the Olympics in his shox BB4, it was a moment basketball fans could not forget.

Moving forward, Nike continues its effort to create top quality basketball shoes and team them up with top notch NBA players (such as Such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Amare Stoudemire).