LeBron James : Sneaker Legend

This article was originally featured on the City Gear blog in July 2018. Not all products in this collection are currently available on Hibbett.com. Last updated: February 6, 2020.

In Earth shattering news, on Jul 1. LeBron James announced he was signing a 4 year, $154 million dollar contract to play with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside burgeoning NBA talents Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma. James joins an illustrious list of greats that have donned the purple and gold jersey in hopes of adding to the legacy of one of the most storied franchises in NBA history. LeBron James joins the jam-packed Western Conference in what is sure to be an epic start to his Hollywood Journey and a rejuvenation of the Showtime Lakers of decades past.

Just a few weeks ago, LeBron James completed his 15th NBA season since being drafted out of St. Vincent St. Mary’s High School in 2003. In those 15 years, James has seen his share of ups and downs. During his illustrious career he has amassed 4 NBA MVP awards, 3 NBA Finals MVP award, 14 All-Star game selections, 12 All-NBA First Team selections and in this year he became the all-time scoring leader of the NBA Playoffs. His heroic achievements included leading the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA championship ending the city’s 50 year championship drought. However, the Cavaliers fell short this season, reaching the Finals only to be swept by the seemingly infallible Golden State Warriors.

Though he may not be the NBA Finals champion this year, he will forever be a shoe champ. Before his induction in the league, LeBron has been team Nike and had a signature shoe before he ever touched the hardwood to play his first professional basketball game which is something even His Airness didn’t have.

Since donning his first pair of kicks, the Air Zoom Generation, the LeBron line has consistently been one of the Swoosh’s most popular. It seems as if every year King James finds a way to shock and reinvent sneaker culture. His initial AZG included a ‘Wheat’ colorway that is still one of the most coveted LeBrons today.

Back in ‘06 James brought out a white pair of LeBron IVs adorned with Fruity Pebbles that has been rejuvenated by a plethora of colorways. Those original Fruity Pebble IVs will run you over $1000 on resell sites.

During his tenure as a member of the Miami Heat he debuted a colorway of the Lebron 8 known as “South Beach” inspired by the classic TV series Miami Vice. That colorway still permeates the market and has even expanded outside of the world of Nike basketball shoes. In his return to Cleveland he rocked several memorable colorways like the horror-inspired 13 spattered with blood on the toe and heel, aptly called the “Friday the 13th”.

This season he took it up a notch with the Nike LeBron Watch collection that combines the LeBron 15 with some of his favorite Nike silhouettes. The LeBron Watch pack includes 15s inspired by Deion Sander’s iconic ‘Diamond Turf’ line, Ken Griffey Jr’s, the original orange Nike box and the original Air Zoom Generation.

With King James signing on to a lifetime deal with Nike (reportedly worth a billion dollars), it’s safe to say that LeBron Watch will continue for the foreseeable future. We can’t wait to see what kind of feet heat LeBron takes to Hollywood.