29-10-2009

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Throwback Thursday: Nike Air Zoom Generation L.A. All-Star PE »

If you ask LeBron James, which shoe in the Nike LBJ series is his favorite he will most likely say “gotta be the first one” or something in that manner. That was the answer for me when I submitted the question via the Nike Air Max LeBron VII Media Summit webcast back in August. Who wouldn’t be nostalgic about your first signature shoe, especially when you got one at the age of 18 years old! The Nike Air Zoom Generation was a perfect way to start things off. The shoes were rather safe… I wouldn’t like to ball in them nowadays, but there’s definitely more to it than plain design and decent ballin’ kicks. Even people at Nike were surprised with how well the AZG’s aka LeBron I’s were received by fans. The release of James’ shoe was the company’s most successful shoe launch in two years, surpassing that of the Jordan XVII and XVIII. At Finish Line, which at the moment of release had 541 stores across the country, 75 percent of their total nationwide allotment of James’ Air Zoom Generations were sold out in the first week of sales in late December (via ESPN). The initial release of LBJ’s shoe, in the black and white, has sold more than 100,000 pairs to date. Too bad the colorway you see below – the All-Star edition – never made it to public. It almost did, but just in the last minuted Nike pulled them off once they leanrt he didn’t make the squad. He was fourth in fan voting among guards in the Eastern Conference, but didn’t get voted in by the coaches. Couple nice pics after the break.