The Cavaliers’ sleeveless black jerseys already had LeBron James’ stamp of approval, who helped design the threads, however a change in shoes might have been the difference Friday night. James had season highs in rebounds and assists in his 57th career triple-double. He switched from yellow LeBron 14s to black LeBron 15s after scoring six points in the first half. He finished with 27 points, 16 rebounds and 13 assists.
In the first half James wore a new colorway of the Nike LeBron XIV. Despite wearing 40 different colorways last season he still managed to debut a brand new style. This had me worried about the 15s lacking something because LeBron seems to avoid it now. However, in the second half he went back to the Nike LeBron XV with the Statement colorway, which was released on Black Friday.
The Cavaliers’ statement uniforms are an updated version of the sleeved one the Cavs wore when they defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. “It’s probably going to be a staple of this franchise forever,” the four-time MVP said. “Because we won our first championship in franchise history in all black so, no matter who is in uniform here throughout the rest of eternity, I feel like … the black uniform will probably be incorporated in the grand scheme of things just for the memories.”