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New Kyrie Irving shoes are about to hit the shelves for the first time since his split with Nike … ANTA and the NBA superstar just announced the “ANTA KAI 1’s” are here.
The Chinese apparel company revealed the purple-colored kicks will be available for purchase starting next week … roughly eight months after Irving agreed to join the co. on a five-year pact.
Anta
The shoes — which will retail for $125 — feature homages to Irving all over them, the company said in a statement Tuesday morning.
The design is a nod to Kyrie’s “slick, gravity-defying transitions and crossovers,” the org. said, and parts of the colors and the graphics represent ties to Kyrie’s Native American roots.
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“As Chief Creative Officer and a player, I’ve woven the essence of my heritage and my heart for basketball into the design of ANTA KAI 1,” Irving said of the new shoes. “This is more than a shoe; it embodies our ancestors’ strength and the future we’re building.”
“Every detail, from the hieroglyphics to the aerodynamic shape, tells the story of where we’ve been and where we’re going.”
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Of course, Irving’s Nike shoes were some of the greatest-selling ones of all-time. From 2011 to 2022, he and the Swoosh debuted several signature ones in total — all with great success. However, in 2021, things between the Dallas Mavericks star and the apparel giant went sideways.
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Nike
First, Irving was critical of Nike’s eighth iteration of his shoe — before the project was scrapped. Then, following the controversy that surrounded him after he shared a link to an antisemitic film in 2022, he was suspended by the company. Weeks later, the two formally broke up.
Irving was a shoe free agent for several months … but he went on to sign with ANTA in July 2023 — and said at the time he was “incredibly excited” for the future of their collaboration.
