The Evolution of Technology in Basketball Shoes

When I first came into the world of professional basketball, the technology behind our shoes was vastly different from what it is today. We didn't have the luxury of being able to research and experiment with new technologies as easily as we do now. In fact, when I first started playing, my teammates and I would use Walkman players and CD players to listen to music during games. The only way to hear our own music was by using these clunky devices that had to be flipped over after each song. It was a completely different experience from what we have today.

The internet has revolutionized the way we can connect with others, both on and off the court. As a player, I had to rely on books and research to learn about the history of the game and other players. Today, we can click away and find out anything we need to know in seconds. This technology gives us an incredible advantage, but it also makes us more reliant on it. It's a delicate balance between being smart and becoming too dependent on technology.

As a player, I have had the privilege of working closely with designers to create shoes that are tailored to my needs. The shoe is an extension of me, and I need it to perform at its best. When designing new shoes, we take into account every aspect of my game, from my foot movements to my ankle stability. We use a combination of technologies, including Zoom and Lunar technology, to create a shoe that is both comfortable and supportive.

One area where we've made significant improvements is in the low-cut cleat. Growing up, I played soccer, and I remember how much torque was put on our ankles during games. When it came to basketball, I realized that having a lower cut shoe would allow for more flexibility and movement. However, we also knew that we had to address the issue of ankle stability. We made significant changes to the Flyknit material, making it stronger and sturdier while still maintaining its light weight.

One of the biggest challenges in designing new shoes is combining different technologies in a way that works seamlessly together. In the past, these technologies would often behave in isolation, but we've been working hard to create a marriage between them. By combining free technology with other innovations, we can create shoes that are truly ahead of their time.

As I look back on my career, I realize how much technology has changed the game for us. From Walkman players to smartphones, it's amazing to see how far we've come. While I'm a big fan of iPhones, I also appreciate the importance of adapting to new technologies as they emerge. It's not just about using a smartphone, but also understanding its usage and limitations.

In conclusion, technology has revolutionized the world of basketball shoes. From simple devices like Walkman players to advanced technologies like Flyknit, we've come a long way in creating shoes that are both comfortable and supportive. As designers continue to push the boundaries of innovation, I'm excited to see what the future holds for our sport.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey what is up guys MKBHD here and this week out in La I got to visit a little Nike Gathering where Kobe unveiled his latest shoe the Kobe 11 and this is a pretty special one to him it's the last shoe he'll release during his active career and it's the last one he'll wear on the court so I got to talk with him about it a little bit about tech a little bit about the shoe and Beyond enjoy during the busy regular season and all the basketball and all the training and all you guys all the stuff you guys are doing how much Tech smartphones cameras whatever do you get to follow I know Roy is actually like pretty into Tech shout out to Roy if he's watching what kind of stuff do you get to see well I mean from a tech perspective you know I I've I've kind of tried to dabble into it a little bit but I found myself not being extremely passionate about it um unless it's centered around sports right and things that involve um Health Training um things of that sort um but overall I wouldn't describe myself as a very techsavvy person question related to that since we're carrying smartphones all the time now entering the league like what kind of tech did you carry did you like listen to music for a game have that kind of stuff G yeah I mean I you know it back in the day let's see when I first came in the league I had a phone that was probably about the size of my head yeah you know what I mean and uh then we kind of graduated to have Sidekicks and things like that and I remember having Walkman players and CD player my kids don't have no idea what a CD player is let alone a Walkman it was like wait had to rewind what when wait when that song was over you had to flip it over and use the other side of the tape that yeah yeah so you know um when I first came in lead the the world was such a different place than it is now in terms of connecting people and being able to follow and things of that sort yeah that's the other thing is the internet lets you connect to your teammates your fans all kinds of stuff like that um but also gives you a great Advantage by the way because back then when I came in leag I had to do a lot of research myself was involved going and actually getting books on the history of the game and other players and things like that but nowadays I mean you're a click away from finding out Mak scouting easier it makes extremely easier right and so you know as a as a as a culture we should actually be much smarter versus becoming Dumber right because of the crutch of Technology exactly no I agree completely so getting into the shoe uh being interested in the tech of the shoe I know you have a big hand in the design how you put it together how much like how Clos you get to work with a designer specifically on the p and what's going into the shoe extremely close you know because the shoe is always an extension of the athlete in this case you know for you know the years I've been with Nike it's an extension of myself right so the shoe must um must be something that's going to help me perform better and if it doesn't do that we're not going to create the shoe I heard a story earlier today about soccer and soccer shoes and having a low cut shoe I play a sport called ultimate Frisby may or may not have heard of it but a lot of us wear soccer cleats to to play so that kind of struck of VI with me uh tell me about how this kind of stuff translates from the soccer pitch or cleat or lowcut cleats to the basketball sure so growing up I played a lot of soccer yeah and so I've always been a big fan of the sport and so I remember watching a game on on TV as a Champions lead match and saying man they put a lot of torque on their ankles actually more than we do yeah U why can I create a low basketball shoe doesn't make any sense so then I started doing a little bit more research and started kind of figuring out how the ankle actually benefits from being able to move freely in spaceil yeah you put less stress on your knee joints and things of that nature I said you know we're want to do a low cut shoe um but now we have to really lock in the hill yeah right because you can't have the hill sliding around because it puts puts the athlete in Jeopardy gives them more uh makes them more susceptible to ankle sprains and things like that you know you have to make sure that the forefoot is really flexible right you have to make sure you're strengthing in areas that are extremely important where in a height shoe you can kind of get away with those yeah I feel like a lot of ultimate players you either get a low cut cleat I wear a soccer cleat but then you you get like something for the ankle in addition right or'll sacrifice weight and get more on the ankle right we don't compromise exactly so this is this is the fly it material this is a big part of the weight savings tell me about like like details you had to hand in to design this kind of stuff yeah so what we did with the with the 11 is we actually improved the fly in so we made the flly it sturdier maybe stronger um and and then we've actually combined technology so we've combined uh some free technology we've combined some of the zoom and lunar technology with have been some of the Staples with some of my other shoes um but they normally behave in isolation they normally don't communicate with each other so it's been our challenge to try to figure out how to create kind of this marriage between the Technologies awesome best of luck in getting more of that techsavvy stuff going I hope you get on top of the game I would recommend a smartphone right now but I wouldn't know what to say cuz I don't know what kind of usage you have I'm a big I'm a big iPhone guy I mean you know I'm a big iPhone guy okay fair so I think that's pretty much it thanks for being a part of this I appreciate the time uh and hopefully we get to do it again thank you awesomehey what is up guys MKBHD here and this week out in La I got to visit a little Nike Gathering where Kobe unveiled his latest shoe the Kobe 11 and this is a pretty special one to him it's the last shoe he'll release during his active career and it's the last one he'll wear on the court so I got to talk with him about it a little bit about tech a little bit about the shoe and Beyond enjoy during the busy regular season and all the basketball and all the training and all you guys all the stuff you guys are doing how much Tech smartphones cameras whatever do you get to follow I know Roy is actually like pretty into Tech shout out to Roy if he's watching what kind of stuff do you get to see well I mean from a tech perspective you know I I've I've kind of tried to dabble into it a little bit but I found myself not being extremely passionate about it um unless it's centered around sports right and things that involve um Health Training um things of that sort um but overall I wouldn't describe myself as a very techsavvy person question related to that since we're carrying smartphones all the time now entering the league like what kind of tech did you carry did you like listen to music for a game have that kind of stuff G yeah I mean I you know it back in the day let's see when I first came in the league I had a phone that was probably about the size of my head yeah you know what I mean and uh then we kind of graduated to have Sidekicks and things like that and I remember having Walkman players and CD player my kids don't have no idea what a CD player is let alone a Walkman it was like wait had to rewind what when wait when that song was over you had to flip it over and use the other side of the tape that yeah yeah so you know um when I first came in lead the the world was such a different place than it is now in terms of connecting people and being able to follow and things of that sort yeah that's the other thing is the internet lets you connect to your teammates your fans all kinds of stuff like that um but also gives you a great Advantage by the way because back then when I came in leag I had to do a lot of research myself was involved going and actually getting books on the history of the game and other players and things like that but nowadays I mean you're a click away from finding out Mak scouting easier it makes extremely easier right and so you know as a as a as a culture we should actually be much smarter versus becoming Dumber right because of the crutch of Technology exactly no I agree completely so getting into the shoe uh being interested in the tech of the shoe I know you have a big hand in the design how you put it together how much like how Clos you get to work with a designer specifically on the p and what's going into the shoe extremely close you know because the shoe is always an extension of the athlete in this case you know for you know the years I've been with Nike it's an extension of myself right so the shoe must um must be something that's going to help me perform better and if it doesn't do that we're not going to create the shoe I heard a story earlier today about soccer and soccer shoes and having a low cut shoe I play a sport called ultimate Frisby may or may not have heard of it but a lot of us wear soccer cleats to to play so that kind of struck of VI with me uh tell me about how this kind of stuff translates from the soccer pitch or cleat or lowcut cleats to the basketball sure so growing up I played a lot of soccer yeah and so I've always been a big fan of the sport and so I remember watching a game on on TV as a Champions lead match and saying man they put a lot of torque on their ankles actually more than we do yeah U why can I create a low basketball shoe doesn't make any sense so then I started doing a little bit more research and started kind of figuring out how the ankle actually benefits from being able to move freely in spaceil yeah you put less stress on your knee joints and things of that nature I said you know we're want to do a low cut shoe um but now we have to really lock in the hill yeah right because you can't have the hill sliding around because it puts puts the athlete in Jeopardy gives them more uh makes them more susceptible to ankle sprains and things like that you know you have to make sure that the forefoot is really flexible right you have to make sure you're strengthing in areas that are extremely important where in a height shoe you can kind of get away with those yeah I feel like a lot of ultimate players you either get a low cut cleat I wear a soccer cleat but then you you get like something for the ankle in addition right or'll sacrifice weight and get more on the ankle right we don't compromise exactly so this is this is the fly it material this is a big part of the weight savings tell me about like like details you had to hand in to design this kind of stuff yeah so what we did with the with the 11 is we actually improved the fly in so we made the flly it sturdier maybe stronger um and and then we've actually combined technology so we've combined uh some free technology we've combined some of the zoom and lunar technology with have been some of the Staples with some of my other shoes um but they normally behave in isolation they normally don't communicate with each other so it's been our challenge to try to figure out how to create kind of this marriage between the Technologies awesome best of luck in getting more of that techsavvy stuff going I hope you get on top of the game I would recommend a smartphone right now but I wouldn't know what to say cuz I don't know what kind of usage you have I'm a big I'm a big iPhone guy I mean you know I'm a big iPhone guy okay fair so I think that's pretty much it thanks for being a part of this I appreciate the time uh and hopefully we get to do it again thank you awesome\n"