Nike Kyrie 3 EP 'Marble'
Colorway: Black/Black-Black · Style code: 852396-005 · Price: $386 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Kyrie 3 EP 'Cool Grey' (852396-001) · Nike Kyrie 3 EP (852396-018) · Nike Kyrie 3 EP 'Tiffany' (852396-401) · Nike Kyrie 3 EP 'Finals' (852396-902) · Nike Kyrie 3 BHM EP (852417-001)
The third signature shoe arrived on the other side of the night Irving's career is measured against. In Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, with 53 seconds left, he hit a go-ahead three over Stephen Curry to put Cleveland up 92-89; the Cavaliers held on 93-89 and ended a 52-year championship drought for the city, whose last major title had come from the 1964 Browns. He had been the first pick of the 2011 draft and Rookie of the Year the season after, but that shot is what the sneaker line was sold against from then on.
The Kyrie 3 is built around the mechanics of that kind of play rather than around the moment. Flywire threads through the lacing to hold the midfoot down through a change of direction, and the outsole is curved instead of flat, with traction pods placed where a guard rolls onto the edge of the foot.
The marble finish on this EP pair is pure surface: black and white mottled across the upper with no repeating pattern, so no two panels read quite the same.