Nike Kyrie 4 GS 'Uncle Drew'
Colorway: White/Deep Royal-Gum Light Brown · Style code: AA2897-100 · Release date: June 29, 2018 · Price: $2832 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Kyrie 4 GS 'Cool Grey' (AA2897-001) · Nike Kyrie 4 GS '80s' (AA2897-007) · Nike Kyrie 4 GS 'Triple Black' (AA2897-008) · Nike Kyrie 4 GS 'Halloween' (AA2897-012) · Nike Kyrie 4 GS 'NCAA Tournament' (AA2897-104)
Uncle Drew began in 2012 as a soft-drink advertisement: Kyrie Irving, then a rookie, in heavy old-age prosthetics, playing pickup at a park against people who had no idea who he was. Irving created the character, took writing and directing credits on the shorts, improvised much of the dialogue and blocked out scenes himself. The premise ran through six years of increasingly elaborate sequels.
The feature film arrived on 29 June 2018, directed by Charles Stone III, with Irving playing Drew alongside Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Lil Rel Howery and Tiffany Haddish. It took around 47 million dollars worldwide against mixed reviews.
Nike marked it with a make-up on Irving's fourth signature shoe, timed to the release. The colour choices are period rather than promotional: white knit, a royal blue Swoosh, a speckled heel and a gum outsole, the look of a shoe from the era Drew is supposed to have come from. This is the grade-school size run of that pair, which is the version much of the film's audience would have been buying.