Nike Kyrie 4 'White'
Colorway: White/Black · Style code: AV2296-100 · Release date: August 25, 2018 · Price: $300 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Kyrie 4 Sneakers (AV2296-400) · Nike Kyrie 4 Sneakers (AV2296-600) · Nike Kyrie 4 'BHM' (AO3167-900) · Nike Kyrie 4 GS 'BHM' (AO1321-900) · Nike Kyrie 4 'NCAA Tournament' (943806-104)
The distinguishing feature of Kyrie Irving's signature line is not the upper but the shape of the sole. Irving plays off changes of direction tight enough that a flat outsole works against him, so Nike built the shoes with a curved sidewall: the midsole and outsole sweep up at the edges, so when the shoe rolls onto its side there is still rubber on the floor and the foot keeps its platform.
The fourth version refined that geometry and paired it with Zoom Air cushioning and a flexible mesh upper. It also became the most colour-varied shoe in Nike basketball for a stretch, running through cereal boxes, holiday themes, a television sitcom and a feature film inside a year.
This is the opposite of those. Team bank make-ups exist so a programme can order a shoe that matches every uniform it owns, which means white mesh, a black Swoosh and nothing else, apart from a splatter pattern across the midsole, which is the one flourish the line kept even on its plainest releases.