The NBA lockout had the potential of wrecking havoc on the upcoming seasonal rotation of Nike’s signature basketball sneakers. Seeing NBA stars in action is about the best way to get the excitement over its signature products a-brewin’, but without these moving billboards, how would Nike market its product? Turns out, the marketing gurus at Nike haven’t lost a step, because the sales of its basketball products haven’t waned (in fact, they got a bit stronger), and in what some might call a serendipitous turn of events, NBA basketball announced its return on the most fitting day of the year – Christmas. It’s a day recognized for giving and receiving and celebrating with your closest family and friends, and this coming Sunday, there will be no better experience than un-wrapping some presents while watching Nike Basketball maestros Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Amare Stoudemire conduct their symphonies in front of a live audience. Of course, to commemorate the holiday, Nike Basketball will release its Nike Basketball Christmas 2011 Pack, going up for sale at midnight (talk about last-minute shopping); the Nike Zoom Kobe VII ‘Leopard’, Nike LeBron 9 ‘Christmas’, Nike Zoom KD IV ‘Metallic Bronze’, and Nike Air Max Sweep Thru ‘Christmas’ will all launch in the wee hours of the morning, so don’t miss out on the best present of the year.
That basketball-born models like the Blazer, Bruin and Dunk are still going strong after decades of research and development for skateboarding-specific sneakers, is a testament not only to their durability and practical application for skating, but also echoes the cultural overlap between the two sports that’s become so pronounced in recent years. So with Jordan Brand expanding its offerings in a variety of ways and Nike SB reorganizing to incorporate other divisions’ standout designs, it’s only natural to see these two heavy hitters come together for what very well could be one of the biggest pieces of Sneaker News for 2012. It looks like the Air Jordan 1 x Nike SB is a go, despite having missed the 2011 projected release as reported here just over one year prior, but that’s probably all for the best seeing as how early 11′s focus centered around the redesigned Dunk Pro SB. And speaking of timing, the above pictured Todd Bratrud-designed Made for Skate deck that he also crafted early Nike Free Run 3.0 V5 last year along with MFS Blazers and Hobie 210s seems like a bit of foreshadowing now, doesn’t it? Let us know what you think about an Air Jordan 1 x Nike SB collaboration and stick with Sneaker News for photos and the eventual release date. via N-SB