Nike Air Go LWP – Featherweight Champ

Old-Heads will attest to Nike’s brilliance of design during the early to mid-1990s; one of the best and slept on hoops shoes of this time was the Nike Go LWP (lightweight performance). The technology was finally starting to catch up with the ideas that were in the minds of Nike’s top designers so we were seeing shoes being designed in new and exciting ways. The Nike Air Go LWP released in 1995 and is historically associated with The Hardaways (Tim and Penny) and laid the groundwork for guard specific shoes (there’s the Jordan line but, duh). As the league transitioned away from the era of big man dominated basketball guards started flourishing and basketball footwear mirrored – gone were the days of the Nike Command Force, Air Force 180 Mid and Air Max 2 Strong for the David Robinsons and Barkleys of the world. Nike looked to create shoes that played to a guard’s strengths, so we were blessed with the Go LWP.

In the ’90’s Nike aggressively experimented with new technologies to improve their footwear. Take the J-Kidds for example (Flight ’96 and Zoom Flight) – they were using new materials like carbon fiber to reinvent the way a shoe could look and they featured Nike’s Zoom Air technology (which was new at the time and was going by Tensile Air). The Air Go LWP set the stage in a way for shoes like the Flight ’96 to succeed. Swoosh started off by stripping as much weight off of the shoe as possible. The upper remained durable with nubuck and a speed lacing system. Rubber from the outsole was removed and replaced with a heel Air unit and the forefoot with Zoom Air. The Nike Air Go LWP was one of three pioneering Nike shoes to introduce Zoom Air (Air Marauder (football), Go LWP (basketball), Zoom LWP (running)). We now recognize Zoom Air as a cornerstone technology in Nike and we have the Go LWP to thank, without it we wouldn’t have the Kobe, Kyrie, or Paul George lines. Take a look at this gorgeous shoe and let us know if you’ve owned a pair of Go LWPs!