Sample Sunday: KD Heat

Friday night Kevin Durant hoisted both the NBA’s Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy and the Bill Russell Finals MVP Award for a second straight year. It’s interesting to note that Kevin won both of his ‘chips wearing the KD X. Many love to criticize KD’s decision to leave (abandon) Oklahoma City for the perpetual juggernauts reigning in the Bay Area, but ‘the proof is in the pudding.’ Durant’s mission was a success; he has the championship hardware he so desperately craved.

Why have we dogged him so hard for wanting to be (work with) the best? If the league, fans and players are tired of seeing this Finals matchup, then other teams need to beat them- it’s that simple (ask Klay Thompson what he thinks about the subject). Durant’s love for basketball is unabashedly pure; and his work ethic cements his place in NBA history. There’s never been a player with his size, length and natural scoring talent; I’ve always thought of him as Dirk 2.0. Kevin’s prolific skill and likelihood of sustained NBA success ensures that Nike will always make KD shoes. For today’s Sample Sunday lets take a look back at various, older, unreleased KD kicks in celebration of new latest title and the soon to be released KD XI. Tell us in the comments section below which pair you’d like to see released during a retro run?

Nike Flight School PE, 2007

Not even a newly crowned NBA Rookie of the Year winner could keep the Sonics from leaving Seattle for OKC. Before they left, KD rocked various ‘team’ based kicks in PE fashion.

Nike KD III Redskins, 2011

Durant reps hard for his DC based sports teams. He’s been seen on field at Washington Redskin games so it’s only fitting he commented them with a ‘Skins edition KD III. These are incredibly clean, it’s a shame they never released- maybe in the future though!

Nike KD III HORSE, 2011

Some superstars are too cool to participate in All-Star events outside of Sunday night’s game *cough cough LeBron and the dunk contest*. KD on the other hand is a 2x HORSE champion! Most people don’t even know they played HORSE during All-Star weekend but oh yes, they do!

Nike KD III BHM, 2011

Black and gold never gets old. For some unknown reason KD’s shoes weren’t included with the LeBron and Kobe products for 2011’s BHM campaign.

Nike KD IV Wanda, 2012

There’s no secret that Kevin loves his mother. She’s the real MVP, you know? There are a few Wanda Pratt KDs floating around using various models as bases but these are my favorite.

Nike KD IV Elite, 2012

For another unknown reason Nike didn’t include KD’s shoes along side the other 2012 Elite editions: Kobe 7, Hyperdunk 2011 and LeBron 9. The shoes look very similar to the ‘normal’ KD IV, these just feature exposed Flywire and a more prominent Swoosh.

Nike KD V Thunder Camo, 2013

Remember when KD played with the Thunder? Simpler times, simpler times… These OKC themed KD V’s feature a killer camo print that was never released.

Nike KD VI Elite Color Sample, 2014

Nike needed to test how various colors looked on the multilayered KD VI Elite so they literally threw every color at this beautiful silhouette.