New Kyrie Irving shoes are about to hit the shelves for the first time since his split with Nike … ANTA and the NBA superstar just announced the “ANTA KAI 1’s” are here.
The Chinese apparel company revealed the purple-colored kicks will be available for purchase starting next week … roughly eight months after Irving agreed to join the co. on a five-year pact.
The shoes — which will retail for $125 — feature homages to Irving all over them, the company said in a statement Tuesday morning.
The design is a nod to Kyrie’s “slick, gravity-defying transitions and crossovers,” the org. said, and parts of the colors and the graphics represent ties to Kyrie’s Native American roots.
“As Chief Creative Officer and a player, I’ve woven the essence of my heritage and my heart for basketball into the design of ANTA KAI 1,” Irving said of the new shoes. “This is more than a shoe; it embodies our ancestors’ strength and the future we’re building.”
“Every detail, from the hieroglyphics to the aerodynamic shape, tells the story of where we’ve been and where we’re going.”
Of course, Irving’s Nike shoes were some of the greatest-selling ones of all-time. From 2011 to 2022, he and the Swoosh debuted several signature ones in total — all with great success. However, in 2021, things between the Dallas Mavericks star and the apparel giant went sideways.
First, Irving was critical of Nike’s eighth iteration of his shoe — before the project was scrapped. Then, following the controversy that surrounded him after he shared a link to an antisemitic film in 2022, he was suspended by the company. Weeks later, the two formally broke up.
Irving was a shoe free agent for several months … but he went on to sign with ANTA in July 2023 — and said at the time he was “incredibly excited” for the future of their collaboration.