PHOENIX — All the details were there. And for those really paying attention, the easter eggs were, too.
The first commercial for the release of Devin Booker’s first signature shoe with Nike wasn’t going to come any other way. Through the limited lens of a professional athlete trying to express himself, this would be both his magnum opus and introduction. The last line is “welcome to the world of Book.” The video had to be on point.
But it just didn’t sound right.
Booker and the marketing team for the Phoenix Suns guard saw a cut of the video shortly before its release and long after filming, feeling the music wasn’t there. That can make or break everything, and shifting the tone as viewers get their first look at the Nike Book 1 “Mirage” over halfway into the video was crucial.
The tweak was in. Now, as the camera takes us inside the shoe and its own world, the aggressive, thumping beat off De La Soul’s 2004 release “Rock Co.Kane Flow” featuring MF Doom takes the ride home via hip-hop legends that span decades.
DEVIN BOOKER’S NIKE BOOK 1 SHOES ARE FUTURE CLASSIC
The Nike Book 1 was always going to be a distinctive basketball shoe, while at the same time using simplicity that has made other Nike shoes timeless.
The inspiration from Nike’s Air Force 1, Blazer and Jordan 1 models was intentional from the jump, a reference point from Booker to Nike’s designers early in the process. There is a performance aspect lacking in those two casual shoes and archaic Jordan 1s, which is where the blend of a modern basketball shoe can come into play.
does not look like a basketball shoe at first glance. That was by design.
There is a multidimensional sweet spot on the spectrum Booker is going for with this shoe. He is someone in his own right who has a vast knowledge of what makes a great basketball shoe. Versatility is rare to find in a signature line, a shoe built for basketball that can also not feel like one (in a good way) when worn casually. On the court and off the court was the Venn diagram Booker wanted his shoe to land somewhere in the middle of.
It was obviously going to start with the structural integrity, which made it no surprise to hear Booker say that is the part of the shoe he is the proudest of.
is a minor difference in the grand scheme of things. That is also a difference Booker wants to nail and a mindset he has always had, and primarily why combining forces with “the swoosh” on a project of this scale was surely going to produce something bold, pure and unique.
Ding, ding, ding to all three.
Booker spoke with Arizona Sports about the two-year creative process coming to fruition with the release of the Nike Book 1 “Mirage” on Feb. 17.
