“You get a $250 shoe for like $150,” Kevin Durant said jokingly to Nick DePaula of Nice Kicks.
The former MVP made waves when he decided to depart from the Oklahoma City Thunder and team up with the Golden State Warriors, the team who had beaten him in the Western Conference Finals when he was up three games to one. As he joins his new team, the four-time scoring champ will be releasing his new signature sneaker: the KD9, his ninth signature model with Nike.
When his first signature model dropped with Nike, the price tag was set at $88. This model is set for $150.
“As humbly as I can say it, I’m not a $88 player. I’m an elite player in the league. I wanted everything to be affordable, but I knew we had to sacrifice some stuff. I just wanted the fans of the brand and of the shoe to just stay patient with me. And stay patient with who I am as a player, and the level I was trying to go to.”
Kevin Durant’s history is a clear enough indication that he is not an $88 player. Moreover, DePaula wrote about his model’s new features, saying how there’s “more innovation than any prior KD shoe.” He then rattled off details about Flyknit and Zoom Air that would have an impact on the price because prospective buyers are going to get a better experience when wearing the sneaker on the court.
He debuted the sneaker earlier in the year as a marketing tactic, and it will be the one he rocks for most of the upcoming season.
