Perry Jones III of the Baylor Bears in the adidas adiZero Crazy Light 2 "Electricity"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nLawrence Norman:<\/strong>?If you watch Cody Zeller from Indiana play in the Crazy Light 2, he?s close to seven feet tall and he?s running like a guard. Thomas Robinson from Kansas is a beast and he can do it all. Perry Jones from Baylor is the same way. Players are able to do more these days. Whether you?re big or small, you?re able to play multiple positions and have different skill sets. So, I feel like the shoe really needs to be able to be worn by a point guard and a center. The first shoe, which is in my opinion is the most important shoe we?ve launched in decades in basketball, changed the industry. It changed the way we design and it changed the way we build shoes. It was great, but we wanted to see how we could improve that. This one is not only lighter but it?s stronger and it?s built for everybody.<\/p>\nSnkrs Day: When working on the Crazy Light line, how do you balance the risk of innovation with the trust of familiarity?<\/strong><\/p>\nLawrence Norman:<\/strong> The testing process for us was incredibly extensive and long for the Crazy Light 1. The idea started in 2007, so it took four years to bring it to life. We learned a lot from the Crazy Light 1 when we built the Crazy Light 2, but still, the ultimate validation is from players. When we gave the Crazy Light 2 to the McDonald?s All Americans we had a back up plan. We gave the shoes to them but we really had two or three other models they could’ve worn. We had 24 pairs for boys and 24 pairs for girls; the best players in the country from centers to guards and we had no idea what would happen. Would players really want to make this big of departure the day before playing in the national spotlight in Chicago on TV? I got a text an hour before the game and all it said was ?48 out of 48.? I got chills and I new that we had something really special. I knew we had a shoe that was built for the toughest centers to the quickest point guards. Everybody wants to be faster anyways, so it?s good for everybody.<\/p>\n2012 McDonald's High School All-Americans in the adidas adiZero Crazy Light 2 "Electricity"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSnkrs Day: Why launch such a high profile shoe at the prep level?<\/strong><\/p>\nLawrence Norman:<\/strong> We wanted to focus on that 14 to 19 year old kid and we figured that the McDonald?s All-American Game would be a great statement to really launch this, and also the NCAA Tournament. In business you need to be good, but it?s almost more important to be lucky. We had seven out of 16 teams in the Sweet 16, more than any other brand. We had a great opportunity so why not help those athletes be a little quicker on court.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nadidas adiZero Crazy Light 2 "Scarlet"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSnkrs Day: Why make the Crazy Light its own franchise as opposed to a signature shoe?<\/strong><\/p>\nRobbie Fuller:<\/strong> With Derrick Rose or Dwight Howard shoes, I can?t go into those designs with an end goal idea; I have to go in with space so that it?s honest and inspired by the athlete. With this shoe it has to be a concept for the industry. How does it make the industry better? We?re going to improve the game of basketball. That?s the focus and only incentive with this shoes.<\/p>\nSnkrs Day: Lawrence, how does your background in basketball influence your creative process?<\/strong><\/p>\nLawrence Norman:<\/strong> It allows me to be selfish! (Laughs<\/em>) I want to build something that helps my game. We did that before. I hated the ankle braces that I was wearing, the suede and the leather soaked up sweat. I wanted to create something that was better than that. So, I built an ankle brace that I thought would be relevant for me but also relevant for Derrick Rose. The selfish part is that as a basketball player I?m able to build products that are right for my game, but in general, it?s all about the 14 to 19 year old athlete and what drives them. Innovations like Crazy Light are exciting and humbling because you have an opportunity to make an athlete faster. In the bigger scheme of things you can make a whole group of athletes faster. Whether it?s a Revolution 30 NBA uniform or a Crazy Light shoe, you have a chance to make the game faster and increase scoring, dunks, more exciting plays. That?s the cool, humbling thing about being involved in this business.<\/p>\nSnkrs Day: What does being an innovation leader mean to adidas Basketball?<\/strong><\/p>\nLawrence Norman:<\/strong> Being an innovation leader means first of all listening a lot. You?ve got to listen to athletes. You?ve got to know what makes them tick, how can they be faster and better. We listen to athletes almost every day, every week for sure. Whether it?s a high school athlete, college athlete, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard; we are constantly listening to them. Secondly, what are the most important things to them? Lightweight to us is the most important ratio. Everything we do across all the products we make, it?s got to be light. That?s had a big influence on our basketball category. We have a lot of momentum in the marketplace right now and I think a lot of it’s due with what we brought to life with the Crazy Light and now the Crazy Light 2.<\/p>\nSnkrs Day: Do you read the comment sections?<\/strong><\/p>\nLawrence Norman:<\/strong> I go on Snkrs Day. Sneaker blogs do matter a lot to me and a lot to us. This is real feedback from real consumers, so we do spend time there. It?s really important to learn from Snkrs Day and places like that. It?s a combination of a lot of insight from Snkrs Day, from consumers directly, from our NBA athletes, and from our own team. We balance all this feedback into solutions for the end consumer, which is the athlete. We take the feedback very seriously, but it?s fun. I was on Twitter a second ago looking at what you?re posting. It?s redeeming and it?s humbling because you have to take the good with the bad, but with the Crazy Light 2 it?s all been good. The feedback on Twitter is off the charts, both popular and positive right now. We?re off to a really good start.<\/p>\nRobbie Fuller:<\/strong> Online comments are awesome! I love them. We use them as the morning newspaper to check them and see what?s going on.<\/p>\nSnkrs Day: When designing the Crazy Light 2, did you account for casual crossover?<\/strong><\/p>\nLawrence Norman:<\/strong>?The off court element of the Crazy Light 2 is almost as important as the performance. The majority of basketball shoes are worn off the court anyways so the shoe has got to look great. Now that the Crazy Light 1 is established it?s easier to launch the Crazy Light 2. It looks faster, it has a really cool signature design element, the whole thing is fast and sleek, and the shoe will be worn off the court just as much as it’s worn on.<\/p>\nRobbie Fuller:<\/strong> Trends come and go, but winning is always cool. As long as you deliver the best, people are going to gravitate towards it. This can work its way off court because it?s the best at what it does.<\/p>\nadidas adiZero Crazy Light 2 "Electricity"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSnkrs Day: The “Electricity” makeup is a standout. How did that colorway come about?<\/strong><\/p>\nRobbie Fuller:<\/strong>?The ?Electricity? color spun off a conversation about trying to do the impossible again, like lightning striking twice. The Crazy Light 1 set the tone with the ?Sharp Blue? colorway. With every shoe from here on, we think about what?s going to be the disruptive color. Not necessarily the most commercial, but the most memorable.<\/p>\nSnkrs Day: How do you expect athletes to use miCoach with the Crazy Light 2?<\/strong><\/p>\nRobbie Fuller:?<\/strong>We kicked it off with running and soccer and now we?re transitioning into basketball. I think it?s the future. When you?ve got the stats you can tweak and tune your game so that you?re more efficient.<\/p>\nLawrence Norman:<\/strong>?What it does is it provides coaching to get you from point A to point B. We?re going to continue to improve this month by month because we really see the future in helping athletes be better, not just through the product but through the coaching elements as well.<\/p>\nThe adidas adiZero Crazy Light 2 launches tomorrow at Foot Locker and Shop adidas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hear what went into the Crazy Light 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2415,"featured_media":215545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,618,51],"tags":[1225462,1208860,1208624,1208907,1208625],"cultivate_rss":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Everything You Need to Know About the adidas Crazy Light 2 | Snkrs Day<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n