{"id":399341,"date":"2014-08-18T13:42:50","date_gmt":"2014-08-18T18:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=399341"},"modified":"2022-09-17T11:54:47","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T16:54:47","slug":"kicks-court-intriguing-games-2014-2015-nba-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/kicks-court-intriguing-games-2014-2015-nba-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Kicks On Court: The Most Intriguing Games of the 2014-2015 NBA Season"},"content":{"rendered":"
Late last week, the NBA unveiled the 2014-2015 season schedule, which features some very appealing matchups on Opening Night and Christmas Day. We took some time to examine and analyze the schedule in its entirety and broke down the most intriguing games of the 2014-2015 NBA season from an on-court footwear standpoint. Find out when the first Kobe vs. LeBron matchup happens, Stephen Curry’s\u00a0return to the Garden, Grammy Night and much more.<\/p>\n
November 21st, 2014\/December 12th, 2014 – Chicago Bulls vs. Portland Trail Blazers (ESPN)<\/strong> – The Derrick Rose vs. Damian Lillard matchup is very intriguing from a basketball standpoint as well as sneakers. adidas\u00a0essentially promoted the D Rose line through Lillard for the past two years, while the Chicago Bulls point guard was sidelined. With whispers of Lillard getting his own signature sneaker this season, there’s a lot of potential for adidas to get creative during both Rose vs. Lillard matchups this season.<\/p>\n December 9th\/December 21st\/April 13th\/April 15th, 2014 – Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA League Pass)<\/strong> – When Los Angeles natives Derrick Williams and Nick Young share the court, you can expect to see footwear that you haven’t seen in years and\/or footwear that hasn’t released yet. Nick Young, last year’s Kicks On Court Champion, and Derrick Williams, the 2013 Kicks On Court Champion, enjoy consistently surprising the masses with their on-court footwear and seem to engage in\u00a0one-upmanship when they play against each other. January 15th\/February 8th, 2015 – Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Los Angeles Lakers (TNT\/ABC)<\/strong> – In the same manner as KD vs. LeBron, the Kobe vs. King James matchup is another televised game that everyone focuses on. Both bring out exclusive versions of their latest footwear, with LeBron using the Staples Center trip sometimes to unveil\u00a0the Los Angeles Fairfax High School exclusive version of his shoe each year.<\/p>\n January 24th\/March 16th, 2015 – Washington Wizards vs. Portland Trail Blazers (NBATV\/NBA League Pass)<\/strong> – John Wall vs. Damian Lillard is one of the budding rivalries that warrants attention. adidas took advantage of the friendly competition between the two by launching the adidas “Florist City” Collection during John Wall and the Wizards only visit to The City of Roses this past season. Both are said to be receiving their own\u00a0shoes this season, so a potential signature sneaker debut on court for both of them during one of their matchups isn’t far-fetched.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n October 28th, 2014 – Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers (TNT)<\/strong> – Everyone remembers the last free throws Kobe shot before limping off the court in his Nike Kobe 8. Between then and now, we have witnessed the likes of Nick Young, P.J. Tucker, DeMar DeRozan and others lace up the Nike Kobe 9; however, the sight of Kobe himself wearing the shoe has yet to be seen.<\/p>\n October 29th, 2014 – Detroit Pistons vs. Denver Nuggets (NBA League Pass)<\/strong> – Nate Robinson is undoubtedly one of the most exciting players to watch in regards to on-court footwear year in and year out. The minuscule guard, who once wore four different shoes in one game and had the audacity to wear the Nike Air Yeezy 2 on court two seasons ago, was missed when he suffered an ACL injury midway through last season. On the second night of the 2014-2015 NBA season, KryptoNate returns.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n October 29th, 2014 – Chicago Bulls vs. New York Knicks – (ESPN)<\/strong> – We’ve been awaiting Derrick Rose’s return for quite some time now. As mentioned earlier, adidas has done an incredible job by keeping the adidas D Rose line relevant through Damian Lillard, but seeing Derrick Rose consistently on the court in his own sneaker is something we’ve been anticipating.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n October 31st, 2014 – Halloween<\/strong> – Before last season, in which Chris Paul and Blake Griffin wore a glow-in-the-dark shoe and an orange sneaker, respectively, Halloween-inspired sneakers weren’t a thing on court since the 2010-2011 NBA season. Hopefully, it remains a theme for a number of years.<\/p>\n December 1st, 2014 – World AIDS Day<\/strong> – During the same season, 2010-2011, Nike supplied its athletes with red and\/or red-accented shoes for World AIDS Day. With four games scheduled on December 1 this season, it would be great to see a few players reach back into their closets and bring out red sneakers to support the day, or see the brands assist the players much like they did in the aforementioned season.<\/p>\n December 25th, 2014 – Christmas Day<\/strong> – Christmas Day is arguably the best day to see an array of vibrant and sometimes unseen player exclusives on the NBA courts. If Ray Allen decides to play this season, you can expect something bizarre on his feet, and Russell Westbrook will more than likely debut a player exclusive again.<\/p>\n January 19th, 2015 – MLK Day<\/strong> –\u00a0MLK Day continues to be one of the most anticipated nights seeing that brands, such as Under Armour, Nike and Jordan, supply their athletes with intricate player exclusives for the holiday.<\/p>\n February 8th, 2015 – Grammy Night<\/strong> – The newest trend that the top brands brought to the court this year was centered around Awards Season. Jordan Brand, Under Armour and adidas equipped their players with gold sneakers on Grammy Night. Hopefully, this trend continues, as it was one of the most surprising nights of this past season.<\/p>\n February 19th, 2015 – Chinese New Year Begins<\/strong> – Two seasons ago, adidas outfitted a number of its brand members in Year of the Snake-inspired player exclusives during the months of January and February, which was also a pleasant surprise. For some reason, the Year of the Horse wasn’t represented this past season, but we’d like to see them return to the Chinese calendar with Year of the Sheep-inspired shoes this season if possible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n First Week of April, 2015 – NBA Green Week<\/strong> – NBA Green Week has become one of the highlights of the season in regards to sneakers.\u00a0During the month of April, the NBA collaborates with the National Resource Defense Council (NDRC) to bring an emphasis towards protecting the environment. The partnership produces Green Week, a designated seven consecutive days in which NBA players wear mainly green apparel, including headbands, socks, warmups and of course, sneakers. Over the past few years, player have used the aforementioned week to bring out player exclusives or rarely-seen retros, and we expect more of that this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n October 29th, 2014 – Chicago Bulls vs. New York Knicks (ESPN)<\/strong> – A few years back, Derrick Rose debuted a “Brenda” version of his adidas signature shoe at the Garden on national television. The Garden has long been considered the Mecca of Basketball and many have debuted new sneakers in the storied arena.<\/p>\n December 4th\/February 22nd, 2014 – Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks (TNT\/ABC)<\/strong> – LeBron James seems to debut a new player exclusive every time he steps foot into the Garden. In addition to a couple of Soldier VIIs that he wore for the first time last year, he’s also debuted the “Big Apple” LeBron VI, the “Red Carpet” LeBron VII and the “Carmex” LeBron X at Madison Square.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nDecember 11th\/January 25th, 2014 – Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (TNT\/ABC)<\/strong> – The Kevin Durant vs. LeBron James matchup has been one of the most watched bouts ever since they faced off in the 2012 NBA Finals. Not only do they compete at the highest level, but they both often use the platform to display player exclusive versions of their latest signature shoes.<\/p>\nThe Return of the Guard<\/h1>\n
Holidays and Other Special Days<\/h1>\n
Madison Square Garden Nights<\/h1>\n