Jake Danklefs<\/strong>, a San Antonio native and full-time shoe customizer, who met Bonner – his favorite player in the NBA – for the first time during the Spurs Media Day session in late September.\u00a0The idea, which at the time was somewhere in between seriousness and a joke, has shifted all the way to the former, and a tad bit of behind-the-scenes legwork has been done by a few persons, namely Matt’s younger brother Luke Bonner, in attempt to see this project through.<\/p>\n“My sister actually works for the NBA league office, so I checked in with her to make sure everything that we wanted to do was in line with the dress code rules and what you can and can’t do with sneakers on the holidays,” said Luke Bonner. “Obviously on Christmas Day, you’re allowed to wear the holiday colors.”<\/p>\n
Luke also spent time chatting with adidas about the upcoming project.<\/p>\n
“When adidas signed him, they didn’t expect him to get a custom shoe and interest from Jake Danklefs, or anyone well-known in that customization space, so they were shocked,” said Luke Bonner. “It’s kind of funny, to be honest. I was just thinking about his beat-up shoes over the years and last year’s custom – you know, the one with the tape and snowman drawing on Christmas Day – so this will be pretty exciting.”<\/p>\n Matt Bonner’s Christmas Day shoe for 2013 featured a snowman drawing on a piece of tape\n
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Throughout the past couple of years, the influx of NBA players wearing custom shoes has been well documented. Players, such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Nate Robinson and Nick Young, have all worn custom-made, hand-painted sneakers during games or at Media Day sessions. Most of the shoes have been customized using vibrant colors and\/or gaudy design cues, but don’t expect those aspects on Bonner’s upcoming custom. Assume something different from the red-haired, sandwich-loving power forward who wonders why the country named Turkey doesn’t have any turkeys.<\/p>\n
“If I could create it – knowing my brother – it would definitely have to incorporate his\u00a0two favorite materials: corduroy and flannel,” said Luke. “I think it would be fitting to include those fabrics on the shoe in as subtle a way as possible. If it’s done right, I think he’ll be secretly, very excited.”<\/p>\n
Danklefs, who has created a number of custom shoes for celebrities and athletes, such as LeBron James, Washington D.C. artist Wale, Spurs guard Danny Green and more, has already begun brainstorming even without the adidas model being chosen.<\/p>\n
“Just knowing Matt’s personality, it’s going to be something subtle yet quirky,” Danklefs said. “We’ve discussed the Griswold Family Vacation<\/em> as a possible inspiration with maybe a Christmas sweater tie-in featuring corduroy.”<\/p>\nDanklefs spends hours at a time customizing sneakers, and the process is second nature to him now seeing that he’s created\u00a0over 100 shoes in his lifetime; however, this project could pose as a challenge.<\/p>\n
“This might be one of the most difficult shoes I’ve had to do,” said Danklefs. “I might have to add materials or airbrush some type of corduroy on the shoe to make it work, but the last thing I want to do is alter material on a game-ready shoe for him. I want to maintain the integrity of the shoe as much as possible.”<\/p>\n
It will undoubtedly be a tall task for the Danklefs, but he can easily find joy throughout the upcoming journey.<\/p>\n
“I’ve done shoes for all kinds of celebrities and athletes, but getting to meet my favorite player in the NBA and on top of that do a custom for him will be something to surely cherish,” said Danklefs. “I like him because he’s not\u00a0you’re typical NBA player. He just seems like the average person you meet at the local sandwich shop.”<\/p>\n
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**Note**<\/strong> A video will air, documenting everything related to this project, in December after Christmas Day. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From beginning to end, the 2013-2014 NBA season was indeed momentous for San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner. He began…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":411149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[835,1219126],"tags":[1214126,1225551,1211565,1205233,1216258],"cultivate_rss":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Kicks On Court Diaries: A "Christmas Day" Custom Shoe in the Works for Matt Bonner | Snkrs Day<\/title>\n \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