{"id":798416,"date":"2018-12-05T11:51:16","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T16:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=798416"},"modified":"2018-12-06T14:51:44","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T19:51:44","slug":"how-carbon-fiber-evolved-in-nike-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/how-carbon-fiber-evolved-in-nike-basketball\/","title":{"rendered":"How Carbon Fiber Evolved in Nike Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"
words by Robbie Falchi<\/em><\/p>\n For over two decades, Nike Basketball<\/strong> has cranked out some killer kicks with carbon fiber<\/strong> tooling as a key component.<\/p>\n What makes carbon fiber so special is its weird strength ratio. Carbon fiber is extremely lightweight while being incredibly strong — stronger than steel! It excels at providing support without adding bulk, as some of the most common uses of carbon fiber are applied underfoot. It can be used as lateral support, too.<\/p>\n Need a durable arch support platform? Then carbon fiber has you covered. Need a heel clip that maintains a low profile without sacrificing fortitude? Then say no more, fam, carbon fiber again.<\/p>\n Let’s take a look back at the basketball shoes carbon fiber has impacted and why it\u2019s been so important to Nike and Jordan’s hoops divisions over time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Like so many Nike innovations, using carbon fiber on a shoe was a Tinker Hatfield idea. Tinker never stopped tinkering during Michael Jordan\u2019s first retirement, and he was convinced that MJ wouldn\u2019t stay away from the game forever. He kept working on the next innovation for Jordan\u2019s inevitable return.<\/p>\n In a Frankenstein-like experiment, Tinker married patent leather (an upper material commonly found on dress shoes) and carbon fiber (a composite typically found within a plane\u2019s wings or a car\u2019s parts). The result birthed one of the most elegant, timeless shoes in existence, the Air Jordan 11.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n From a looks perspective, the two materials Tinker chose played off of each other perfectly \u2013 the shininess of the patent leather and black\/grey pattern of the carbon fiber add depth to an upper that\u2019s a lot more simplistic than most people notice. Looks aside, the carbon fiber shank within the midsole of the 11 provided a lightweight and sturdy accent to the shoe\u2019s enlarged Air units. The carbon fiber experiment worked so well that it was brought back for the 12, 13 and many others (we\u2019ll come back to the Jordan line later).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At Nike, when something works, they tend to translate onto other models. Jason Kidd\u2019s Zoom Flight 95 took the practical application of carbon fiber and multiplied it by 100 by mixing a woven synthetic directly into the upper.<\/p>\n