{"id":917840,"date":"2019-11-06T10:46:49","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T15:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=917840"},"modified":"2022-09-18T09:21:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T14:21:00","slug":"nike-lebron-ii-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/nike-lebron-ii-history\/","title":{"rendered":"How LeBron’s Second Signature Set the Bar & Caused a Stir"},"content":{"rendered":"

15 years ago today on November 6th, 2004, the Nike Zoom LeBron II<\/strong> released at retail in the famed Black\/Crimson colorway.<\/p>\n

LeBron’s second signature – and the first to feature his name in the title – revived Zoom Air from the OG AZG but upped the ante on padding, styling and strapping.<\/p>\n

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Nike Zoom LeBron II (via StockX)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sporting Zoom Air in caged fashion much like Steve Nash’s Zoom Drive of the same season, dual-branded ankle straps almost mirrored LeBron’s famed headband in aesthetic while Nike’s very-of-the-moment laser etching scored the ankles underneath.<\/p>\n

Commercially, LeBrons were still growing on the casual consumer as they did not receive the off-court endorsement or status-symbol steeze that Air Jordans saw from jump. From a performance standpoint? Oh, well that’s a whole different story.<\/p>\n

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photo by Scott Cunningham\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Absolutely praised by Professor K – then the absolute word on basketball shoes by far and away – the Kicksology founder gave the LeBron II an A+ in his written review for Sole Collector<\/em> magazine in 2004, comparing the shoe to the Air Jordan 11 and Star Wars in regards to instant classic appeal and citing no cons on the model.<\/p>\n

The biggest strength, as hinted at above, was the evolved use of Zoom Air cushioning. Appearing in bigger and bolder fashion, Max Zoom units featured in caged fashion appeared both in the heel and in the forefoot.<\/p>\n

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One year in and already an A+ model of his namesake?<\/p>\n

Major props for the young king who debuted his sophomore season shoe prior to his first All-Star campaign in the 2004 Summer Olympics.<\/p>\n

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LeBron and his shoes were clearly stock on the rise.<\/p>\n

Despite perfect reviews for the LeBron II on the court, things were far from perfect from a PR standpoint off the court.<\/p>\n

Though the LeBron II was hailed from a technical standpoint it proved controversial in a marketing sense.<\/p>\n