Player Editions

As part of Nike’s new LeBron Watch program, LeBron James will unveil special player editions (PEs) that pay homage to the iconic athletes and Nike shoes that have inspired his career. Some will be just for him, but he’s also making five of those PEs available to Nike members via the Nike SNKRS app as soon as he steps on the floor wearing them.

Lebron will wear the first of those five shoes that will be available for purchase tonight. The LeBron 15 Diamond Turf, which pays homage to the golden era of dual-sport legends that inspired LeBron growing up, will be up for grabs at his game’s tipoff.

LeBron kicked off the program On January 30 by wearing an exclusive LeBron 15 inspired by the Nike Waffle Trainer. One of the early Nike styles, the Waffle Trainer (in blue and yellow) was the brainchild of legendary University of Oregon track coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman. The shoe’s innovative outsole put Nike on the map as a performance company.

As a lifelong fan, LeBron James says he has always been drawn to the competitive spirit and the legendary figures of sport. When he was growing up in the ’90s, he’d watch whatever game happened to be on TV and quickly learned the nicknames of his favorite athletes as well as the specific Nike sneakers they wore.

For LeBron, those sneakers represented a piece of the athlete he could touch, even if they weren’t always accessible to him in Akron. And to this day, their memory drives him.

Now 15 years into a historic career, LeBron has become the iconic athlete on the other side of the TV. And kids around the world watch to see how he performs and what’s on his feet. The latter is always changing, and he’s often in PEs that became instant classics within the sneaker community, even if many color ways never hit shelves.

“When I was a kid, the athletes and the shoes represented in this series inspired me to chase my dream of one day becoming a professional athlete,” says James. “It’s important to me to share these stories and inspiration with my fans. I want them to be a part of every step of my journey, so I’m excited we’re making these shoes available to them.”