Paul George Shoes: ‘Low-Cut’ Nike PG1 Inspired By Pacers Star’s Fave Hobby
The Nike PG1, the first pair of shoes in the Paul George collection, is very much tailor-made for the 26-year-old athlete, incorporating some of his personal details in the design.
For one, the PG1 signature shoes have a notable feature that was inspired from Paul George’s favorite hobby. The design of the traction part of the outer sole resembles fish scales to pay homage to George’s other passion aside from basketball, which is fishing.
And, it looks like Paul George is just as adept in angling hooks as he is with playing hoops. Back in 2015, he and one of his buddies took home the championships in one of his first fishing tournaments held over at the Geist Reservoir in the northern portion of Indianapolis. George was able to reel in close to six pounds of bass for a team total of a little over 20 pounds of gamefish.
“Always growing up, I was a Southern kid,” said George, as per the Washington Post. “This is my best way to just kind of relax.”
The new pair of Paul George shoes was designed by Tony Hardman, a footwear designer at Nike Basketball, who also happens to be the same guy behind George’s favorite basketball shoes before, the Nike Zoom Crusader, according to Nike.
Hardman said that Paul George was very much involved in the conception of the shoe design. He said that the NBA player’s major leg injury played a part as the design team was able to spend more time with him and get to know him in a more personal level. The whole process took around three years because of the freak accident that sidelined George for some time, as compared to the usual period of just two to 18 months.
The PG1 shoes have a low-cut build and sport a strap with Flywire loop system on the forefoot. The idea of a forefoot strap comes from Paul George himself who presented Hardman a rough sketch of what he would like his dream shoes to look like. The inside of the shoes features Zoom Air unit and sockliner for added cushion.
Other interesting details in the Paul George shoes design include the number “13” inscribed on the heel counter, a “PG” logo located on the tongue and made to look like a bowtie, an engraved “5-1-15” on the medial side of one shoe, which marks the birth date of Olivia, Paul George’s daughter, a “5-2-90” inscription on the medial left of the other for his own birthday, and a stripe pattern resembling titanium rods on the right heel tab as a reminder of his leg injury.
“For me, I really love some of the fish scale inspired details,” said Hardman when asked by Jarrel Harris of Sports Illustrated on his favorite features of the Paul George shoes design. “If you look at the traction that’s really like a multi-directional functionality about it in terms of what he needs but then it has this nod to fishing that is something unique to his personality.”
With the release of his very own signature shoes, Paul George officially becomes the latest member of an elite rank of athletes in the sport. The Indiana Pacers superstar joins the illustrious list of Nike Basketball signature athletes that also features the likes of all-time greats Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, as well as fellow active NBA superstars LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
The Nike PG1 makes Paul George the 21st player in the sport to ever get a signature basketball shoes from the popular sporting brand. Next up to the Shining colorway will be the Ferocity colorway, which will be launched worldwide this coming March 4 for a price of $110 (SRP).
[Featured Image By Dan Mullan/Getty Images]
