As the game of basketball has evolved and a bigger emphasis placed on efficiency, whether it be easier shots at the basket or more valuable outside shots, spacing has become increasingly important. That insight informed the team at Nike Basketball’s approach to its newly unveiled Greater Than (GT) series of footwear.
“GT is not a specific product, it’s an approach to creating solutions and identifying new perspective on performance. We do it with the athlete and we do it for the athlete,” explained senior creative director for men’s performance sport at Nike, Ross Klein.
The series features three different silhouettes: Air Zoom GT Cut, Air Zoom GT Run, and the Air Zoom GT Jump, each addressing the concept of space in its own way. “This whole family of shoes can play ball, depending on any which way you want to move. The difference is that because one area is the focus for each silhouette, we’ll help enable the player’s ability to do that one thing that makes them ‘greater than,’” says Klein.
The sneakers may not overtly reference models from the Nike archive, but Klein explained that there’s more than one way the category’s history takes shape. “It can look something like a model from the past, or it can take upon the methodologies and thought process of the past. That’s more of where the inspirations come from.”
One example of this approach that each model shares is Zoom Air Strobel construction, also seen in Kevin Durant’s signature line, which brings the cushioning closer to the foot than other build methods. Dependent on the model, this is combined with additional Zoom units and/or React foam, to tailor the shoe’s performance properties to each intended focal point.
“We’re heading into what we call the breakthrough era—a whole new perspective on gaining information from our history and moving ourselves into a future that is pretty new and exciting.”
The Air Zoom GT Cut ($170) is set to drop first, releasing in Greater China on April 1 followed by a North American drop on April 22. The Air Zoom GT Run is slated for a summer 2021 release, with the Air Zoom GT Jump planned for later in 2021.
