What "South Beach" Means to The Nike LeBron Line

July 8, 2010.

That was the day when NBA superstar LeBron James took to a TV special to announce to the world that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to chase rings with the Miami Heat. As boneheaded as the TV special was, the move to Miami has been a successful one thus far. In the 4 years that followed LeBron James’ decision, the Miami Heat have won two consecutive NBA championships, while LeBron James padded his resume with a slew of individual awards to truly justify being the league’s best player, and his lofty “King James” nickname.

But out of everything that day in July brought forth on both the NBA and popular culture, the best thing LeBron’s move to Miami has been the introduction of the “South Beach” themed sneaker colorway.

Nike ran with the news of King James’ move to Miami in a big way by dropping the now-legendary “South Beach” LeBron 8. Designed by Jason Petrie (the unsung hero of Nike’s LeBron line), their predominantly teal uppers mixed in with accents of pink and black certainly made for a loud and extremely attention grabbing shoe. The hype for them was quite strong, and they turned out to be an immediate hit among people in and out of Miami. People who weren’t keen on the idea of wearing teal sneakers before the “South Beach” 8s came out hurriedly sought out threads of equally loud measure to match the kicks.

The resale value has steadily climbed in the period that followed the release, with early passers paying upwards of 500 US Dollars to pick up a deadstock pair. This cemented their status among the most desired LeBrons in the history of the LeBron sneaker line. And if The Decision was LeBron’s way of saying he was “taking his talents to South Beach”, the “South Beach” 8s stood as his definitive, emphatic announcement of “I’m in Miami, Bitch!”.

Since then, we’ve come to see a slew of “South Beach” sneakers released by both Nike and its competitors with varying degrees of hype and commercial success. And in fact, the theme will once again be reimagined on a LeBron James signature shoe with the release of the “South Beach” 11s. And regardless of Miami successfully completing a three-peat, Nike looks to have another big seller on their hands in June. Since taking over the LeBron line, Jason Petrie has done an admirable job of designing sneakers that toe the line between athletic performance and off-court style, much better than the signature lines of LeBron’s Nike Basketball peers and those of competing brands.

Will you be in the eventual lines these "South Beach" 11s will cause?  

Following the “South Beach” 8 release, the LeBron line has hit middle points that appeal to both hoops fans and sneakerheads time and time again, giving both parties a contemporary baller whose gear works well both on the hardwood, and worth the extra effort to cop. And with the commercial success that the line has enjoyed since Petrie’s takeover mixed in with LeBron’s ascendancy to the top of the NBA mountain, it looks like King James and his sneaker line are going to be royals for a long, long time.