Hard to believe that LeBron James’ signature sneaker line is 17 years old. There are high school basketball players that weren’t even born when King James’ first signature shoe released back in 2003. LeBron is second only to Michael Jordan in the amount of signature models his personal line has eclipsed (34 and 17 respectively). It’s always a rare occurrence for a rookie in the NBA to have their own shoe, but Nike was all in on their 18-year-old, $90 million dollar man. LeBron’s first shoe was dubbed the “Air Zoom Generation” as opposed to the expected “Nike Lebron 1.” This was most likely in part due to LeBron being seen as a “once in a generation” talent. However, once the second LeBron model was released in 2004, Nike and James went with the traditional numbering and naming system, calling it the Nike Zoom Lebron II. Models 1-6 in LeBron James’ line were pretty well received and could always be seen on-court repeatedly. It wasn’t until the LeBron VII that the line really took off, thanks to designer Jason Petrie. Petrie blended new technology with traditional materials to flawlessly create possibly the greatest looking shoe in the Nike LeBron line. With leathers, suedes, patent leather, flywire technology, and a full-length Air Max bag, the LeBron VII had on-court performance, but also off-court appeal. This was perhaps the first time in the LeBron line’s history that you could style the signature model casually for the streets, but not miss a step lacing them up for the court.
Jason Petrie would keep this momentum up and go on to make sure-fire hits with the Lebrons VIII, IX, and X. The Nike LeBrons 7-10 dominated the hype waves of the early 2010’s, and rightfully so. Nike basketball shoes were hot, and Jason Petrie knew how to deliver. The partnership between LeBron and Jason worked so well, that Petrie has designed every model since the 7. Some models are obviously more liked than others, but it is a tall task to design shoes made for a player 6’9″ and 250 lbs. LeBron’s most recent model, the XVII’s, have received high praise overall and achieved a mass appeal both on-court and off. There’s no telling just how much longer Nike will have Jason Petrie designing LeBron’s signature shoes, but there always seems to be a buzz surrounding what the next iteration in the line will look like.
We at Sneaker Reporter didn’t want to just show LeBron James’ signature line 1-17, we wanted to challenge ourselves. We compiled a list ranking the best-looking LeBron silhouettes (ranked between all 17 models). This list has nothing to do with how the shoes perform on-court, strictly with how the shoes look aesthetically. I’m a Lebron collector myself and just let it be known that the Top 5 in this list can change on any given day, there’s really no right or wrong order. We only included the base models of the signature line, so no low tops, post season versions, or “Elite” versions. Additionally, and probably most importantly, each shoe on the list is the debut model and/or part of the initial first run of colorways. No samples, player exclusives, friends and family versions, etc. will be shown here (we’ll save those for another article). We wanted each colorway shown to match the current team Lebron was on and be attainable for a consumer to buy (for the most part). Scroll through to see which Lebron models got ranked towards the top, and which ones slid towards the bottom. A 17-year signature series run that is far from over.
1. Nike LeBron VII (2009-10)
2. Nike LeBron VIII (2010-11)
3. Nike LeBron X (2012-13)
4. Nike LeBron IX (2011-12)
5. Nike LeBron XV (2017-18)
6. Nike LeBron IV (2006-07)
7. Nike LeBron III (2005-06)
8. Nike Air Zoom Generation (LeBron 1) (2003-04)
9. Nike LeBron XVII (2019-20)
10. Nike LeBron V (2007-08)
11. Nike LeBron II (2004-05)
12. Nike LeBron XI (2013-14)
13. Nike LeBron XVI (2018-19)
14. Nike LeBron XIV (2016-17)
15. Nike LeBron XII (2014-15)
16. Nike LeBron VI (2008-09)
17. Nike LeBron XIII (2015-16)
