- How many guys do I think deserve a signature shoe?
Maybe...
It's not that many man.
Just five, six maybe.
You know, we all know the top of the top.
We all know who those players are.
[upbeat music]
- My name's Rashad Williams.
I'm the senior director for Adidas Basketball Footwear,
and this is the Harden Volume 4.
[upbeat music]
The story this shoe tells is a perfect blend
between innovation and fashion,
which equals James Harden.
- [Announcer] Beat the buzzard!
James Harden, put it in the popcorn machine!
- [Announcer Two] Harden in the paint.
- [Rashad] Creating this shoe was a long process.
- It's a two year process.
- The reason why is,
we need to get all the insights from the athlete.
We look at data from James' entire career.
Some of the data shown James
is actually one of the fastest players in the NBA.
So his top speed is around 19.2 miles an hour on the floor.
James I think this year
is second in the league in minutes played.
He puts up over a 1,000 shot attempts throughout the season.
So we look at all
of those little nuances in James' game,
and make sure that his footwear
really can enhance his performance on the court.
- You would never think this process takes that long.
It's just like okay,
this is what it looks like,
this is the color I want.
Boom, let's do it in two weeks.
Nah, you have to sit back and make sure that
it's able to perform in the way it needs to.
[upbeat music]
- The new technologies on this shoe,
we can start from the bottom up.
It starts with the Lightstrike foam.
James always says he wants to lead with innovation,
and Lightstrike foam is our
newest innovation within the brand.
The unique thing about Lightstrike foam,
is it's roughly over 40% lighter
than any traditional EVA.
But, it still gives you the right responsiveness,
and cushioning as some of the top EVA's in the industry.
We've been working on the foam for over five years.
The Volume 4 is actually the lightest Harden to date,
due to Lightstrike.
In the past, James has been mainly on Boost.
Now switching him over to Lightstrike,
the main insight around that was
James is logging a lot of minutes.
So he has a lot of wear and tear,
and so we want to give him the best advantage
to be able to perform at a high level,
throughout the entire season.
So making him lighter naturally does that.
There's a new lacing system.
So, that's what you will see here
on the medial and lateral side.
If you'll look at some of the designs,
and some of the original sketches,
that was one era we were playing at.
So, from something that looks like this,
to something maybe a little bit more traditional,
to looking at hey, where do we bring more support up
around the forefoot area?
And not the vamp around lacing.
James really wanted to have a lacing system
that can tailor kind of to everyone's game.
Multiple holes, or eyelets in order to lace the shoe
you know the way you wanted it.
It gives you different support
depending on your style of play.
So, James is huge on stopping and starting,
so lockdown is key.
And so, that's where we really focused here
in the midfoot area for James,
to make sure that he doesn't have a lot of toe jam,
that his toes don't hurt when he stops quickly,
and takes that pull up jumper.
And then lastly, is this kind of heel clip.
So right on the heel,
we have this TPU piece,
which is a heel clip,
that really snugs the back of your heel,
and locks you down, and locks you in.
And it also is a great kind of showpiece
as well, for the shoe,
and that gives the best ability that you need.
Once your heel is locked in,
you can make all the moves
that James loves to do throughout the season.
- The most important thing for me
is making sure that they can stay up with me.
Make sure it's durable,
making sure that when I'm doing my step backs,
and drill steps,
and crossovers,
and all that good stuff,
that the shoe feels like it's still on my feet,
and it's basically going wherever I go.
Other than probably last year,
I've been playing in low tops basically my entire career.
I feel like high tops are a little bit more bulkier.
Unless we find other ways to limit the space,
and limit the weight on them.
But, the grip is one of the most important things.
You know as I'm doing all my moves,
and all that good stuff on the court,
you got to be able to have a shoe that has grips,
and able to hold up
the power that I have when I'm making those moves.
So, at the front of the shoe,
we have this little cover on it,
because your foot tends to creep over
the bottom of your foot.
So, this is kinda to hold that force
up to when I'm making my moves,
my toes and my foot stay balanced.
- [Interviewer] Traveling, it's controversial.
- You talking about on an airplane?
- [Interviewer] No, no, no.
Traveling is like taking three steps.
- Like with the basketball?
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- Oh.
- [Interviewer] I'm saying so...
You know, you've been redefining what it means to travel,
and step back.
- That's not traveling.
Like honestly, honestly, alright look.
How many times over the course of,
let's just say three or four years,
have I got called for traveling?
It's not many,
like maybe two or three maybe,
over the course of a few years.
So, where did this traveling come from?
I really want to know.
Because it looks awkward,
because it doesn't look normal?
You know, traveling is when you
take three steps with the basketball.
Well if you don't have the basketball in your hands,
you can take as many steps as you want,
as long as the ball is just bouncing.
We're talking about the game of basketball,
and me you know changing the game,
and creating my own path
in my own way.
This is a form of basketball that works at a high level,
and its a new generation,
and a new wave.
Like it should be taught that way.
When it's time is up,
and when I'm all said and done,
it's like, "Yo, he really changed the game.
"Like in the basketball world,
"in the shoe world, like everything."
He didn't just make a basketball shoe that all right,
you go out there,
play and do a couple drills,
then play basketball,
then alright next color.
Every shoe is like alright well damn,
that was creative as hell.
Like, "Oh I remember that shoe, I remember that shoe."
Or, "You know that move on the court?
"That was crazy, I remember."
And that's just going to last forever.
[upbeat music]
- The design always starts with the consumer,
and then also just making sure
that you're staying true to what's going on in basketball.
James is really close to that,
and so we start with him,
we start with the consumer,
and we really try to make something that kids like,
and that can be showcased on the NBA floor.
- I know there's a lot of dudes in the NBA that got swag,
or can dress,
but they ain't got no game.
So, what?
You trying to sell fashion shoes,
or are you trying to sell basketball shoes?
You know?
So you got to be able to have game,
you gotta be able to hoop every single night,
night in and night out,
and then obviously the fashion,
the other stuff comes.
It can't be the other way around.
There's a lot of guys that can dress nice,
and got all the swag,
you know whatever,
but they can't hoop.
[upbeat music]
So, these are the legit and actual writings
that we have with James.
The design process we go through with James,
as we go through and we take that main performance,
and innovation insight,
and then once the process starts,
and the design team starts the design,
what works well with him is if you can
give him some visuals.
I think we did 60, 70 designs,
and we literally laid them out
on the table like we have now,
and we had James go through and pick things.
- I made it a point from my Volume 1,
to be involved in every process.
- James is involved heavily.
- A lot of guys,
a lot of other brands,
a lot of players,
they're just thrown onto a shoe,
like here you go,
take this shoe.
This is your next shoe.
They give me an opportunity to be involved,
fully involved in it.
- [Interviewer] What's your favorite thing
about the shoe?
- Just the details,
like the 106 Street is where
I was outside as a little kid
playing basketball in the street,
and then Hassayampa was my dorm room when I was a freshman,
when I was 17 years old going to college.
- You know we like to bring stories
that are really tell James' life,
you know give the consumer a sneak peek into it.
So for example like this color way,
we're calling it pink lemonade.
It's one of James' favorite drinks,
especially in the summer time.
Candy paint, little nod to Houston
and their infinity for candy paint on their cars.
Cookies and cream is inspired
by his favorite ice cream.
He continually wants to have great placement of his logo,
so yeah we're going to put the logo on the back,
so when he leaves you in the dust,
that's what you see.
You see James Harden when he's going to the rack.
- I think every athlete has their own confidence,
what drives them,
what motivates them,
what gets them going.
A handful of guys that have
their own signature shoe
feels like a different confident.
Like, "I got my shoe on,
"like you don't have no chance to guard me,
"you don't have no chance to beat me."
You know?
It's just a different confidence,
a different swag you have on the court.
- It was this shoe,
we were going through and looking at the designs,
and James was like, "Yeah."
And then we're all kind of sitting there in silence,
and he just screams.
Like, "Hell yeah, we got this done."
[laughing]
[upbeat music]
- [James] Before we turned on Duke,
you hear the kids,
"Oh I want to get this shoe."
Or, "Oh this shoe drops on Friday".
I was one of those kids.
- Every basketball player growing up,
whether you're a little guy,
you know just playing in your driveway,
you always hope to make it to the NBA,
and have your own sneaker.
And this is definitely an elite class,
once you get into the signature world.
I used to sell candy in middle school.
One of my best friends,
we used to just go to Smart and Final,
rack up a whole bunch of candy,
and try to just flip it every single day,
and that was our hustle.
Every single day,
that's how we had money to get the kicks that we wanted.
These last few years I've been watching kids,
and seeing them hoop in my shoes,
and just walk around in my shoes.
That right there,
that's just a different feeling.
I was that kid,
and I was having the Kobe's on and the T-Max on,
and all those great players that paved the way for me.
But, you know a young kid wearing my shoes,
that's a dope feeling.
That's just inspired me to keep going,
keep being the best basketball player,
the best leader,
the best person that I can be.
I'll keep inspiring as long as these kids,
these youth and kids keep inspiring me.
[upbeat music]