Oklahoma City Thunder star forward Paul George has been an avid gamer since he was a kid. “I remember on Christmas morning, I unwrapped my gift and sure enough, it was the PS2,” he said. “I’ve been a PlayStation guy ever since.”
It’s really no surprise that his latest Nike signature shoe, the PG2, combines his loves of basketball and gaming. The shoes feature his own logo on one tongue and the familiar PS logo on the other.
The shoes are mostly dark blue, with neon sprinkles just above the sole, and George debuted them in a game against Cleveland last night. The Nike swooshes are blue, pink, and green. George is just the 21st NBA player to have a signature shoe, and he was involved with every step of the design. “It’s amazing the relationship I have with Nike,” he said. “They really took my inspiration and took my input to heart and created the shoe.”
💡💡💡 PG2 PlayStation. @ygtrece @nikebasketball pic.twitter.com/LPaXbdA26E
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 20, 2018
The two logos light up and will vibrate when pressed, just like the famous DualShock controller, powered by a non-replaceable 150-hour battery. The blue, green, pink, and red lace holes mimic the controller buttons as well.
There’s also a special bonus included with the shoe for PlayStation owners.
“We worked directly with the PlayStation team on every aspect of this shoe,” said Tony Hardman, designer of both the PG1 and PG2. “One thing that they provided, which was really cool, was the starry graphic from the dynamic theme that will be available for your PlayStation 4 with a code from the shoe. It’s a beautiful graphic, so we made it the sock liner.”
A number of other NBA players were fans of the PG1, and George hopes the new sneaker will inspire future NBA stars. “I’m really excited, more so again for the performance that it’s going to give guys that follow me and are trying to get to the NBA, I’m most excited for those guys to get a chance to wear them and be in them and help them with their careers,” he said. “At the end of the day, that’s what I want.”
The PG2 sneakers will be available on February 10 for $110.
