Although we’ve known for a while the New Orleans Pelicans Star Zion Williamson loved anime, things are getting a little more serious with the release of an upcoming pair of sneakers.
Nike has announced that Williamson, who has his own signature shoe with the company (the Zion 1)will soon be lending his name as part of a collaboration to an anime-themed pair of sneakers from another linewith a pair of Air Jordan 37 published in a “Rasengan” color variant.
A rasen goose is the name of the “spinning chakra ball formed and held in the user’s palm Narutoa series Williamson loves enough to talk about in detail in an interview with GQ last yearwho calls it his “North Star”.:
Williamson speaks of Naruto with the same reverence that other NBA players speak of the Bible—bringing comfort and clarity in equal measure. Over the past year – an unusually tumultuous year in his otherwise starry career – Naruto has been his North Star.
The shoe is full of little nods to the series, as Sneaker Freaker Clues:
The Air Jordan 37 features spiky yellow on the tongues (a nod to Naruto’s signature hairstyle) and a monochromatic calm blue upper. Scratch marks slap the knuckle pads, while the tongues are embellished with metallic silver – inspired by Naruto’s forehead armor. Naruto’s catchphrase だってばよ! (“Believe it!”) is engraved on both tongues, and the Rasengan chakra spheres adorn the insoles.
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The lawn goose Zion x Naruto x Jordan 37s will be released on February 20th, and it could be pretty easy to get your hands on a general release model from Jordan. I’m assuming Zion will be wearing them on court around the same time as well.
