Hexagons And Hairlines: 5 Thoughts On The Nike LeBron 12 Unveiling

On Tuesday, Nike Basketball did its usual song and dance as it unveiled the 12th iteration of LeBron James' signature basketball shoe in front of a selected group of media influencers. By usual song and dance, I mean that Nike rolled out its red carpet and went out of its way to show the world many of the inner-workings and the backstory that goes into producing the world's strongest signature sneaker line in the present day. The Nike LeBron 12 is branded "engineered for explosiveness" as The Swoosh focused its engineering technology on improved explosion and support for The King of The Land.

There's a lot of bells, whistles and flashing lights that go on with unveilings like this, so let's try and break down five key takeaways from the release of the Nike LeBron 12.

Getting more bang for your ($200) bucks

Don't be overwhelmed the fuses, posites and zooms that are integrated into this shoe, but rather understand that Nike's pushing the limits as to where sneakers can and will go. The Nike LeBron 12 uses 3D printing to create a layered shoe that's extremely light and isn't reliant on stitching to hold the shoe together. LeBron's shoes have typically been focused on support, and this version isn't any different with a focus on ankle support and the shoe itself feeling secure on the foot. However, the coolest thing on the shoe is the part you don't usually see, the sole. Nike's rolling out a "Hexagonal Nike Zoom Air" that is mapped out to support the pressure points on the forefront of your feet to provide cushioning, flexibility and "accelerated explosiveness."

We won't know how much of this will actually help, but it's pretty friggin' cool. Is it worth $200? Probably not, if you're not into this type of thing, but this particular shoe looks demonstrably better than the Nike LeBron 11's. Also, it doesn't cost $300, so there's that.

LeBron loves the kids

It's actually something I figured would've rolled out a long time ago, but now the entire Nike LeBron 12 signature line will be available for kids of all age ranges. From grade schoolers, pre-schoolers, toddlers and infants, they can all rock Raymone's favorite shoes. I remember it used to be a cool thing to get your baby some Jordan's as a parent, then dress the kid up like pops and take photos in Sears and then show off the photos with everybody. I mean, I never got to do it, but it seemed like a fun thing to do back then.

LeBron's hairline looks ... amazing?

As someone who struggles mightily with his forever receding hairline, I must admit one of the first things I noticed wasn't how lean LeBron was or the various colorways of the Nike LeBron 12, but rather how incredible LeBron's hairline looked on Tuesday. In black barbershops all across the country, there's always one guy who can administer what most folks know as "The Magic Spray" or "The Beijing" and give you a temporarily excellent hairline, but LeBron's looks next level amazing. Maybe we should introduce Carlos Boozer to LeBron's barber.

Source: Sole Collector

Let the Retro LeBron and Team LeBron era begin?

When the Nike LeBron 11 was rolled out, one of the things that fans really began to take note of was that LeBron wasn't exactly wearing his newest release all that often. In fact, we would see LeBron wear everything from the Nike Zoom Soldier 7's to the Nike Zoom Generations (yes, his first signature shoe) during the 2013-14 season with the Miami Heat. Now, it seems that there could be a focus at bringing back some of LeBron's kicks of yesteryear to the people, following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan. Per Gerald Flores of Sole Collector:

“Why wouldn’t I follow the blueprint? You look at Michael Jordan’s business right now, he has a brand where he has other athletes wearing his shoes. Hopefully I can get to that point where I have a standalone brand and I can sign other athletes that fit my model.” -- LeBron James

Can I just say that if LeBron does start to sign other athletes to wear his sneakers, his first two choices should be Manu Ginobili (who already wears all of LeBron's shoes) and Lance Stephenson (for comedic purposes only).

Waiting for the LeBron low cuts

This is more of a personal takeaway for me, as I own a few pairs of LeBron's shoes in my closet. When it comes to playing basketball, the LeBron line has constantly evolved to be a premier performance shoe, and I've had very few complaints when hooping in them. However, I'm not quite the religious hooper that I used to be, and the most wear I'm going to get out of my sneakers these days are the times I decide to wear them casually. For that reason, I'm excited to see what the low cuts look like, as they've always been my favorite wear in my sneaker arsenal. With seven colorways promised between the months of September and December, I'm sure my bank account will feel the pain when I cop a pair (or three).