14 DAY TRIAL // Nike has announced an industry first: by reaching a series of specific milestones in the sports video game NBA 2K14, a number of 2014 lucky people were able to win a chance to order a limited edition Lebron11 basketball shoes.
The collaboration between 2K Games and Nike is a great idea, seeing how basketball star LeBron James was involved in the creation of NBA 2K14. The Lebron11 is the first ever physical signature shoe that can be earned in a video game, and it is part of a collection created last year, marking the player’s 11th year in the NBA.
In order to unlock the shoe, players had to jump through some specific hoops, reaching several milestones during their in-game career, including winning 60 games and creating their own signature shoe in-game, in the Nike Innovation Kitchen.
The series of milestones requirements was approximated to take around 80 game hours to complete, so you could say that the shoes were earned through the players’ dedication to the game, in a manner similar to star LeBron’s dedication to the actual sport of basketball.
“Driven by performance innovation and inspired by a lion, the LEBRON 11 2K14 features a jungle cat print throughout with a deep red upper symbolizing the heart of a lion. The LEBRON 11 is the lightest and lowest LeBron signature shoe ever, weighing approximately 14.5 ounces in a men’s size 9,” Nike revealed in the announcement post.
The company has announced that select winners of the MyPlayer mode who placed the preo-order will receive the special NBA 2K14 edition of the shoes in the weeks to come.