Screenshot via Bleacher Report Kicks
Jeremy Lin is the first Asian American to have a signature shoe, nearly a decade after Linsanity, TalkBasket reports.
Lin unveiled the JLIN ONEs on a social media collaboration with Bleacher Report Kicks. Lin partnered with the Chinese brand XTEP to produce his blue signature shoes.
“At one point, it just really looked like I was never gonna have my own signature shoe. Waiting 11 years, I might be the oldest player to ever have their first signature shoe,” Lin told B/R Kicks in the video. “I’m the first Asian American to have my own signature basketball shoe.”
The sleek blue design is meant to represent walking on water. The ‘1’ on the shoe has a line in the middle to represent the number 11, a nod to Lin’s 11 years playing professional basketball.
Lin says the typical shoe production process takes about 18 months, but XTEP was able to drop his shoe after just 12.
“This shoe line is about embodying a spirit or a mentality that you wanna have,” Lin said. “And so when people tie these shoes on, I want them to really feel something, whether it’s perseverance, the endless chase of your dreams, or not listening to the critics.”
Lin says he wants to people to feel that spirit when they put them on.
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