CLEVELAND -- As LeBron James prepares to take part in the ninth NBA Finals of his career on, Nike is commemorating his first.
On Thursday morning, Nike -- the company James reportedly has a $1 billion lifetime contract with -- re-released the LeBron Soldier 1, which he wore throughout the Cleveland Cavaliers' run to the 2007 NBA Finals.
Although James' latest retro sneaker -- which comes following multiple re-releases of his first signature shoe, the Nike Air Zoom Generation -- happened to drop hours prior to Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, the timing of the release, at least as far as this year's Finals are concerned, is purely coincidental.
Rather, Thursday's release comes 11 years to the date of one of the most famous performances of James career: His 48-point effort in the Cavs' double-overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.
Initially re-released in limited quantities at Xhbition in Ohio City earlier this month-- and gifted to Cleveland Browns rookies Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward -- Thursday marked the first time the shoe was available to the general public. The shoes, however, didn't last long on virtual shelves, as they were already sold out on the Nike SNKRS app and FootLocker.com within an hour of their 10 a.m. ET launch.
Eleven years after donning the Soldier 1, James has taken his shoe game to another level, as the LeBron 15 signature shoe has become arguably his most popular sneaker to date. His Nike Soldier line, meanwhile, remains alive and well, having been released in 12 different iterations, one of which is currently worn by Cavs center Tristan Thompson.
Just as he has throughout Cleveland's first 18 postseason games, it appears James will be sticking with his own signature shoe for the upcoming Finals. That, however, won't stop his fans from paying homage to his past, as the Nike LeBron Soldier 1 already appears to be one of his most popular shoe releases to date.
