Designer of Kevin Garnett's sneaker explains his creative logic

In an era when hoops shoes featured rich leathers and nubucks, the Garnett III also came shortly after Avar’s groundbreaking Foamposite design, but veered towards a new direction, with more targeted usages of mesh.

“We had often talked about bringing more mesh to basketball shoes because of the breathability and lightweight attributes,” Cooper explains. “While we were working on this shoe, the Air Max Plus running shoe was a wild success. Both Eric and I were involved in that initial concept as well, that Sean McDowell turned into one of the biggest footwear icons of all-time, and afterwards, we talked about how we could turn that concept into a basketball shoe.”

With that brief in mind, they looked to a youthful and explosive Kevin Garnett as the vehicle to take the concept to the hardwood.

“KG seemed to be a perfect fit to help get more mesh basketball shoes onto the courts, and the idea of the fade also fit KG’s personality — his ‘glowing energy,'” beams Cooper.

As Coop explains, it was a project that began in the late 90’s, just as he and Avar were at the pinnacle of their powers. They had this sneaker design thing down. In just a five-year span to close the decade, the duo had taken Nike Basketball signature sneakers to new heights, with flowing and masterful designs from Avar’s Air Penny series and Aaron’s Pippen line leading the charge of the Flight and Uptempo golden era.

KG Garnett III 3 400“Over the ten years that Eric and I worked together in hoops, we often knocked designs back and forth with each other,” recalls Cooper. “The Garnett III was one of many shoes that Eric and I designed together. He took the lead on the upper by throwing down the initial sketch. I think he was busy working on a few of his many history makers at the time. [laughs]”