2011 NBA Draft: Cavs Fans, Get to Know Bismack Biyombo

“Ooooo. They got crab cakes in here?” Yes, they did, and Dime’s visit to Miami to check out the newest sneaker from LeBron James’ line, the Nike LeBron 8 PS, had a lot more than that. Eating crab cakes and some other weird seafood (I heard the name countless times, but still can’t say or spell it) in a suite during the Heat’s Game 1 win over the Sixers was great. But the real reason why I went down there, the real reason why I got up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight on Friday morning, was to check out the kicks.
Standing at 6-feet-9-inches tall, the Congloese center has a 7-foot-7-inch wingspan and a standing reach of 9-feet-3-inches.  Let that marinate for a second…
On the flip side, at 243 pounds and 4.8 percent body fat and 18 years of age, Biyombo has an NBA-ready body but is incredibly raw on the offensive end and admits his shot remains his top priority in terms of improvement.  However, the long, high-upside big man has turned many heads due to his amazing athleticism and desire to improve.  Most recently, Biyombo tallied a triple-double at the Nike Hoops Summit, scoring 12 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots against Team USA.
Nike pampered us all (there were around 20 media members in attendance for the weekend) as only they can. But it wouldn’t have mattered had the product been mediocre. As I saw in the media wear test, it definitely wasn’t.

The whole process of creating this three-sneaker-in-one-line for this season came from Jason Petrie, the lead designer for Nike’s LeBron line, and James himself. Nike released a signature shoe for the forward at the beginning of the season, the Nike LeBron 8 V1, then followed with another around the All-Star break, the Nike LeBron 8 V2. The PS is the final release of the trifecta. Petrie said James has always thought of the season in two parts: there’s the long, 82-game marathon and then a quick, 28-game sprint in the playoffs. Combining that with LeBron’s long love affair with the lion – “He’s the beast,” Petrie said. “The king of the jungle.” – brought the designers to think way outside of the box.