The LeBron Ambassador 11 is the latest in LeBron James’ overseas Ambassador sneaker line. Designed for serious outdoor hooping, this year’s build got a bold new feature.
For 2018, the Ambassador 11 will get new tooling, a new upper, aggressive new XDR traction, and a striking weather-resistant shroud. The shroud is similar to what has been used on the Jordan Jumpman Hustle and should offer protection for those that hoop in the rain. That shroud will secure via Velcro at the lateral midfoot and traditional laces are included beneath it.
While few official tech specs are known, it appears that the heel and forefoot Zoom Air setup used in the Ambassador 10 will be returning. That shoe featured a 8.5mm thick forefoot unit and a huge 11.15mm thick heel unit.
The quilted textile used on the Ambassador 10 will also be returning, and it will be used on more than just the ankle pillow/bootie. However, a new traction pattern underfoot features wide groove and multi-directional coverage with an articulation groove at the forefoot. Branding like the “23” at the tongue, LeBron’s jersey number, and the “330” at the medial heel, the area code for LeBron’s hometown of Akron, Ohio, give this latest sneaker good LeBron tie-ins.
We’ll know more about the LeBron Ambassador 11 when the overseas team at FastPass take the shoe to the band saw. For now, let us know if you’d like this shoe to come Stateside so you can try it out.
Images via Hupu user 这群人都是妖怪吧 / xcin on Weibo
that traction looks crazy, haha, serious blacktop design
hooping in the rain though….not a good idea…i have around 30 stitches all over the sides and bottom of my head from playing in the rain, haha
I think the idea is the reality that a lot of people don’t have court shoes and off court shoes — just one pair straight up — especially overseas. I think a lot of us have been there, and cool if Nike was actually thinking about this.
I went visit a friend in Hong Kong once and thought it would be cool to see some bball courts out there. It started thunderstorming on the way their but dudes were still hooping on the wet court lol.
If Nike produces water-resistant and non-slippery traction sneaker using bb shoe design (like those Jordan styles and designs on runners) for off-court daily usage and for rainy days…
Isn’t it just another China-only release? Outdoor hoopers have always been a priority out there.
I’ve always been curious about the ambassador line. They’ve had some slick designs over the years and this one is very polarizing with that shroud! It’s pretty dope how they make this shoe for players who play outdoors and in the rain. Would love to see these come state side!
It’s a shoe condom. Brilliant.
Who distributes the Ambassador line overseas? I don’t want to wait until they come stateside if I can just go to an overseas retailer and have them shipped over… Can’t believe they don’t at least sell this line on Nike.com, we hoop outdoors here in America too, lol
I have purchased ambassadors in the past from eBay. There’s a good seller called “id4shoes” based in Asia that ships stateside and pretty quickly. They make you sign for the shoe from the post office or if you’re home to sign from the post office delivery driver.
hmmmm. for some reason, that seller sound familiar when I was still frequently visiting eBay 10 years ago. I’m not sure if I was ordering shoes there or bought jerseys. thanks.
Apparently this is the year of the shroud at Nike. It seems like half their models this year have em’. I like it on this, though. Weather resistance for an outdoor shoe is a nice idea. Even if you don’t play in the rain, sometimes a downpour hits and you gotta run home, and you don’t want to do that in soaking kicks.
I kinda like these.