First Look: Nike Air Zoom BB NXT Debuting in 2020

 are looking to level-up energy return on the court in 2020, with Ross Klein, Senior Creative Director for Nike Basketball footwear, leading a team on a mission to evolve Nike Air technology. The Nike Air Zoom BB represents the team’s first groundbreaking addition to the Swoosh lineup.

‘The game and the athletes have evolved in this new era of basketball,’ says Klein. ‘We now have athletes that are ‘positionless’ and generate the values of all positions on court. Within the NBA alone these positionless athletes face a gruelling journey, starting with the offseason training, then preseason, and into the 82-game season, playoffs, Finals. Fatigue is the enemy and endurance is the goal.’

Created with this ethos in mind, the Nike Air Zoom BB NXT introduces a unified system of full-length REACT foam, plate and Nike Air Zoom pods to provide improved impact protection and energy return.

‘The shoe is similar to a car,’ says Klein. ‘There are many parts and pieces, each doing a very specific job, but working in unison.’

The Nike Air Zoom BB NXT is slated for release on July 2 in China, and July 25 in the States.