Kevin Durant and Nike have teamed up to launch a new pair of sneakers that pays tribute to YouTube

Paige LeskinOct 22, 2019, 23:28 IST

Kevin Durant/YouTube

Kevin Durant, an all-star NBA player, has designed a new pair of Nike shoes that pays homage to YouTube.
The shoes feature the name of Durant's YouTube channel, and a pattern showing YouTube icons like the pause, play next, thumbs up, and thumbs down buttons.
The KD12 YouTube shoes will run for $150, and will be available to purchase on October 26.
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Professional basketball star Kevin Durant has paired up with Nike to release a pair of sneakers that promote not his illustrious athletic career, but instead advertise his blooming YouTube channel.

Durant's love for YouTube apparently runs so deep that he decided to pay homage to the platform with his newest design as part of his standing KD12 line of Nike sneakers. Nike debuted the KD12 YouTube sneakers last week ahead of their October 26 release date, when they'll be on sale for $150.

The shoes "represent [Durant's] enthusiasm for how the platform connects his on the court life with his fans," Nike says on the shoes' launch page.

Durant has 777,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, which he started in 2017 during his first championship run with the Golden State Warriors. Durant, who signed with the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason, has shared behind-the-scenes clips on his YouTube channel from his life both on and off the court.

The shoes are, predictably, mostly red, as is YouTube's defining color. The sneakers feature the notable YouTube Play button alongside Durant's name, and even have a search bar on the shoe's insole.

Check out some of the other details of the sneaker design, which borrows iconic symbols and labels from YouTube.

See Kevin Durant and Nike have teamed up to launch a new pair of sneakers that pays tribute to YouTube >>

The KD12 YouTube shoes have a pattern on both the back of the heel and the tongue that feature some of the platform's most recognizable buttons, including those for pausing and skipping videos, adding closed captions to content, and thumbs up and thumbs down symbols for voting on videos.

The pattern also features two icons specific to Durant: the icon that appears in the bottom-right of all his YouTube videos, and the number 35 — which references the name of his investment Thirty Five Ventures, as well as his longtime jersey number (which he just changed for his first season with the Brooklyn Nets).

Durant's shoes also sport a tag attached to the back of the heel. On one side, the tag reads, "Skip Ad," a reference to the button that appears on YouTube to allow you to get past an advertisement and onto the video.

The other side of the tag reads: "Video will play after ad," which appears when the pre-watch advertisement is unable to be skipped. It's a curious addition to the KD12 shoes to reference the ads.

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Kevin Durant and Nike have teamed up to launch a new pair of sneakers that pays tribute to YouTube

The KD12 YouTube shoes have a pattern on both the back of the heel and the tongue that feature some of the platform's most recognizable buttons, including those for pausing and skipping videos, adding closed captions to content, and thumbs up and thumbs down symbols for voting on videos.

Durant's shoes also sport a tag attached to the back of the heel. On one side, the tag reads, "Skip Ad," a reference to the button that appears on YouTube to allow you to get past an advertisement and onto the video.

The other side of the tag reads: "Video will play after ad," which appears when the pre-watch advertisement is unable to be skipped. It's a curious addition to the KD12 shoes to reference the ads.

Watch Durant unbox the KD12 YouTube shoes on — where else — his YouTube channel.