The NBA is full of players signed to various sneaker brands with only a select few getting the honor of having their very own signature silhouette. While most big players get deals with the likes of adidas or Nike, some venture off to smaller brands that offer them a bigger spotlight in their system. One player who is joining a former member of his current team in getting a signature sneaker with Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning, Jimmy Butler, has just unveiled the Li-Ning JB 1 in its launch “Tough” colorway.
Like many modern-day performance basketball sneakers, the sneaker comes with a combo of engineered mesh and fused overlays across a low-top cut. For this “Tough” colorway, the upper primarily comes in black with orange hits visible throughout the mesh and overlays. Reinforcements near the toe and heel come in fused plastic and TPU respectively while the midfoot features Li-Ning’s logo in a gradient red to orange. For its tongue, black neoprene takes over while a set of two-tone black and orange laces run through the TPU eyestays. Another logo can be found at the top of the tongue with a Jimmy Butler logo composed of various triangles, seen in red. Underfoot, an orange foam midsole features Li-Ning’s BOOM cushioning system and while the orange rubber outsole below gets a wavy traction pattern that encases the carbon fiber shank in the forefoot.
The Li-Ning JB 1 Tough has already been released overseas in China with a worldwide launch set for sometime in 2022 through Li-Ning and select retailers online and in-store. Coming in men’s sizing, the retail price is TBD. Keep it locked to our Twitter and the Sole Retriever mobile app to stay updated on release info for Butler’s first signature sneaker and more in the sneaker and streetwear world.
Li-Ning JB 1 “Tough”
Images via Li-Ning
Sneakerhead from South Florida who turned his passion into a career. Concerts, music, trying new restaurants, and catching the latest movies are some of the things I enjoy when not writing for Sole Retriever. Email: nick@soleretriever.com
