With more pressure mounting on him to win his first championship, then-Miami Heat star LeBron James delivered a masterpiece with his 2012 Game 6 performance against the Boston Celtics. It instantly became one of LeBron's classic games, and it has now also become an inspiration for his LeBron 16 signature shoe.
The Nike LeBron 16 was officially unveiled Friday, and lead designer Jason Petrie explained to Max Resetar of SLAM how that tour de force performance factored into the design.
“I’ve been around for a long time,” Petrie says. “We don’t like to use [the lion] all the time because it’s a special thing and it does have meaning. And it’s not gonna show up on every model for the 16. It’s really based on that killer instinct. That finisher. That’s why you see the eyes red on the lion.”
Petrie flips the shoe around and points to the heel.
“That inspiration really came from Game 6 in Boston, when LeBron was in Miami. The stare. That moment, you could tell, he wasn’t gonna lose that game.”
With Miami's back against the wall, LeBron had that killer look in his eye all night as he amassed 45 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists to lead the team to a pivotal win. The Heat went on to win the championship that year, marking the four-time Most Valuable Player's first taste of the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
It was a personal vendetta for LeBron. James had been criticized for coming up short during crucial moments, especially when the Heat surprisingly lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals the year before.
But The King did not go silently into the night, and that classic performance marked James' ascent to become a three-time NBA champion.
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