Nike KD

Kevin Durant has been one of the best-known NBA players since he was drafted second overall by the Seattle SuperSonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) in 2007, and he’s been releasing signature shoes with Nike since his sophomore season. He’s one of the league’s most complete and versatile players, and his Nike KDs are a perfect fit for his style of play.

The Nike KD has consistently been one of the most popular shoes in the NBA since the Nike Zoom KD1 came out in 2008. The KD1 was modeled after the Huarache 2K4, Durant’s favorite shoe, with a molded fit and forefoot Zoom Air, and released in 9 colorways. The midfoot strap was introduced with the KD2 and also appeared on the 2014 KD7. In 2010, they released the KD3, the first shoe in the line to use the lighter, more durable Flywire technology, and also the first time in Nike’s history customers could design their own colorways. The next year, he released his most popular shoe yet, the KD4, whose special “Nerf” edition came with a Nerf basketball. This was also the debut of the Aunt Pearl colorway, named for his late aunt, a style that recurred for later iterations. The KD5 was the line’s first high-top, while the 2013 KD6 added the Flywire technology that was also utilized in the 2015 KD8, and Nike dropped the Zoom from the line’s title with the 2014 KD7. This evolved into the Flyknit technology and Zoom Air cushioning incorporated into the KD9, KD10, and KD11. The Strobel was added with the 2019 KD12, enhancing the responsiveness.

The 2020 KD13 kept the full-length Zoom Air setup and stacked a second Zoom unit in the forefoot for extra bounce. In 2021 the KD14 brought back a strap on the upper and paired a full-length Zoom Strobel with a Cushlon midsole. The 2022 KD15 also used a full-length Air Zoom Strobel stitched directly to the upper over Cushlon foam. The 2023 KD16 switched to a dual-density setup: an Air Strobel from the midfoot to the heel plus a large forefoot Zoom Air unit. The 2024 KD17 kept the same setup. The low-top KD18 came out in 2025 and took its design from the 1997 Nike Air Terra Humara, with forefoot and heel Zoom Air units, a TPU shank plate and Cushlon 3.0 foam. In 2026 Durant debuted the KD19 with the Houston Rockets. It brought back the full-length Zoom Strobel over Cushlon 3.0 and added a dagger-shaped TPU exterior for lockdown.