You won't believe it, the real inspiration behind LeBron's first shoe wasn't his Hummer

LeBron James is one of the best shoe sellers for Nike in the NBA, It's a no-brainer as the Lakers star has been the most popular player in the sport for the last two decades.

The Nike signature shoes for LeBron James have a long history, and both parties have one of the most lucrative deals in the business, after Michael Jordan, LeBron is one of their best sellers, and it all started with the first LeBron signature shoe, the Nike Air Zoom Generation.

It has been said that the shoe was inspired by then LeBron's 18-year-old Hummer H2 SUV which was controversial at the time. But the shoe designer has finally opened up about it.

The real inspiration was LeBron's AAU team, the Oakland Soldiers. The shoe's lead designer, Aaron Cooper revealed: "The shoe was not designed after a Hummer. Not even close. You can see the two small details from the H2 AFTER the majority of the shoe was designed. No, the “Nike stripe” was not “designed to look like the trim on the Hummer’s wheel well” (the strangest I’ve ever read). Writers, do your homework! If LeBron had not bought the Hummer during our design process, the AZG would still be exactly what it is today (just a different eyelet…lol).”

The concept was of being a modern-day soldier

Aaron explained it further in Nick de Paula’s article “A King’s Ransom,” which was recently published via Andscape. “It was based on the concept of being a modern-day soldier,” said Cooper. “ His AAU team, the Oakland Soldiers, was very important to him. He told me why the team was called the Soldiers and the importance of the military to him. It was all a part of a story of who he was and still is.”