[From The Undefeated]

The same triangle “JA” signature logo is prominently featured throughout the design of the Nike Ja 3, which Morant wore during a surprise debut of the new shoe on April 20, during the first round of the NBA playoffs.On the Ja 3’s release info page, Nike details a design session for the shoe, held at the brand’s global headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., during which senior footwear designer Ben Nethongkome and his team creatively tasked Morant to draw a Swoosh logo using spray paint.“We wanted him to feel like an artist, not just an athlete,” Nethongkome said.Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant (right) and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (left) exchange pairs of their new Nike signature basketball sneakers on July 22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.The way Morant drew the Nike check to mimic the letter “J” in that meeting transformed into the Ja 3’s standout vertical Swoosh-forming “JA” on the lateral sides of each shoe.“Even the typeface we used was Ja,” recalled Nethongkome, who also shared a behind-the-scenes post detailing the design process on his personal Instagram page.“First time debuting a finished sample of the JA3 to Ja irl [in real life],” Nethongkome wrote.

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