I have to admit I’m kind of in my feels and I got a couple of shivers watching the video of Harden’s mother reading her letter while images of home videos are played blended in with video from Harden’s MVP season, high school MVP season at Artesia, and college career. This is the type of storytelling that strengthens brands. The footwear for adidas remains an issue although the MVP pack that adidas has delivered is actually really nice. While the footwear doesn’t really represent the Rockets or the Sun Devils, the color does have a story; but the color blocking isn’t quite vivid enough for this time of the year which leads me to a completely different discussion that’s not quite as positive as the marketing.
The MVP Collection features a blue and gold color palette inspired by the seal of the City of Compton, where James grew up, with MVP callouts to honor No. 13’s ‘Imma Be A Star’ story.
I do like the color selection, but it’s spring and dark colors in the spring fall flat when placed next to the bright colors that a spring and summer season delivers. This collection would have benefited from the blue taking over the majority of the color scheme with white and black as the secondary colors. The gold should really pop and be more reflective.
The collection story begins with the family and friends who supported Harden through it all and are represented by the Harden B/E X. The latest iteration of Harden’s performance line sits atop full-length Bounce cushioning and is designed with black, blue and gold details. The lifestyle evolution of the Harden collection, Harden LS 2, is a personal favorite of James’ mother Monja, who has known his star-potential from the start. The MVP edition is laced up in blue mesh with gold accents and full-length black Boost. Harden Vol. 2 is the signature model of Harden’s collection which he wore on-court throughout his MVP season.
I like that adidas made sure to present the models released at two tiers: Harden Vol. 2 ($160), Harden LS 2 ($180) and Harden B/E X ($110) are available now on adidas.com in limited quantities. The high end models the Harden LS above and the Harden Vol. 2 are both overpriced in my opinion. The Harden Vol. 2 has been 140.00 throughout the season, but would have benefitted from being priced at 130.00. The LS is on the premium end considerably and rightfully so. It definitely has the most appeal and potential of all of the three shoes. They made sure not to forget everyone else with the latest X model at 110. That shoe however looks a lot like a ZX Flux and should be even lower although it does have a more technical heel counter and outsole. At 110 the X should have definitely had a graphic on the upper and could have definitely benefited from the XENO tech.
I have to say congrats to adidas and Harden. Unfortunately, I think the lack of storytelling through the year for Harden has left an empty feeling on his MVP narrative as it relates to sneakers and I think this pack will fall short as far as resale is concerned even if it is limited. You can use the source link to check out more pictures.