{"id":816318,"date":"2024-09-25T10:02:54","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T14:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=816318"},"modified":"2024-09-25T10:02:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T14:02:56","slug":"the-second-generation-behind-the-design-of-the-nike-ja-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/kicks\/the-second-generation-behind-the-design-of-the-nike-ja-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Second Generation: Behind the Design of the Nike Ja 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where do you go once you\u2019ve found gold? Is the haul satisfying enough? Or are there further depths to discover? The hunt for more, for greatness, is all-encompassing, from the hardwood to the design studios and testing labs in Beaverton, OR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ja Morant\u2019s first signature sneaker set the standard high. Clean colorways and a smooth, comfy ride stamped the low-top sneaker\u2019s wide-spread adoption from the high school circuit to college and NBA arenas. The debut was built on a clear cut foundation that screamed success since its debut, and for the sequel, Jarrett Mann, Head of Design for Nike Men\u2019s Global Basketball Footwear, and Ja found even more areas to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe Ja 2 is building on a lot of the fundamentals of the Ja 1 and his style of play,\u201d Mann says. \u201cWe know that Ja is a high flyer, and we also know that he changes direction and requires control. So really, the icons of this shoe were about bounce and control.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ja solidified the check list for his signature series throughout the process of the 1. Comfort, stability, homages to his family along with a number of other items show up in the Ja 2 through an evolved lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support the bunnies of the highest flyer in the L, the Ja 2 doubles down on its forefoot Air Zoom unit with the inclusion of a full-length Cushlon cushioning system. Other enhancements for comfort include a more pronounced ankle collar system, a sleek waterfall-inspired inner lining and a ballistic mesh vamp. But the hallmark of the sneaker resides in the ribbed midfoot panel. The molded aesthetic is more than just for show, bringing functional support as the model\u2019s mainstay lockdown system for the 25-year-old who routinely evades the laws of gravity. Pair that with the raised sidewall guardrail and a stitched medial panel, and the checklist\u2019s nearly complete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cDefinitely the comfort level is obviously the first thing I recognize when putting on the shoe. That\u2019s the first thing that everybody looks for,\u201d Ja says. \u201cOnce I stepped in those shoes, I felt real comfortable in them. After that it was lacing \u2019em up and getting right. Making sure I can do everything I normally do on the court when you see me play, and I was able to do that at a very good level. And that was the whole goal with the Ja 2, to make sure I\u2019m the best Ja out there on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improvements have been made, but \u201cthe core things always stay the same,\u201d Ja says. \u201cMy checklist, that\u2019s locked in stone. We know that every time we step in the room to speak on the Ja [line]. So it\u2019s really just what other stories am I comfortable expressing through my shoes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nike Ja 1 served as the testament to his rise. Those images of sun-stained cones, flipping tires\u2013which inspired the 2s traction pattern\u2013and 12 a.m. workouts, now embroidered at the heel, are still present. The Nike Ja 2 amplifies those experiences and searches for even more by delving into the strength of the palette and his stash of stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of the personal memories exists a collection of shades and tones that aim to evoke the same feelings we all experience when watching No. 12. The \u201cPurple Sky colorway paints that on-court energy in a galactic collection of plums, mismatched neon Swooshes and paint-splattered midsoles echoing the sights of the night sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The vibrant red, gold and black \u201cNightmare\u201d composition captures the nightly reality for Ja\u2019s opponents: an unstoppable display of speed, hops and will that you can\u2019t shake loose. Light greys, ice blues and hits of metallic gold envision his trips to the top in the \u201cTree Topper\u201d colorway. But of all the upcoming releases, the one Ja\u2019s most excited for represents those closest to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c\u2018In the Woods\u2019 is probably one of my favorites and pretty much the biggest one for anybody who knows me or my family and how we get along,\u201d Ja says. \u201cWe call where I\u2019m from back home \u2018The Woods.\u2019 And it\u2019s pretty much sitting around a cook-out and we\u2019re all there together just bonding, listening to music, you play cards. It\u2019s a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked how the chosen colors correlated with those memories from South Carolina, Ja points to the light brown highlights, royal blue Swooshes and evergreen collar lining. \u201cYou\u2019re gonna see dirt,\u201d Ja laughs. \u201cAnd then my grandma\u2019s porch and the house color. It\u2019s all in there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And as Mann explains, using different textures and finishes only magnifies the end result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTexture is extremely important, and it\u2019s all the team who obsesses over the work. Something as simple as \u2018In The Woods,\u2019 you\u2019ve got a textile that feels a bit more rugged and tactile,\u201d Mann says, as he floats the heel of the Ja 2 colorway in front of the camera. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd if you look at the \u201cPurple Sky\u201d colorway, you get this sheen and shine with star graphics. So really, this shoe as you see it, you\u2019re going to see a ton of colorways, a ton of expression all brought to life with those materials. [There\u2019s] a lot more to come, but definitely, we\u2019re looking at how do we interpret the things that we hear from Ja and put those into the shoe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turns out, Ja and the Swoosh struck another gold mine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos via Nike and SLAM KICKS.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where do you go once you\u2019ve found gold? Is the haul satisfying enough? Or are there further depths to discover? The hunt for more, for greatness, is all-encompassing, from the hardwood to the design studios and testing labs in Beaverton, OR. Ja Morant\u2019s first signature sneaker set the standard high. Clean colorways and a smooth, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":448,"featured_media":816338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[62525,62091,64260,65282,63148],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-816318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kicks","tag-feature-1","tag-ja-morant","tag-kicks","tag-nike-ja-2","tag-slam-kicks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/448"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816318"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":816399,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816318\/revisions\/816399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816318"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=816318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}