Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James may have missed out on the 2018 NBA championship, as the Golden State Warriors swept the Cavs 4-0 in the NBA Finals, but King James made the loss look stylish throughout the series. He arrived for game three in Cleveland on June 6 wearing a pair of Nike Air Zoom Generation shoes made with suede from racing boots worn by Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin.
After James was seen wearing the special shoes, Hamlin tweeted details of the special suede and its color, along with a photo of his racing boot from which the material for James’ shoes was obtained.
Hamlin is no stranger to basketball and the NBA, for that matter. In addition to running his own basketball league for NASCAR competitors and personalities in a gym at his home, the pro driver is a regular, court-side at home games for the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets and is a close friend of Hornets owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan. Also, Jordan Fish, Hamlin’s longtime girlfriend and mother of his two daughters, is a former cheerleader of the team formerly known as the Charlotte Bobcats. Hamlin is a huge basketball fan, and Jordan is a huge NASCAR fan, so their friendship makes total sense.
As for Hamlin’s connection to James, the two met in November of 2010, and James tweeted Hamlin good luck in the final race of the 2010 season, also calling him a “cool dude.”
Hamlin is eighth in the NASCAR premier-series points standings, third among drivers still winless, 15 races into the 2018 season. He finished 12th in the most recent race, the June 10 running of the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The series returns to action June 24 at Sonoma Raceway in California for its first road-course race of the season.