Air Zoom Huarache 2K4
The early 2000s for Nike Basketball marked a time of high-paced acceleration into the future. Not only with some of the most talented young athletes at the time joining the Nike Basketball roster, but more importantly, through the lens of performance innovation and forward-thinking footwear design, all focused on pushing basketball athletes across the globe to the highest level of potential. While the years leading into 2004 featured a healthy amount of new expression for Nike Basketball performance footwear, it was the Air Zoom Huarache 2K4 that felt like a complete culmination of every effort to innovate that came before it. “The idea was to bring back classic basketball design principles in a very modern way.” Said Eric Avar, who was the footwear designer behind the Air Zoom Huarache 2K4, as well as the 1992 Air Flight Huarache that brought Huarache to the hardwood for the first time.
Putting performance and innovation at the forefront, Avar and team equipped the original Air Zoom Huarache 2K4 with a Phylon midsole that housed individual Zoom Air units in both the heel and forefoot. Coupled with the Zoom Air cushioning was a carbon fiber shank plate that ensured the 2K4 provided rigid support and spring.
The Air Zoom Huarache 2K4 made its debut as part of the 2004 NBA All-Star festivities in Los Angeles, California. Fittingly, the debut colorway was limited to LA and showed up in a red, white and blue all-star inspired colorway, featured a Nike LA logo at the heel & was dated 2-15-2004 on the original Air Flight Huarache-inspired inner collar to mark the special All-Star moment. Since then, the Air Zoom Huarache 2K4 proved to be an on-court favorite by athletes across the globe. It would go on to be worn on court for many years, across all levels of competitive basketball, marking yet another important chapter in the history of Nike Basketball. Explore the Huarache family below.
Air Zoom Huarache 2K4 (2016) This 2016 edition is based on its first re-release in 2004--which came a full dozen years after the Nike Air Flight Huarache was introduced in 1992.
Air Zoom Huarache 2k4 '8Ball' (2004)