"Equality" basketball shoes game-worn by LeBron James

Object Details

Manufactured by

Nike Inc., American, founded 1971

Worn by

LeBron James, American, born 1984

Caption

LeBron James wore this pair of Equality shoes for the Cleveland Cavaliers' game against the Washington Wizards on December 18, 2017. After the game, James told reporters,“Obviously, we know where we are right now. We know who’s at the helm. Us as Americans, no matter the skin color, no matter the race, no matter who you are, we all have to understand having equal rights and being able to stand for something, speak for something and keeping the conversation going…Obviously, I’ve been outspoken and well-spoken about what’s going on at the helm here. We’re never going to let one person dictate us Americans — how beautiful and how powerful we are as a people. Equality is all about understanding our rights, understanding what we stand for and how powerful we are as men, as women, black or white, or Hispanic. It don’t matter your race, whatever the case may be. This is a beautiful country.”

Description

A pair of Nike ZOOM + MAX "Equality" basketball shoes game-worn by LeBron James. The shoes are made from synthetic fabric upper and other manmade materials. The left shoe is all white, and the right is entirely black. Shoes are tongue-less high-tops with elasticated ankles and pull loops for pulling the shoes on. Both front loops have an impression of Roman numerals XV. The fabric of the shoes is stitched into a diamond pattern except at the heel, where gold embroidery spells out the word [EQUALITY]. Below the embroidery, the plastic sole extends up the back of the heel. Plastic sole extended up the back of the heel is decorated with a gold Nike-brand "swoosh" symbol and has [12/17 1st half] written in black marker on both shoes. Number on sole of left shoe reads [330503216] and number on sole of right shoe reads [LRJSFG23].

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of LeBron James

2017

Object number

2018.58ab

Restrictions & Rights

© Nike

Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Type

sneakers

Medium

synthetic fiber , plastic , rubber

Dimensions

H x W x D (together): 8 9/16 × 7 5/8 × 19 7/8 in. (21.7 × 19.3 × 50.5 cm)

H x W x D (Left [a]): 8 9/16 × 3 15/16 × 19 7/8 in. (21.7 × 10 × 50.5 cm)

H x W x D (Right [b]): 8 1/16 × 3 15/16 × 19 7/8 in. (20.5 × 10 × 50.5 cm)

Place used

Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification

Clothing-Historical

Exhibition

Sports: Leveling the Playing Field

On View

NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Community/Third Floor, 3 052

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic

African American

Activism

Basketball

Clothing and dress

Sports

Record ID

nmaahc_2018.58ab

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5a6760e64-9259-41b4-91bd-7d94dcfc21c1