Nike KD 8 'Hunt's Hill Sunrise' Release Date, Pics and Retail Price

Nike's rollout of new colorways for the KD 8 shoe continues later this week, as the Hunt's Hill Sunrise package will finally reach the public on Aug. 1.

Long rumored on your favorite sneaker blogs, Nike is continuing its trend of naming shoe releases after events in their athletes' childhood. This week will also see the release of the Chester Kobe 10s, which get their colorway from Bryant's high school rival, the Chester Clippers. Hunt's Hill was a famed hill near Durant's home in Prince George's County.

"A steep incline near his childhood home, Hunt’s Hill was the spot that an 11-year-old Kevin began his training in earnest," wrote NikeBlog. "Mornings, before school, he’d run the hill several times over to work on speed, endurance, before heading to class, hitting the books, and repeating the workout at night."

The colorway itself is given away by the whole sunrise theme. Combining Total Orange—Nike's new go-to color, with the Chester 10s also featuring the prominent orange look—with a striking black lower and a volt yellow, the Hunt's Hill Sunrise make no bones about wanting to stand out. Total Orange and black are by far the two most prominent colors in this scheme, with a yellow and crimson being used as accentuating colors in the flyweave design.

Date	Retail Price	Color(s)	Available
August 1	$180	Total Orange/Black-Volt-Bright Crimson-Dark Grey	Nike Retailers

Introduced in June, Nike's big bush with the KD 8s is the combining of flyweave technology on the Zoom Air base. The KDs also bear a similarity to the Kobes in that their standard issue is a low shoe, thus continuing the increasing trend of lows in the basketball world. Before Bryant and Durant, lows were long seen by some as not being supportive enough around the ankles; the solid performance of both releases have helped eradicate that belief to a certain extent.

“It is the most technically precise shoe we’ve designed for Kevin. Flyweave is optimal for his multidimensional skillset and footwork as he jumps, cuts, jabs and accelerates,” designer Leo Chang said in a statement.

Innovation, of course, also comes with polarization. The KD releases had developed a strong following among sneakerheads who enjoyed their combination of lightweight performance and design. The KD 7s drew a ton of public discussion for the strap over the laces but was a well-received shoe overall. Making marked changes in design is always a risk, but Durant says these are his favorite release to date.

“When I first tested the KD8, I instantly loved the springy response of the Zoom Air combined with the natural feel of the Flyweave. I didn’t want to take it off,” Durant said in a statement.

That Nike is so willing to roll out new colorways so close to the KD 8's original release is a promising sign for its sales. The original colorway was not released until June 27, and there have already been two additional colorways (the July 4th and the V8) that are available on the market. Getting the Hunt's Hill Sunrise out to the public should make this feel like a complete release as Nike makes the push to market major releases 12 months out of the year.

Given the special meaning behind the colorway's name, odds are most Durant fans will flock to online retailers to scoop these up.

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