Nets' Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving Expected to Collaborate on New Nike Shoe

Brooklyn Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving plan to collaborate on a Nike sneaker, according to a report from Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. 

The teammates went from a friendly competition over whose signature shoe with Nike was better to deciding on a collaboration. 

"It kind of spawned into, 'Wouldn't it be cool if we collaborated on something together in the near future?'" Nike designer Ben Nethongkome, who worked with Irving on the Kyrie 7, said. "And right then and there, KD was like, 'Of course.' So we're excited to have some level of interaction between those two in terms of product creation in the near future."

The idea of a sneaker collaboration is perhaps a metaphor for the two working together as teammates on the court next season.

Nethongkome noted it factored into the design choices made for the Kyrie 7:

"Kyrie talked about last night, how his role on the Nets is a little different now because he's got to facilitate for his players. He didn't have KD previously, now he does. And so he's not trying to attack one-on-one anymore, he's thinking about getting around guys to distribute the ball somewhere else. So his movement on the court is going to broaden a lot more. And so with the 7 being lighter weight, he feels like he be all over the court much easier than the Kyrie 6 or the Kyrie 5. So we're excited to hear that."

Expectations will be high on the court for Brooklyn's star duo in the upcoming season. And now, expectations will be high for their potential sneaker collaboration, too.