While this latest two-shoe pack of the Nike LeBron 21 hasn't even officially been unveiled yet, there's already some controversy surrounding the design.
Leaked images of the "Grandma's Couch" LeBron 21s circulated on social media this week, and one entity that caught wind of the drop was Cincinnati sneaker store Unheardof. Last November, Unheardof released its second sneaker collab with Adidas, which featured two "Grandma's Couch" iterations of the Rivalry Lo. Those Adidas referenced Unheardof founder Philip Lipschutz's journey from sleeping on his grandmother's couch to designing his own Adidas collabs, and featured his hundred-year-old grandma in the rollout.
Nike hasn’t officially confirmed the story behind the floral LeBron 21s yet. But the theme of the similar LeBron sneakers was confirmed on Thursday by James himself, who reshared a post of the sneakers on his Instagram Story, saying that they pay tribute to his late grandmother Freda.
It's worth mentioning that given the lengthy timeline it takes brands like Nike to design and produce a shoe, it's unlikely the LeBron 21 was directly inspired by Unheardof's Adidas Rivalry Lo collab.
Unheardof responded to the leaked images of the "Grandma's Couch" LeBron 21s with apparent frustration, writing, "lol unreal."
A firm release date for the "Grandma's Couch" LeBron 21 has yet to be announced by Nike. Scroll on for a closer look at the sneakers.
