First unveiled almost two weeks ago now, the Under Armour Embiid 1 returned to the news cycle today as it received a SLAM magazine feature.
The Embiid 1 launched in the “Origin” colourway, which pays tribute to Philadelphia 76ers C Joel Embiid’s Cameroonian heritage, with red-orange-yellow gradient hits in the lateral TPU panel & outsole, as well as additional green hits on the outsole. The remainder of this particular coulourway is more muted, with a black upper, grey midsole and white outsole.
The Embiid 1 is said to be a reflection of Embiid’s journey from the city of Yaounde, Cameroon to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Under Armour sneaker designer Reggie Wilson spoke about what would be the source of inspiration behind the sneaker:
“Joel at one point shared this quote; ‘my life is like a movie’. I laughed at first. But, after thinking about it more and more, it made sense. I mean, look at what he’s accomplished in such a short amount of time — he only started playing ball about 10 years ago! It’s really amazing.”
Reggie also had this to say:
“When I first started sketching on Embiid’s shoe, I thought it was important to incorporate Africa into the design somehow […] With everything happening in America, I’m glad we decided to mold [the African continent shape] into the outsole. With every step that kids take in this shoe, the outline of Africa will be left in the footprints. This [is] honestly my favourite part of the shoe.”
Featuring Under Armour’s HOVR foam cushioning in the heel, paired with their Micro-G foam in the forefoot, Under Armour aims to make a sneaker powerful enough for big men and quick enough for guards with a set-up like this.
Releasing in North America on September 18th, the Embiid 1 will be available via UA.com, UA Brand Houses and Eastbay.com. A worldwide release follows on October 2nd.
No retail price has yet been announced. I am expecting them to retail for $120-$130 — sitting above the HOVR Havoc line at $110, but below the Curry line at $140.
There was extensive commentary when this shoe was first revealed about its apparent similarity to a Kyrie sneaker, or to other sneakers from Nike Basketball such as the PG. I don’t agree with this commentary, and have expressed my thoughts as such here and here on my Instagram page — even going as far as to do a visual comparison between the Embiid 1 and other sneakers mentioned. You can also listen to my thoughts in audio form on the Hoops Sneakers Pod Episode 12.
We have seen a follow-up to the release “Origin” colourway, an as-yet-unnamed colourway featuring a white base with fluorescent pink, blue and yellow hits.
Another white and gold colourway has also been seen.
Embiid himself has shown off the sneaker on foot, and has now worn it on a number of occasions in games during the NBA restart in the Orlando bubble.
Information for this article was obtained from Slam & Sneaker Center, along with various sources across Instagram.
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