The greatest basketball league in the world has partnered with the largest sports retailer in the world. Decathlon has become an official licensee of the NBA across India, Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Latin American markets. From the moment the partnership was announced we’ve been waiting to see the gear that will be a part of this historic collaboration. It has been an impatient wait for basketball fans. Of all the accessories and apparel that we’re eagerly anticipating, there’s one gear that has unanimously been the most awaited- The NBA X Tarmak basketball shoe collection!



Basketball captures the imagination unlike any other sport. It's a game of flight, where humans take to the air and create visual poetry on the fly, a potential masterpiece ready to be revealed every 24 second round of the shot clock. There's no time to stop and stare, not when fleet footed guards make Hermes blush and giants gallop gallantly end to end making towering baskets collapse with their thunderous dunks. Where every possession is a chess match played at warp speed.

This game makes us believe we can fly, and the NBA shoes bring our feet one step closer to that feeling of magic. Here's a look at the shoes in store for you in our Decathlon stores and website with the NBA X Tarmak collection.


1. Boston Celtics


The Boston Celtics are among the original 11 teams that formed the Basketball Association of America in 1946, six more teams joined and the resulting 17-team league was renamed the National Basketball Association. The Celtics would go on an unparalleled run of excellence, including an 8 year stretch when they won 8 titles from 1959-1966.

The Celtics are the most storied franchise in the NBA, with a standard of excellence expressed with 17 championship banners. They, along with the New York Knicks are among the only two NBA teams that started and play in the same city and have the same name. While they are not short on young talent, with young wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading the way, the team has come up short in the postseason off late. But with the Eastern Conference being as open as it has been in a decade with LeBron James going West, the pieces just need to fall in the right place for the Celtics to experience postseason glory.



Sustained winning over decades does require some luck along the way, signified by the green three-leaf clovers so prominent on their logo and in the NBA X Tarmak shoe. The team mascot, Lucky the leprechaun, has the clovers on his hat, vest and bow tie.


The clover is present on the side of the shoe, on the tongue and at the bottom. There’s a green streak dashing above the sole from the middle of the shoe and looping back. That’s the streak defenders will see when you cross them up and blaze by them.



Is this the shoe for me?

If you value tradition above all else, reminiscence about the good old days, take great pride in heritage, and want a young and talented team to root for, this shoe is for you.

Buy the Boston Celtic Shoes


2. Golden State Warriors


The Golden State Warriors started their legacy by winning the very first championship in the Basketball Association of America, and they are looking to get back to their winning ways once again in the 2021-22 NBA season. The Warriors have almost singlehandedly altered the NBA landscape over the last decade. While there have been teams that excelled by going small, the Warriors crowned off their small-ball revolution with the validation of NBA titles in 2015, 2017 and 2018, breaking team and individual records along the way.



This is the franchise that broke the record that Bill Simmons called as unbreakable in his Book of Basketball, the 72-10 record for the most wins in an NBA season as set by the Chicago Bulls in 1995-96 season. The Warriors finished the 2015-16 season with a 73-9 record but were bested by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. 


Fun fact- The Warriors are called the Dubs as a reference to the ‘W’ (double-you) in their name. 

Another fun fact, the soles of the NBA X Tarmak collection shoes also tell a story. Much like Dorothy clicking her heels together thrice transported her home, when you bring the soles of these shoes, you create the soul of the team by forming their logo with both shoes side by side. Sports shoes have come a long way in form and function.


It is befitting that the Warriors shoe is a lively one, being primarily blue with gold streaks added and black edges rising from the white soles.

By far the most exciting part about rooting for the Warriors today is the opportunity to watch the greatest shooter of all time ascend up yet another level. Stephen Curry’s 2020-21 campaign pushed him in the MVP conversation, in spite of the Warriors finishing 9th in the Western Conference. With Kevin Durant’s departure to the Brooklyn Nets, the door is wide open for Stephen Curry to make his case for the best player in the league next season, you can count on the Warriors to put on an entertaining show night after night.



The colors appear to flare out from the toe of the shoe, achieving a clean look with multiple colors.



Is this shoe for you?

If you like to see a Human Torch torching giants with improbable shots after improbable shots, the Warriors are the team for you. They will likely be without Klay Thompson to start the next NBA season and Stephen Curry will once again have to assume the form of Rajnikanth on offense. 

Buy the Golden State Warriors Shoes

 


4. Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have no shortage of fans in India. With the magic of Showtime era led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the three-peat to usher in the new millennium with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, and the more recent championships of 2009, 2010 and 2020, the Lakers have 17 championships to their name, an 18th would not be a long shot next season.

The Lakers colors have long been associated with Hoops royalty. When you have the Who’s Who of Hollywood in the stands, you gotta win with style on the court too. 


You know LeBron James is hungry for his 5th ring, to come one step closer to Michael Jordan’s six. Before Anthony Davis got injured, the Los Angeles Lakers seemed a lock to make it to the NBA Finals. The Lakers had a short offseason after the NBA Finals last year, and this year’s 1st round exit gives them plenty of time to rest, recover and retool for a ring. The Lakers are perhaps the only franchise which is expected to get to the NBA finals every season because of the star power they perennially seem to have, with one generational superstar passing the mantle to the next. 

The streak across the top of the sole starts off gold before blending into purple as it loops back. 


The Lakers logo has motion lines running streaming away from the text on it, it is found on the tongue of the shoe, on the side and at the bottom. 


Is this shoe for you?

There is a section of the Lakers’ fanbase who are new to basketball and drawn to the style and mystique of the Lakers. Then there are the old heads who have been rooting for the Lakers for decades. There are fans of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James who have become Lakers fans, then there are those who love the rich color scheme of the Lakers. If you are new to the NBA, the Lakers are as good an option as any to be a fan of.

Buy the Los Angeles Lakers Shoe


5. Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets are one of the most exciting teams in the NBA with three of the greatest isolation scorers of all time in Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. They have a minimalist look on their logos and uniforms, with a black and white color scheme. 

The Nets moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn in 2012, and hit the lottery in the 2020 season by assembling their Big 3 and added Blake Griffin for good measure. Barring injuries they were a lock for the finals, that’s why teams look to add three stars as an insurance against injuries in case one goes down. The Nets saw two of their stars go down with injuries with Kyrie Irving being out of the lineup and James Harden being limited by his injuries. Although Kevin Durant did all one player can do, and more, the Nets came up a toenail short against the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.


The Nets logo was designed by Jay-Z, who had a stake in the team. The shield forms a part of the logo, which was called by the Nets CEO Brett Yormark as ‘the new badge for Brooklyn’. 



The back of the shoe plays with the white and black for the pull up strap, adding a futuristic look to the kicks



Is this shoe for you?

If you like a modern look over traditional, if you like rooting for a team with unmatched firepower, this one is for you. The minimalist look of the shoe makes it ideal for any setting, while the individuality of the design elements puts it right at home on the basketball court.

Buy the Brooklyn Nets Shoe


6. Miami Heat

The Miami Heat have contrasting styles in their team and their city. This is a team with a reputation for a hard-working and blue-collar approach, residing in a city that’s famous as a vacation spot. The Heat also have some of the most popular apparel recently, with their Vice jerseys outselling every other city edition jersey combined during its run.

The Heat’s workmanlike approach bore fruit with Jimmy Butler, who embodied it as much as anyone in the league. They were able to make it to the NBA Finals in the bubble in Orlando last year before King James took his crown back. That prompted the question, were the Heat just the darlings of the bubble? As the military discipline of the Heat seemed to make their team most suitable to thrive in the isolated setting of the bubble. 

The NBA logo blends into the shoe color for the Heat. Some of the other shoes have the NBA colors of blue and red standing out, this one gives a more uniform look with the color scheme. 


Is this shoe for you?

If you like to work hard and party hard, you can relate to the Miami Heat as a team and Miami as a city. The Heat Culture is as impactful as any in the league, and ensures that you get an all out performance every night. 

Buy the Miami Heat Shoes

The best basketball shoes are the ones which you will wear the most. A comfortable pair that let you work your magic on the court and look good while doing it. With the NBA X Tarmak collection, we get to bring the NBA teams another step closer to India, and have basketball fans take a step in filling the shoes of NBA players. 

While they are large shoes to fill, it’s another step towards making the NBA dream tangible for Indian basketball players and fans. Hopefully it is a matter of few steps from seeing an Indian kid pick up an NBA shoe, to an NBA team pick an Indian kid in the NBA draft in the future.


CHECK THE ENTIRE DECATHLON X NBA COLLECTION
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