The Oklahoma City Thunder secured a big win against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon, topping Nikola Jokic and company 127-103 in Oklahoma City.
In Sunday's contest, star defender Lu Dort debuted his new Adidas Harden Vol. 9 PE shoes, titled "Metal of Honor". According to Nice Kicks, the shoe's name is inspired by a medal of honor that Dort was awarded by Québec, his hometown, in 2021, and the youth program he participated in growing up, the PX Knights.
Lu Dort is debuting his new adidas Harden Vol. 9 PE against the Nuggets pic.twitter.com/hfV20y7pjr
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) March 9, 2025
The shoe's primary colors are gold, black and white with blue accents on the back and sides of the sneaker. Dort's insignia, an interlocking "L" and "D", are also feature on the tongue and heel of the shoe.
The Thunder's star defender doesn't have his own shoe line, but was still awarded his own custom edition on James Harden's Adidas shoe line. Earlier in the year, Sole Retriever reported that Dort's teammate, Jalen Williams, will have a similar deal with the Harden line later in 2025.
According to the report, Williams is set to release his own custom edition of the Adidas Harden Vol. 9 in June 2025. Each player is getting their own custom shoe, but neither has their own shoe line, unlike teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Gilgeous-Alexander unveiled his first signature shoe, the Converse SHAI 001, over All-Star weekend in San Francisco.
Dort finished with six points, six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block while debuting his "Metal of Honor" Harden shoes against Denver. Three of the 25-year-old's points came on a corner triple in the fourth quarter after missing an open fast break dunk to start the possession.
Lu Dort missed the dunk, but got the three-pointer seconds after 🤣 🔥 pic.twitter.com/gk2NFzee6w
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 9, 2025
Dort's triple, and staunch defense in his 30 minutes on the floor, helped lead the Thunder to a 127-103 victory against the Nuggets, OKC's second victory against Denver in three tries this season.
On the year, Dort is averaging 9.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 39.1% from beyond the arc on more than five attempts per game. In addition to his statistics, Dort is a leader on one of the best defenses in the NBA, and has been a key cog in the Thunder's success throughout the 2024-25 campaign.
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