LeBron’s pre-game “chalk throwing” ritual lent inspiration for the latest Nike Zoom LeBron VI commercial, but the ritual has now made its way to his kicks. The tongue has an added silhouette of LeBron holding his arms wide open, face towards the sky, and white powder raining down. The colorway of the kicks ties into the Cavs’ navy/red jerseys with an added touch of woodgrain wrapped midsole.

Tune into TNT at 8PM EST to catch a glimpse of LeBron wearing the Nike Zoom LeBron VI “Chalk Edition.” After all, Santa isn’t the only one who likes to fly.

Take a look at pics of the Nike Zoom Kobe IV in action on the NBA hardwood after the jump.

To sum up the events that took place at Dillard’s gymnasium - the kids didn’t know what hit them. They were going about their usual practice routines and drills, but an onslaught of unusual court side media and cameras sparked the curiosity of the team. They knew something was happening. And soon enough Kobe stepped in and took the team by surprise. Kobe spoke with the team’s head coach, who after seeing the team run fast towards Kobe - coach jokingly shouted that “if they could only run this fast on the court, we’d be at a real good place this season.” Obviously joking because given their impressive drills ran during the practice we observed, the team seems to be in great shape and doing just fine.

Kobe talked with the kids and the media a bit and talked about his newest sneaker release…and…the widely sought “Venom” Nike Zoom Kobe IV. Not only that, but Kobe presented his biggest effort to the kids - an opportunity to design their own free custom pair of the Zoom Kobe IV’s via NikeID. The kids were ecstatic and couldn’t wait to have their turn at creating their very own pair. The locker room was transformed into a mini-design studio/workshop for the kids to get their creative sides in action.

All in all, it was a great show of character by Kobe to step up and offer his time to these kids. Although it may be small to you and me, this could serve as a great confidence booster to these kids to keep striving to achieve what they’ve always dreamed of achieving.

Coverage of the event and photography provided by The305.

Special details of interest on the “Venom” Kobe IV include a fading purple to black toe cap, as well as a painted “web” on the Flywire and toebox displaying a bit of Kobe’s inspiration from a memorable scene of Spiderman 3 (see video).

In celebration of Kobe’s court debut of the Zoom Kobe IV “Venom”, Nike will sell limited pairs of the “Venom” in Miami and Los Angeles tomorrow, Friday, December 19th. Check out the addresses of the stores that will sell the shoes after the break.

Last week in our Kicks On Court, we spotlighted a few players sporting the Nike Air Blue Chip PE. Even though this sneaker cannot hold a torch up to Nike’s basketball darling sneaker (Nike Hyperdunk), many of you still like this model and its different colorways. With that said, Nike will be releasing player exclusive versions of the Blue Chip sneaker for the holiday season.

Included in this release will be Utah Jazz’s guard Deron Williams, Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy, and Oklahoma City Thunder’s forward Kevin Durant’s PEs. Each player’s nickname is featured on the ankle area of his respective sneaker. If you have been paying attention, these young stars have been hooping in the Nike Air Blue Chip consistently throughout the season. Rudy Gay and Caron Butler are two others young stars that have been spotted in PE versions of the Nike Air Blue Chip. What is your thoughts on Nike’s secondary basketball sneaker? Click the jump to view photos of each individual PE. Via Nike Basketball.