This browser does not support the Video element.
OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Klay Thompson released his limited edition East Bay Times-Anta collaboration kicks Sunday in honor of his pre-game newspaper reading ritual.
The one-of-a-kind KT4's are filled with newspaper-style print, including clippings of Thompson's amazing feats on the court in both English and Chinese. Also featured are color action photos of him, splashed around the top of the shoe as well as across the outsole on the bottom.
Only 150 pairs were sold during the Oakland release at Oaklandish's Broadway location Sunday morning.
Priced at $179.99, the shoes come with a one-year subscription to any Bay Area News Group paper. The remaining 10,000 pairs will be sold exclusively in China at a retail price of $390.
The Bay Area News Group has dubbed Thompson as the "brand ambassador" spanning its individual newspapers: The Mercury News, East Bay Times, and the Marin Independent Journal.
The partnership sprouted from his unique pregame locker routine that he credits to his mother, Julie.
"She just suggested to read the paper before games, get away from looking at the screen," Thompson said about his mother, Julie Thompson, in a 2017 Bay Area News group video. "It's really just helped me relax and take my mind off of what I got to go out there and do and all the pressure that comes with it."
Thompson told the Bay Area News Group that he keeps old articles featuring himself and his NBA champion father, Mychal Thompson, so that he can show them to his kids one day.
"It's very nice to be kept to date on all these current events going on around us, especially on a local level," Thompson said in the video. "That's where you can make the biggest impact."
The shoes are part of Anta's KT Series that launched with the KT1's in 2015. Thompson originally signed with the Chinese brand in 2014 and renegotiated a 10-year, $80 million extension in 2016.
It has been a busy offseason already for the All-Star shooting guard. After agreeing to a five-year, $190 million max deal to return with the Warriors, Thompson successfully underwent surgery last Tuesday to repair his torn left ACL.
He is expected to make a return within five to seven months, slating for his 2019-2020 season debut potentially as early as December.