Rockets' Kevin Durant Teams with Nike to Release Chet Holmgren Exclusive KD 18 Colorways

The Houston Rockets' opening day game against the Oklahoma City Thunder last October generated quite a bit of buzz heading into the matchup, for a number of reasons. For starters, any opening day game will draw fan engagement and excitement, as they'd become starved and desperate for action on the hardwood.

The last game, which featured the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, had been played in late June. That's a lengthy four months in between games, as they faced the Rockets on October 21st.

Then there was the fact that the Thunder's ring ceremony was taking place in front of Kevin Durant, who spent the first nine years of his career with the franchise, yet was never able to have the same luck, although he did help the franchise reach the NBA Finals, in addition to making several deep title runs. On that note, there was the excitement of Durant playing his first game with the Rockets in the opener.

The game lived up to the hype. In fact, it went to double overtime, although the Rockets lost 125-124. Durant had a rough game, by his standards, scoring 23 points on 16 shots, in addition to missing pivotal free throws and missing all of his long-range attempts.

Oklahoma City forward Chet Holmgren was pivotal for the Thunder, scoring 28 points on just 17 shots. Holmgren also drew eyes from sneaker heads, as he was debuting a pair of customized KD 18 shoes, with a never-before-seen colorway.

The colorway has been coined Thunder and Reign, which have a purple and cheetah color scheme and assortment. They also have Holmgren's lightning bolt logo on the tongue.

As it turns out, Durant and Nike have partnered to release the shoe to the public, as they will be available for purchase on March 13th, with a list price of $165.

Durant and the sneaker giant aren't stopping there, on the Holmgren front. In the same day, they are releasing an additional colorway worn by Holmgren of the same shoe. The other one has been coined the 'Realtree Camo KD 18'.

The second shoe has a tan, brown and beige color pattern. The technical color description is coyote, safety orange and medium brown.

Holmgren wore the latter pair when the Thunder faced off against the Golden State Warriors on December 2nd of this season. They will also be priced at $165.

Durant has yet to give someone two player exclusive colorways of his shoe, but he's publicly expressed his desire to sign players to his KD label.