Dennis Smith Jr, Josh Jackson, Terrance Ferguson and Will Barton Unveil Under Armour HOVR Havoc
Terrance Ferguson, Josh Jackson, Dennis Smith Jr and Will Barton are shooting around on a makeshift court out in Las Vegas. Under Armour constructed a nice setup at a suite, turning a hotel room at the Palms into a spot to show off the brand new Under Armour HOVR Havoc. It’s their newest basketball sneaker, the height of innovation at the brand.
The Havoc has UA’s HOVR technology built into it. It’s their newest foam material, delivering a high energy return with each step.
“[The players] think it’s the greatest cushioning platform we’ve ever had,” Leon Gu, lead designer of the Havoc, says. “HOVR is the cushioning system we want to [use] for high performance.”
That foam is then encapsulated in another UA material, named the Energy Web. That’s a mesh protection system that molds the foam.
“Shoot, man,” Smith Jr says. “It got whatever you need. If you’re tryna bounce man, get you some HOVRs. Straight up.”
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Smith is one of the players who worked with Gu on the design of the Havoc. The Mavs’ rookie point guard wore the UA Drive 4 Low for much of last season. He used that sneaker as a point of reference to help Gu, as did Jackson.
“Having my foot in here, it feels like it’s not really a basketball shoe, but when I go to perform in, when I go running around, it acts and reacts like any other shoe that I played in,” Jackson says.
Barton says he knew from the jump this was going to be a high-quality silhouette.
“When they were first doing the sketching, getting me involved, from the beginning I told them this was gonna be a cool shoe, I just knew from design,” the Nuggets swingman says. “I can kinda eyeball shoes, especially the evolution of them. Most of the time, guys wanna play in light shoes that look comfortable, look cool at the same time. To see the sketch and when it came to the actually shoes, I was like, ‘Man, this is even cooler than the sketch.'”
And Ferguson, who’s been wearing UA since he was a freshman in high school, says this is the best sneaker he’s seen yet.
“Over the years, each year, they came back with a better shoe,” he says. “[The Havoc is] my favorite shoe by far, by far. I’ve played in a lot of Under Armor shoes since I was 14 till now, so that’s a lot of shoes, and I definitely feel this is my favorite.”
Smith Jr, after all the talking, takes to the skies to cruise up for an easy one-handed dunk. Barton’s bouncing while he shoots fades from the wing, and Jackson and Ferguson are on the opposite side, shooting their shots. They’re all wearing the orange gradient flavor of the Havoc, the joint that Smith Jr played in during Summer League.
The Under Armour HOVR Havoc will drop on August 31.
h/t NiceKicks
