2012 is a big year for sports. With the Summer Olympics only a couple of days away (you can catch the Opening Ceremonies live on Solar Sports, 340am on Saturday, July 28), Nike’s been revving up their engine for an amazing release. Not only have they been releasing hit after hit this season, Nike Basketball also wanted to showcase how they have redefined and hoop sneaker game over the last 20 years.

Nike designers have instigated multiple movements from 1992 to the present day. Of course, Nike has been committed to basketball since the 1970s. But new rules in the early 1990s opened up a global stage for the brand’s elite athletes, changing perceptions of basketball forever. Branding was minimized, amplified, removed, flipped and then resurrected. Leather gave way to Durabuck, then pioneering poured foams, before uppers were fused. Shorts got longer, colorways went metallic and pearlescent before exploding in a limitless burst of brightness. Then there was Max Air, Nike Zoom, Tuned Air, Nike Shox and Nike Lunarlon — assistants in the sole unit for every type of player.

Nike designed for every movement, every dunk on primetime, every embarrassment in a concrete park somewhere. It matched point for point the new breed of athletes with their multiple modes of play. Nike’s design continues to create the rules – conquering its own achievements to perfect performance for the next wave of icons.

So beginning today, July 24 (July 23 in the US), Nike will be featuring a special shoe from each year that changed the game not only for Nike but ultimately for the hoop game.