Yesterday, the designer of the Zoom KD line, Leo Chang, participated in a chat about the new Zoom KD III on the Nike Basketball Facebook. Here are some highlights from the chat.

*KD III is coming to Nike iD in the Spring of 2011: For those interested in customizing the KD III, this will be your opportunity to design the KD III in exactly the colorway you want. Leo hinted that there should be some other options available for customization of the KD III on Nike iD beyond just color.

*Biggest difference between the KD II and KD III: The KD III has no strap, has Flywire (Skinwire) technology and is lighter than the KD II.

*Shoe Weight: 13.5 ounces. Lighter than last year’s KD II.

*Cushioning setup: Zoom Air unit in the forefoot, Phylon midsole.

*What positions on the floor does the shoe work best for? Since Nike is aware that most of KD’s teammates like to wear the KD line, they designed the shoe to work for all 5 positions and for players as versatile as KD.

*Will the KD III’s be available in Kid sizes? Yes, in the spring of 2011.

*Why is Kevin Durant’s shoe only $88 when the Kobe and LeBron lines run over $130 each? Does it mean the shoe is inferior? KD insists Nike make his shoe at a price point under $90, so Nike has to get real creative on designing and building a shoe that can perform as well as Kobe and LeBron lines. By no means is it inferior in performance. Nike tries to pack as much punch in it as possible. They just are more efficient with their embellishments so they can focus on performance. The technology must be pretty sufficient as KD wears STOCK KD III kicks with no additional performance customizations.

*How involved was KD in the design process? KD was very involved in the design process. Nike started by asking him what he wanted in the KD III before Leo put pen to paper. KD even let teammates like Nick Collison have an influence on the design. A lot of the storytelling details were specifically requested by KD. Video game controller buttons, something that talked about his team, his family, and Seat Pleasant (his hometown). Video game controller buttons: KD is a bit obsessed with gaming! Piano keys: KD loves to make beats when he’s not hooping and playing games. WP: KD’s parents’ initials, Seat Pleasant: Seat Pleasant Rec Center is where he lived and breathed basketball as a kid. The 5 thunder bolts: TEAM…he’s so tight with his team that he wanted us to find a way to symbolize that. Performance wise he’s all about having a lightweight, comfort, sleek conforming fit.

*Will the KD line remain under $90 in the future? Yes, as long KD wants to keep his signature shoe under $90, Nike will oblige. KD wants everyone to be able to afford his shoes! It’s something he’s always dreamed of.

*Will there be a creamsicle colorway? Yes, but it won’t be the orange version that he wore last year with the KD II. Leo was tight lipped about the actual colorway, but mentioned KD will wear the colorway on Christmas day. There will also at least be 7 different colorways released, with some additional player edition/special edition colorways released at the Footlocker House of Hoops.

Make sure you pick up a pair of Zoom KD III kicks here.

Leo Chang, designer of the new Nike Zoom KD III will be on Nike Basketball’s Facebook today at 6pm EST time taking fan questions about KD’s new Nike Zoom KD III signature shoe. Join Leo today at Facebook.com/NikeBasketball to discuss all things KD III. And if you haven’t picked up a pair of KD III’s yet, pick them up in the Nike Store.

We’ve seen KD give away game tickets and shoes to fans on Twitter and Facebook. Here’s another great story of KD interacting with fans via his social media pages. This time he ended up buying a fan a pair of shoes at the Potomac Mills Mall. Here’s the story from one of KD’s fans named Brandon:

It was just a regular day, but then I saw posts on Kevin Durant’s Facebook and Twitter saying that he was going to be heading to the Potamac Mills Mall and for fans to come say what’s up to him. I immediately called everyone on my contact list that had a car, but no one had time to drive me. Finally I was able to get my cousin’s friend to take me and my two cousins to the mall. My cousin and her friend went shopping while my other cousin and I went to eat and look for Kevin Durant.

We couldn’t find KD, so we decided to wait for him outside the Nike store. He didn’t show up, so we decided to go look for him at another store. While we were walking I saw KD walking toward us. My cousin didn’t believe me until I actually went up to him. I asked for an autograph and he signed my basketball.

On his Facebook and Twitter, he said that if anyone saw him and asked him, he would get them a pair of basketball shoes. So I asked him for shoes….and he actually got me shoes! We were in Finish Line for 30 minutes with KD and his friends helping me look for the shoes I wanted. He ended up buying me a pair of the Nike Zoom Hyperfuse USAB editions that he’s wearing in FIBA World Championships this summer. Thanks for everything, KD!

KD continues to prove why he is one of the most down to earth, fan friendly athletes out there. So if you’re not following him already, make sure you add him on Facebook and Twitter. Enjoy your kicks Brandon!

-Team KD

What’s good everybody? We play the Celtics tonight. It’s going to be another tough game, so make sure you check us out!

Not sure if you knew, but I’m a huge music fan. I like listening to a lot of stuff. Right now, I’ve been listening to my boy Wale. He’s from D.C., too, and is a very good friend.

I got to know Wale after my one year of college. He reached out to me. He was a guy that was coming up, just like me. We’re both from the city and we were basically trying to help put D.C. on the map. A lot of people don’t know too much about D.C. as far as the music thing and the basketball thing. We’ve had a couple of players come through but it’s easy to forget us because we’re so small. We just try to do our best to let people know where we came from. We’ve got that instant bond there.

He’s been great. He’s very smart, very intellectual. He knows a lot about life and things he’s been through. He’s been more like a mentor to me, a big brother to me. We help each other out and support each other. That’s what we need as people coming from the same area. It’s been a good relationship so far. He’s been doing very well in his field and I’ve been trying to work hard and get better as well. Like I said, we support each other and he’s going to come out here the next time we have a home stand.

Wale has done a lot. He’s on a Roots song. His own album came out. That’s when I first saw him, in the Roots video. I was like, ‘that’s Wale!’ Then I saw him on the video music awards. He was on tour with Jay Z, he signed with Interscope and Rock Nation. He’s been doing a lot of big things and I’m happy for him and support him. My birthday weekend we had a party together, we kind of celebrated our birthdays together. We became very close. He’s a good friend of mine.

And I actually met him through social networking on Facebook. He was just like, ‘what’s up man? I’m a big fan.’ When we were in D.C. we met up with each other, he gave me some of his CDs. We kind of talked and kicked it from there. Then it went from, ‘let me borrow something from you’ or ‘let’s go to the club.’ We just kind of became friends like that. Like I said, he’s been very supportive of me and I’ve been the same with him. It’s been a relationship that’s going to stick for a while.

Right now, I’m listening to a lot of slow jams, man, of course Lil’ Wayne. I’m trying to get into Gucci Mayne. But the usuals are Beyonce, Kerri Hilson, Ashanti and Usher. I listen to a lot of slow jams before games to get me pumped up. That’s kind of weird, huh?

And I’ve got my guys out here that make music called Rugged Individuals. They make music at my house sometimes and they’re very good, I think. I listen to them before games as well. I’m kind of versatile with my music. I listen to just about everything.

I hooked up with Rugged Individuals when I was at a Guitar Center buying some equipment for my little home studio, just trying to figure out this music thing, something I was intrigued by, and they helped me out. They were like, ‘man you should listen to my CD.’ When people say that I’m like, ‘alright.’ But I threw it in my car and I really, really liked it. I was like, man I could really vibe with that. Then I went back and we exchanged numbers and then they helped me put together my little studio, and ever since then we’ve been cool.

So what kind of music are you all listening to now? Anyone I should check out? Let me know in the comments section.

Alright, I’m out for now. Much Love…

Fans: Be sure to check out Kevin on Twitter and Facebook.

What’s good fans? Welcome to my personal blog. This is my first blog post! I’m going to keep you guys updated on what’s going on with me on and off the court, so enjoy and keep coming back.

I am a big fan of Twitter, Facebook and other social media. It’s a lot of fun being social with everybody who is a basketball fan, who loves to watch us play and loves to watch me play. That’s why I do this. It’s pretty cool just to meet some of the people I’ve met so far on Twitter and Facebook. There’s just a lot of great basketball fans who respect the game and really know me as a player.

I’ve already given away some shoes and Nike care packages on Twitter to fans that answered trivia questions about me, and that was a lot of fun. It’s just something I wanted to do…I was in a giving mood, and it’s always good to give back to the fans.

Right now we’re on another road trip. We just played Kobe and the Lakers on Sunday (Tough loss!). Now we’re in Utah for a game against the Jazz on Tuesday.

We’ve been on the road a lot this season, which has been one of our first tests – how to get through long road trips. We’ve already played in San Antonio, Sacramento, L.A., Miami and Orlando.

Our last trip was very rewarding for us. There were some ups and downs on the trip, but we learned a lot. We learned how to handle six games in nine nights. Remember, we’re all still young guys learning how to go through that. We won a couple, we lost a couple. It was a good learning experience.

For those who want to know what I like to do on road trips, I spend most of my time listening to a lot of music, watching a lot of movies and just playing video games. I’m kind of basic. I don’t go really go out too much. I go to the malls here and there, but most of the time I play music, listen to music, make my own music and watch TV.

But actually when we were in Miami, me and the guys went to a restaurant there called Prime 112 and they had a dessert there called fried Oreos – one of the best dishes I’ve ever had. It was very, very good. If you’ve ever had them, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Hopefully I’ll go back down there to get some more of those.

When we’re on the road I usually go out to eat wherever the guys want to go. We usually just go to the mall or go to the movies, so we just pick a place that’s close by. We never plan out where we’re going to eat. If we see a place that we like we’ll just go there. I like to eat a lot of pastas, like from the Cheesecake Factory. We go there a lot. Actually, I think that’s a main place we go to on every road trip.

That place is so good, we just can’t stay away. The strawberry lemonade, the stuffed tortillas…Me and Russ always get that.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope this lets you in on a little bit about me. I’ll have another post for you later this week.

Fans: Be sure to check out Kevin on Twitter and Facebook.