Last week KD was in New York city to help Nike and USA Basketball announce the World Basketball Festival and also introduce the new Nike Hyperfuse shoe and Hyperelight uniform to the world.

The World Basketball Festival, August 12-15, features basketball’s leading brands within the NIKE Inc. portfolio — Converse, the Jordan Brand, and Nike Basketball.

The World Basketball Festival is a uniquely dynamic event, from the moment it tips off with a showcase featuring members of the 2010 USA Basketball National Team on an open-air court in Times Square, to an unprecedented Times Square performance by a surprise musical act, to the final games of the weekend between four of the best teams in the world at Madison Square Garden.

“The World Basketball Festival will be an unforgettable event for the people of New York City and basketball fans around the world,” said Charlie Denson, Nike Brand President. “Every two years we plan to connect the global world of basketball to celebrate the sport while leaving a lasting legacy within the community.”

From Times Square on August 12, the action moves uptown to New York City’s legendary basketball courts at Rucker Park in Harlem, Friday and Saturday, August 13 and 14.

Rucker Park will be home to open-air practices and scrimmages by National Teams from Brazil and Puerto Rico, and training by France, mixed with performances by top international music acts, in addition to a grassroots youth tournament serving as the championships for some of New York’s top summer basketball leagues. Fans will also be invited to participate in clinics here designed to improve training and basketball skills. The two days at Rucker Park will culminate with a special celebration on Saturday, August 14. Details will be provided closer to the day.

The World Basketball Festival concludes Sunday, August 15 with an exciting exhibition double-header featuring the United States taking on France (1 p.m. EDT) and China meeting Puerto Rico (3:30 p.m. EDT) at famed Madison Square Garden.

The exhibition games are being utilized as part of the teams’ preparation for the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship in Turkey, August 28 to September 12.

While playing for Team USA KD will wear the new Nike Hyperfuse shoe.

The Hyperfuse is a super lightweight, highly breathable basketball shoe inspired by the street ball games in China. The composite is comprised of a superior stability layer, a breathable mesh layer and a durable outer skin layer all fused together into a unibody composite design. Hyperfuse also revolutionizes the way shoes are built by “fusing” its distinct layers into an engineered composite to provides a level of precision unattainable with traditional cut-and-sew construction. With Hyperfuse, additive overlays are eliminated and engineered zones of support are placed precisely where they are needed. The Hyperfuse’s seamless unibody design helps eliminate potential hotspots and wear points in footwear. And at roughly 12.5 ounces for a size 9, the shoe embodies superior lightweight performance. The design was inspired by Chinese basketball players and their need for shoes that are lightweight, can hold up outdoors, and have great traction/breathability.

Here’s video of Shane Kohatsu and Fred Dojan of Nike’s Innovative Kitchen breaking down the concept behind Hyperfuse

In addition to the Hyperfuse, KD and his Team USA teammates will be wearing Nike’s new Hyperelite uniform as part of their uniform. They are essentially the lightest, most durable uniforms Nike has ever produced. The jerseys have 13 inches less fabric than a typical basketball jersey and the shorts weigh less wet (10.1 oz.) than a normal pair does dry (13.6 oz.).

Here’s a look at KD and Yi Jianlian wearing the new Hyperelite uniforms:

What’s good everyone? I’m back in the States now, but I wanted to share video from the last leg of my China Tour with everyone. Check it out and let me know what you think. I’ll blog more about my trip to China when I get some free time.

If you missed video from the first 4 days of the tour, you can check them out here and here. Also, here are some photos from every stop on the tour.

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

Video of the fourth day of my China Tour. The highlight: The Pandas.

Also, here are some more photos from the trip so far and video from the first three days of the tour. I’ll have more updates on my trip once I get back to the states.

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

What’s good everyone? As promised, here’s some video of my tour in China. Beijing, the Great Wall and Chengdu…now I’m in Shanghai.

I’m leaving tomorrow for New York for another Nike event. Man, I’m so tired that I’m sleep walking now. But this is exciting, so even with no energy you know I have to be turned all the way up! Anyhow, check out the videos.

P.S. I saw the Nike Zoom KD III and you’re not going to be disappointed. They are craaaazzzzyyyy.

Bonus: Here are some more photos from the trip so far.

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

What’s good everyone? James Harden, myself and my folks from Nike are on a mini tour of China right now. Like I promised, I’m checking in with you guys from the other side of the globe, which is pretty crazy when you think about it.

I’m over here promoting my shoes and getting acquainted with as many basketball fans as I can, just getting to know who they are and telling them all about the Thunder. I just want to put our name out there a little bit more and also experience something new, and this is the perfect way to do it. I think this will be a good thing for me, the Thunder and my sneakers and hopefully everything goes well. I had a lot of fun over here last year, when I went to Hong Kong.

This year I’m in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu. I’ll be signing autographs and maybe shooting a few hoops, but it’s more about getting close and personal with the fans, just spending time with them, you know?

As far as the food goes, I love Chinese food and I want to try some new things over here. As long as it doesn’t make me sick! James has never been here so it’s been cool to take it all in with him. My dad’s here, too, and when we arrived to Beijing the other day we all went out to eat at this really nice restaurant called Domus.

But right now I’m still trying to get acclimated to the time change. It takes almost a day to travel here, and there’s a 12 hour time difference from D.C. By the time this goes up on my site for everyone in the States, I’ll probably be sleeping.

Here are some photos from the trip so far. I’ll try to post some more pictures and some video from my trip soon. If you’re in China and interested in keeping track of my tour, make sure you check out Nike Basketball’s RenRen Page.

Anyhow, I’ll hit y’all later. THUNDER UP!

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

What’s going on everyone?!?!

I know it’s been a long time since I last updated my blog, but now that the season is over and I’ve settled down after a week of just chilling, I’m ready to get it going again.

I’ve got a lot going on right now, from my current trip to China with my man James Harden to the Team USA training camp next month.

Since my last blog post was just before the playoffs, let’s start there.

I know it was a month ago, but just playing in the postseason was a lot of fun, man. Unfortunately we didn’t come out on the right end but it was still a lot of fun. It was a great opportunity to showcase our skills to the world. And it was a great opportunity to see where we were as a team. Of course we would have wanted to win but we did a good job of fighting and showing people who we are and hopefully it showed what we’re going to bring for these next couple of years.

On a personal level, I know I’ve just got to keep plugging away no matter what. I didn’t shoot the ball the way I wanted to against the Lakers but I kept fighting and kept finding ways to help my team win. Of course I wanted to shoot the ball better but sometimes that might not happen and I’ve just got to keep fighting and never give up and I was proud of how I did that.

As far as the rest of the playoffs go, I couldn’t help but watch. There’s been some good games, some surprises and some blowouts. A little bit of everything.

I hear a lot of talking heads giving their two-cents on the NBA Finals, but I think both the Lakers and Boston Celtics have been playing exceptionally well so it’s kind of an even matchup. Of course the Lakers have the home court advantage and they don’t want to have a repeat of what happened to them in ’08, but I’m sure Boston wants another championship just as bad, so this should be a series worth watching.

With us playing the Lakers I know what kind of team they are. Of course, it would be easier for me to pick them to win but I’ve also been watching Boston and they’ve been playing some tremendous defensive basketball. So we’ll see what happens because honestly, for me, I can’t go with one team. Both teams just do so many things well. I guess we’ll just have to watch the first couple of games and see how the series is going to go.

How about you guys? Who are you picking for the NBA Finals? What matchups are you interested in watching? Let me know in my comments section.

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