FUTURA'S ATOMS COVER DEVIN BOOKER'S NIKE BOOK 2

Futura x Nike Book 2 showed up on Devin Booker's feet at Phoenix Suns Media Day on September 28, covered in the graffiti artist's abstract atoms and a loud mix of color. The upper is built from artwork Futura made personally for Booker, and no release date has been given.

Atoms, Color and One Word in Marker

The upper carries Futura's artwork, drawn for Booker, not pulled from an old print. It is a crowded mix of bright color and abstract, atom shaped graphics, and nothing on the shoe is quiet.

The tongue is the detail to study. "BOOK" sits there in Futura's own handwriting, so the shoe carries a signature hand before it carries a logo. That is a different job from a standard collab graphic, where an artist's pattern gets sized to fit a template. Here the lettering is part of the artwork itself, and the wearer's name is the word.

Booker wore the pair on media day, when the league's players get photographed in what they plan to wear. At NBA Media Day a debut says the shoe is finished, even when the release calendar is not.

Futura and Booker Knew Each Other Before This Shoe

The collaboration grew out of a friendship between the artist and the player that has run for years, and that is why the artwork reads as personal, not commissioned. Futura is a New York graffiti artist, and Booker has been turning his signature line into a run of collaborations with people he admires.

That list is now long. Booker has worked with Chevrolet on the Impala colorways, with Hiroshi Fujiwara, and with McDonald's. On this shoe, Futura's hand is the one that shows up in the lettering.

March 20, June 2, September 10. Now Futura.

Book 2 has turned into a shoe that tells a story with every pair, and the Futura pair is the fourth this year. The "Must Be The Denim" pair came first, on March 20, honoring the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats in denim print uniforms. The Sedona pair followed on June 2, built around the only McDonald's in the world with turquoise arches, a design tied to Booker's Arizona upbringing.

Then came Pretty Penny, a Metallic Red Bronze pair matched to Booker's own 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible, with a tongue detail that mirrors the hood ornament. It reached SNKRS nationwide on September 10, and three more colorways tied to his 1958, 1962 and 1963 Impalas are scheduled for December. Booker's Impala pair had a release date attached before most people saw it. The Futura pair has a debut and nothing else.

Each earlier pair told its story through a place, a team or a car. This one tells it through a person, and the tongue lettering is the proof.

Futura's September Started in Brooklyn

Futura had a busy month before Booker wore the shoe. On September 8 he unveiled three minifigure artworks at the Brooklyn Museum, including Ninja of the Futura, as LEGO's official creative collaborator for Ninjago's 15th anniversary. The Ninjago artworks were followed by the Ninjago Legends DuskFall fan event in Seoul on September 18.

So the same hand that reworked Nya and Kai for a toy line is now on a basketball shoe about three weeks later. Each partner gets a version made for it, and the Book 2 version is made for one player.

The artist led calendar keeps going. Fragment Disney graphics are headed to ComplexCon in Los Angeles on October 3 and 4, where Hiroshi Fujiwara is one of the 2026 artistic directors. That puts another Fujiwara linked collaboration within a week of Booker's Futura debut.

What the Missing Date Tells Us

Nike has said nothing about a release, a price or a store list for the Futura pair, so any date is a guess. What is on the calendar is the December Impala trio, and a shoe built around one artist's handwriting and one player's name looks like a small, limited run more than a general release. That is a read, not an announcement. The facts to hold onto are simple. September 28 was the debut, "BOOK" is written on the tongue in Futura's hand, and Booker's Impala trio is still due in December.