Nike would undoubtedly want to forget about the history of the Kyrie Infinity basketball sneaker. The Infinity model will always be associated with Kyrie Irving, who “trashed” the sneaker on social media in a now-famous post, even though the shoe is widely praised by athletes. The Brooklyn Nets guard attempted to quell some controversies with a somewhat clumsy follow-up, but the damage had already been done.

Having stated that, it was assumed that these newly leaked trainers were the Nike Kyrie 9. Although the Kyrie Infinity was never formally known as the Kyrie 8, it was widely believed that the Infinity represented the eighth generation of Kyrie’s iconic shoe line, and the name change was merely a playful reference to the Brooklyn Nets star’s eccentricities. The infinity symbol is, after all, a figure-8.

Recently, this forthcoming sneaker has been making the rounds on social media as Kyrie has started to wear it extensively on his off-season runs. Even more intriguing is the fact that, in Kyrie’s own words, the shoe is now known as the Kyrie 8, not the Kyrie 9. When the shoe was first seen in July, nothing specifically related to either number was visible.