As we know, May 7th was also the 25th birthday of Faker – the greatest player in the esports scene of South Korea and the world of League of Legends. Although he didn’t celebrate it as grandly as T1’s captain, he still had a great time interacting with fans, having a simple party with his teammates, and then it was time for the… counting money and unwrapping birthday presents.
Besides receiving donations on his streaming channel to the point of spending over 3 hours just to… say thank you, Faker also received many valuable gifts from T1’s partners (I wonder if BMW gifted him a car, as President Lee will be taking his driving test this June), among which Nike stands out – the most famous and widely recognized brand globally, currently the official apparel sponsor for T1.
The gift that Faker received from Nike is a pair of Nike Adapt Auto Max ‘Infrared’, the latest version of the Nike Adapt Auto Max Motherboard line, part of the high-tech shoe collection developed by Nike with self-lacing features and data connectivity to mobile devices.
Similar to the Air Force 1 Low ‘Para-Noise’ – G-Dragon’s version with the red logo, the Nike Adapt Auto Max ‘Infrared’ has a market price that isn’t too high for sneaker enthusiasts – $400, equivalent to about 9.3 million VND, but importantly, both pairs of shoes that Faker owns are limited editions, produced in very small quantities, and not everyone can own them. Therefore, their true value is indeed hard to measure.
This is truly an extravagant birthday gift that Nike has given to Faker. In the eyes of the developers of this leading global sports fashion brand, the captain of T1 holds a very special position, with his influence compared to that of Cristiano Ronaldo in football or LeBron James in basketball.
Faker himself is probably also very happy with this gift. During the stream on his birthday night, he lamented to fans, “I didn’t get any gifts this year, as people just… gave me money instead.” And then the very next day, not only did his T1 teammates throw him a birthday party, but Nike also sent him a valuable gift.
Since becoming a partner of Nike, the President has increasingly taken on the role of a true “sneakerhead” by owning many high-priced and “rare” models from this brand.