In 1997, Nike commenced production of its own line of skate shoes, but was unable to sell to many specialist skate shops, as the market was already strongly in favour of companies such as
DC,
Globe, eS Footwear,
Emerica, and
Vans. Nike was not considered a core skateboarding brand among the skateboarding community and did not receive the necessary level of support. In 2002, Nike introduced the "SB" brand. The
Nike SB Dunk Low model was released, featuring a padded tongue and collar, along with "Zoom Air" insoles; the shoe was more similar to other skate shoe styles than the corporation's previous attempts. After the SB Dunk's mediocre sales, Nike released four other models: The Nike SB Angus, Nike SB FC, Nike SB Delta Force, and Nike SB URL. In 2004, Nike SB signed
Paul Rodriguez as a figurehead for the brand and recruited
Lewis Marnell as the sole Australian team rider during the same period. In March of that year, Nike released the Nike Dunk SB collection, aimed towards skateboarders in
California. The associated shoe designs differed from the previous SB Dunk range in that they were designed specifically for skateboarders. The collection included increased padding, Zoom Air insoles, and enhanced material quality, including triple stitching, a standard for skate shoes. In 2005, Rodriguez released a signature shoe model named the "Nike SB Paul Rodriguez Zoom Air Low". That year, one of Nike SB's spokespersons,
Lance Mountain, decided to release the Nike Blazer SB, a version of the Nike Blazer basketball shoe from the early 1970s. It was named the Nike SB Blazer and several new features were added, such as the padded collar and Zoom Air insoles. Mountain previously rode for
Adidas and then joined Nike SB in 2007. Nike SB released its first video
Nothing But The Truth in 2007 and held the premiere at in New York City, U.S. and Rodriguez's part the conclusion of the video. In 2009,
Eric Koston left
Lakai Limited Footwear to join Nike and a video featuring the Nike SB amateur team, called
Debacle, was released later in the year. In December 2011, the video
SB Chronicles Vol. 1 premiered online, while premiere parties and free video showings were held throughout the world. The first volume of a two-part series features
Stefan Janoski, Wieger Van Wageningen, Chet Childress, Daniel Shimizu, Youness Amrani, Marnell, Grant Taylor, and Clarke Hassler. In 2012, professional Sean Malto (riding for Girl) left Etnies for Nike SB, shortly after his 2011 street league skateboarding win. Flip rider Luan Oliviera was also added to the team and, in late June 2012, Nike SB announced its collaboration with
Levi's and team rider Omar Salazar appeared in the promotional advertisements. In July 2012, Nike Skateboarding opened a private training facility in
Downtown Los Angeles, California. Named "6th and Mill" due to its location at the intersection of the corresponding street names (E. Sixth and Mill Streets), the facility's official opening coincided with the launch of Rodriguez's sixth signature shoe with the brand. The training facility has featured heavily on The Berrics skateboarding website since its opening, with segments such as "First Try Fridays" (with professional skateboarder
Theotis Beasley) and "Text Yo'self Before You Wreck Yo'self" (with professional skateboarder Chris Roberts) filmed inside the facility. The brand released a preview of
Brian Anderson's first signature shoe model, entitled the "Nike SB Project BA", in February 2013. The
Sneaker Report website explained that the "upper appears to be a two-piece construction with ample perforations for breathability." As of mid-June 2013, the model has not yet been released. A promotional campaign, identified by the hashtag "#thelegendgrows", was launched by Nike to coincide with release of Koston's second signature shoe model the "Eric Koston 2" in March 2013. An advertisement that included other Nike athletes, such as
Tiger Woods, and Koston's Nike SB teammates was filmed and a behind-the-scenes video was also published on the brand's
YouTube channel. Koston used the Eric Koston 2 design as a basis for a limited edition golf shoe, named the "Koston 2 IT", and a corresponding launch was held in London, UK at the 1948 Stadium store in
Shoreditch. The trailer for the video
SB Chronicles Vol. 2 was published on the Internet in mid-June 2013. The second volume of the two-part series features Oliveira, Daryl Angel, Donovon Piscopo, Theotis Beasley, Justin Brock, Shane O'Neill, and Ishod Wair. Also in mid-June, Nike SB announced that Fucking Awesome Skateboards' Kevin Bradley and Skate Mental skateboards'
Trevor Colden were the latest amateur additions to the team. In August 2013, Nike SB collaborated with
Almost and
TransWorld Skate Boarding magazine on a feature for amateur rider Youness Amrani. Entitled "Marrakesh Express", the project combined a print article with a video part that was launched on the
TransWorld website on August 9, 2013. Videographer Chris Thiesson accompanied Amrani as he skated and traveled between "
Casablanca and
Marrakesh by way of Rabat, Kenitra, and Agadir" in
Morocco. Amrani was born in Morocco, but grew up in
Belgium. In early 2014. Amrani was promoted to professional status with his skateboarding deck company Almost, and attained professional status on the Nike SB team afterwards. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the Nike SB dunk has had a booming resurgence. Nike SB has had many collaborations over the years on SB Dunk shoes. Some notable 2020 collaborations include StrangeLove, Travis Scott, Ben & Jerry's, Concepts, and Atlas. These collaborations led to the resurgence of the SB Dunk, in both the skateboarding and streetwear community. Once the proper skateboarding division of Nike was created, it did not take too long for the fusion of Jordan Brand skateboarding to take place. Iterations of the Air Jordan like the “Phat” in the late 2000s beefed up the model and became popular with skaters, though an official Nike SB x Jordan release would not occur until 2014. ==Competitions==