The entire world knows and wears Nike shoes, some for comfort, some for style, but nobody can argue with what brought the brand its epic popularity — stars.

Nike pairs its shoes with professional athletes, at the peak of their respective sports, in an attempt to bolster its relationship with winning.

Professional basketball player Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association is one of them.

Durant named one of his shoe collections after his late Aunt Pearl who died from lung cancer in 2000, in an attempt to let her memory live on.

Today, Durant is on his eighth edition of Nike shoes. The Aunt Pearl collection was his fourth edition of the shoe collection.

The shoes are special to him, so they come in limited quantities.

If the color of Durant’s Nike’s are pink and white, then it’s an Aunt Pearl shoe. The inspiring part is the majority of the profits for the shoe go to research for the cure for cancer.

In the shoe it reads “Kevin Durant Kay Yow Cancer Foundation,” a message that gives inspiration to continue to find for a cure. The Kay Yow Cancer Foundation originates from late North Carolina State women’s basketball coach Sandra Kay Yow. She lost her battle to stage four breast cancer in January 2009.

As far as purchasing them at stores is concerned, it can be tough because the shoes are limited in number. Sparingly, the shoes can be found at high value Foot Locker and Champs stores.

Pricing for the shoes range from $140-$200. The reason they are so expensive is because after the consumer buys them, most people attempt to re-sell them for a higher price because of the limited number of shoes distributed to retailers.

Kevin Durant said, “I made a promise to myself to always honor my Aunt Pearl for the example she set and the encouragement she gave me to follow my dreams.”

In the end, the Aunt Pearls are just regular basketball shoes, however, there is a deeper context to them.

It may just look like a regular pink and white sneaker, but it is killing a million of other Nike shoes and shoes by competitors.

According to reports on Footlocker.com, the shoes take a long time to break in, so it might be important for buyers to invest in some Dr. Scholl’s cushion inserts upon purchase of the shoes.

On the plus side, once the shoes are broken in they are comfortable, have good traction and feel light on your feet.

Aunt Pearl would be proud.