Dressed For Success @ Olympics

When you have to dunk over a giant like Yao Ming, you need all the vertical lift you can get. For years, sneaker companies have been trying to make lighter basketball shoes, but what about the jerseys? To put even more pop in Team USA's vertical, Nike eliminated 25 centimeters of material to reduce the weight of the jersey by over 30 percent. (And when players try to grab Kobe's jersey to keep him from jumping out of the gym, they'll come up empy handed.) The back is also notable: it's a special mesh called Aerographics that uses a new moisture and heat venting technique and a silk screen like process that etches the fabric.