Lakai Debuts New Team Lineup and Hits the Streets of Tokyo

Originally posted on TransWorld SKATEboarding
By Brian Blakely | Last updated Jan 16, 2025 2:36 PM ET

I’ll be the first to admit that I thought Lakai was done. And I know I wasn’t the only one. When Rick Howard and Mike Carroll made their farewell announcement last year, it would’ve been odd to think otherwise.

Add the fact that all those Instagram ads highlighting their closeout sale started popping up, the current team and employees were gone, and again—seemed like the writing was on the wall.

Well, I woke up this morning and saw that I was obviously mistaken. It appears that Bastien Salabanzi joined the team, alongside Roman Hager, Gabryel Aguilar and Jumpei Tsutsumi and they just dropped a new Tokyo edit. Hey, these things happen. Regardless, peep the edit. Gotta say… Bastien is looking as strong as ever.

As hard as it is to not stray off and not talk about the video itself, in fairness, I’ll stick to the subject. Looks like the new team handled some biz out there in Tokyo, to say the least. The skating speaks for itself and these four skateboarders are super talented. It's a solid edit!

That said, I’m just as curious as anyone to see what the future holds for Lakai and their new team in 2025. It seems like there’s still some gas left in the tank, but only time will tell where they’ll take it from here.

Until then… watch the edit. Judging by the comments on YouTube and Instagram, people actually seem pretty stoked with what they saw. Honestly, seeing Bastien doing his thing in 2025 gets me stoked, too.

Keep your eye on the hourglass!

VIDEO / Luis Mora

This article first appeared on TransWorld Skateboarding and was syndicated with permission.

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