Low or high, know what you want. High-top basketball sneakers are espoused by players like LeBron James. Low-top basketball shoes are worn by many of Nike’s NBA stars, the most prominent of which being Kobe Bryant. Wanting one collar length over the other is just a matter of preference. The Zoom Air unit in the forefoot did what it was supposed to do. Each step felt 100% fueled as we ran past opponents and attempted to score. We have to say, the Nike LeBron NXXT GEN gave us some of the most efficient runs ever. The Nike Cosmic Unity 3 is undoubtedly an outdoor-worthy shoe, so it easily takes the crown as the best for outdoors among Nike’s basketball shoes. The enhanced court feel and stability that the midsole afforded made our experience with it even better. Nike basketball shoes are as pretty as they are high-performing. They will be of use even when you are off the court.

Brands fit differently. RunRepeat is equipped with a tool that helps you find the right size given the brand. This tool can also use your actual size, brand preference, and inputs from other users to come up with sizing recommendations. The Dremel test results on this shoe are impressive. We subjected the toe area of the upper to aggressive friction, which was way more than what guys normally experience on-court. No hole in sight after that so we give it a 4 out of 5 for durability. We dare say that even frequent toe draggers can’t break down this shoe’s upper. The amount of impact protection that this shoe provided is also worth mentioning. Using an HA durometer, we learned that the cushion is softer than average (26.6) with a rating of 25.5. On feet, the experience was like this: the foam is soft enough to absorb impact, but it is still firm enough to ensure stability and court feel. Our experience and lab assessments tell us that the Cosmic Unity 3 from Nike is above all other basketball shoes in outdoor playability. We found that this shoe is above average when it comes to its outsole hardness, making it perfectly suitable for outdoor usage. Besides outdoor-worthiness, this Nike shoe was also a bomb because of its amazingly consistent bite and impressively durable upper. The third thing that gives the Cosmic Unity 3 the edge over other shoes was the amazing durability of its toebox. In the lab, we performed the standard Dremel test. We saw that 12 seconds of high-pressure drilling barely left a mark on the material, pushing us to give it a perfect 5 for durability.The Nike Zoom Freak 4’s weight (12.3 oz or 348g) is below the average (13.7 oz or 387g), so it helped us be more agile and to persist longer during our games. Its outsole is actually harder than average, making it more resistant to abrasion. The above-average hardness even makes it a worthy outdoor shoe. This shoe is also a beast when it comes to heel support because of its stiff counter. Given all these benefits, we hail the Zoom Freak 4 as the best lightweight shoe in our inventory. When we used an HC durometer to measure the outsole rubber’s hardness, the device showed 84.5, which is slightly higher than the average (81.5). We never had issues playing outdoors while wearing the LeBron NXXT GEN from Nike.

Basketball positions allow us to predict what movements a player most likely does during the game. Basketball shoes should correspond to the needs of the wearer’s playing position. When it comes to flexibility, this shoe is not to be overlooked, either. Our digital force gauge in the lab showed that this shoe needs only 34.7N of force to be bent at 90 degrees. This number is significantly lower than the 40.9N required by a typical hoop shoe.

TAKE YOUR GAME TO NEW HEIGHTS

Among all the shoes in Nike’s arsenal, it’s the Nike KD 15 that brings the most promise when it comes to traction, which we experienced as consistent on both indoor and outdoor courts. We also appreciated this KD shoe’s close-to-the-ground construction and excellent torsional rigidity. Apart from technologies, other factors play important roles in ensuring your enjoyment of Nike basketball shoes Playing style At only 13.12 ounces or 372 grams, this LeBron shoe is even lighter than the average hoop shoe, which weighs 14.22 ounces or 403 grams. The reduced weight allowed us to run faster and jump higher as we battled for points on the court. Since the Air Jordan I in 1984, we've been designing basketball shoes that players can count on. Our trainers give the traction you need to maximise performance. Nike basketball shoes bring innovation to the court, from Zoom Air units that return energy to cushioning systems that absorb impact. All you need to do is lace up and grab the ball. The outsole rubber registers a good 86.5 on the HC durometer when the average is only 81.5. This means that the rubber is hard and is able to withstand abrasion. True enough, the shoe easily endured the harshness of outdoor play during our actual game tests.

It’s obvious that you should get the right size to maximize a shoe’s potential. What’s not so obvious are the factors that affect your size-related decisions. Hold the shoe by the heel and then twist the toe area left and right using the other hand. Do this as many times as needed to soften the upper. Softening helps the material conform to the foot better. During our playtests, stopping on a dime was never a problem. Even if this shoe doesn’t really have a real outsole, it is still able to provide multidirectional coverage, and boy was the bite strong and dependable! We measured the hardness of the outsole using an HC durometer, and we learned that the outsole of the Air Max Impact 4 is considerably harder than the average, 87.5 vs. 80.3. This explained why the shoe works wonders outdoors. The breathability of the Nike LeBron Witness 7 was truly noteworthy. It made our steps a lot lighter, easier, and comfortable. Besides providing a lot of ventilation, this basketball shoe also offered a lot of impact protection, keeping us pain-free all throughout the games. The durability of its outsole made it suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. It is for these reasons that we hail this shoe as the most comfortable in Nike’s arsenal.Nike dominates the basketball market definitely not by chance. It offers a good deal of innovations that help with performance on the hard court. There are shoes that need break-in time so that they can be worn more comfortably. There are many ways to break in basketball shoes. The following are some. We confidently used this shoe outdoors because we felt the unrelenting firmness of its rubber sole. Our findings on the HC durometer showed that the rubber material possessed a higher level of hardness (86.5) in contrast to the typical number (81.5). The harder the rubber, the longer it lasts in our experience. In the first half of 2020, LeBron James’s LeBron 17 and Chris Paul’s CP3 12 from Jordan are among the basketball shoes voted to be the best for wide-foot players. We thoroughly enjoyed a consistent grip in a good number of games. It has a noteworthy bite on different types of court surfaces. What we experienced during our test games was better than just stopping on a dime. This is just how good this shoe is!

The main highlights of the Nike LeBron NXXT GEN are its immense heel support plus torsional resistance, energizing bounce, and outdoor playability. These benefits make this shoe perfectly suitable for several types of players; hence, we declare it the best one from Nike to date. Small forwards, point guards, and shooting guards are more aggressive with their movements. Smaller and more agile, they are pretty mobile and more physically engaged with their opponents. Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry are great examples.

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The heel counter got a score of 4 out of 5 for firmness. We gave this rating after it showed considerable resistance when we squeezed and twisted it manually in the lab. Our feet loved this heel support! We declare the Jordan Zion 2 as the best shoe for foot containment because it has a perfectly effective heel counter, an amazingly secure structure, and a twist-resistant base. All these features work together to hold the foot securely in place. Not once did we feel unstable or wobbly even as we moved quite aggressively during the most intense parts of our games.