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Is 2016 the Greatest Year Ever for Basketball Performance Sneakers?
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Great article by Duke. This really might be the best year for performance shoes.
Great article
On-paper I’m loving it, all brands are delivering at least 1 great sneaker, on-foot I have a problem with how narrow everything is this year. The wide-footers are mostly ignored. 🙁
PREACH BROTHER PREACH
Thanks, Nene. I still do this for guys like you.
It’s been more difficult than ever this year for me to find a shoe that has a wide enough toe box (and I size up 0.5 by default 100% of the time).
BrandBlack need NBA players on board. They’re too good not to have an NBA player wearing their shoes.
It’s a shame JC chose the $ instead of repping a brand with possibly the dopest shit out right now
A-greed. See what I did there? LOL!
JC also chose the brand with the best PERFORMANCE shit out right now. Ask NW what his top 5 for the year 2016 is, I’m guessing they ALL have 3 stripes on them. Love your business articles but when are you going to do a PERFORMANCE review?
I think what happened to GRAF (Ice Hockey Company) might happen to brandblack. For what I know, GRAF had never ever endorsed any professionals. But GRAF Skates are very famous for their quality and comfort. Right now, we can see that a lot of players who are not under contract are wearing GRAF skates. I think for now, Brandblack only need to focus on improving what they have (which is amazing btw, loved the JC2 Low and the ethers). As time goes by, I am sure more and more NBA players will try the brand out, love their products and finally sign with the brand.
Brandblack should sign John Wall… IMMEDIATELY.
He’s a lock for nike it seems.
Glad I took the time to read this in its entirety. I find myself more into sneakers (via WearTesters) more than ever before and branching out to non-Nike brands. Just bought the JC2 Lows for $100 and LOVIN IT! Keep up the awesome work, fellas!!
For $100 they’re still a steal!!
I am in the same boat brother! Thanks, Weartesters for your hard work to help us out! Keep telling us how we can support!
Never thought about it before, but I must say I agree. Maybe not this year specifically, but certainly this era of shoes is the best. With unlocked zoom and boost along with knits and jacquard, performance has been ridiculous the last couple of years. There are so many solid options these days, even among budget models, and with websites like these there is more information than ever to help you pick the right shoe.
However, there are two trends I ain’t down with: narrow shoes(as Nene said), and not durable outsoles. Companies are losing a bunch of consumers simply because they can’t fit in the shoe. Keep them at a reasonable width and let laces do what they were meant to. As for outsoles, they are losing even more outdoor ballers with their bubble gum-soft outsoles lately. Keep it at least in the ballpark of medium durability, or better yet make some durable outsole on some cws. Give us the option. Don’t give people a reason not to buy your shoe.
Great post. I agree with what you’ve said. I’m not a wide footer, but it really does suck for the guys that do have wide feet.
One brand that actually does wide foot Basketball shoes is Asics, but unfortunately you pretty much have to buy their Basketball shoes directly from Japan.
I’d really be interested in seeing what one of the Weartesters experts here thinks of their shoes and how they would stack up to the brands mentioned above.
There are Asics basketball shoes here in Philippines but they priced it as high as the KD9. Hope weartesters will do a review. Really curious about their gel cushion for basketball
What models? Curious on what you have available over there.
You can buy most of their current models directly from Japan @ Rakuten online market place which has tons of individual stores within it. A lot of the stores do ship internationally. Usually the biggest size Asics Basketball shoes they have though is about an 11.5 to 12US. I guess Japanese people don’t really have big feet, so a lot of the models are around 11-12 US max.
I played in Asics my junior year, MANY years ago, and loved them. The ones for Isaiah Thomas that retroed last year – the Highlight I believe. Would love to try them now (and believe it or not, I bought them in foot locker IN STORE).
Hey Duke (or anyone else that might be interested), you can try some of their current models if you buy directly from Japan. Rakuten online marketplace has a lot of their models.
If you go to the Japanese Asics website you can get the model names and numbers from there. Then just use either the model number or model name to search at Rakuten and it should come up stores that sell them.
I should also mention sizing. They use cm/mm for sizing and it’s half a cm lower to Nike, UA etc. for the same US sizing equivalent.
Nike, UA, Adidas 11.5US = 29.5cm Japanese
Asics 11.5US = 29cm Japanese
I think Isaiah’s shoes that retroed were called the Spotlyte. I like the looks of them, but never ended up buying a pair. Didn’t find a colorway that I liked.
Almost Duke, they were the Spotlyte.
Really great article here. Congrats Duke, also I share your viewpoint, back in the day I use to buy Nike shoes because of their performance, nowadays I bought them because of my collection and have a pair of Roses to play in, love the Rose 6, even in the white colorway, there’s no knees or feet pain after the game and at 36 years old that’s a blessing.
So I’m guessing the APL bros never showed u guys love? The guys who brought the modern day “banned” shoe with their guarantee of instant increased vertical? But regardless of whether it was marketing bull or not, I’ve heard some great stuff over on niketalk/blacklotus. That even if your vertical is not increased with the shoe, some people at least say that it makes jumping and sprinting easier.
I know NW did the APL concept something back in the day. But I’ve been wondering why you guys never gave them a feature/performance review for those who actually can jump. (No offense NW ur the greatest man ;P)
Esp cos of their new “knit” APL blade which looks pretty dope looks and performance-wise. Tho it may be 200 bucks, it would be a disservice I feel to the international following you guys have garnered, to not wear test them. Since u guys are like the go-to for basketball performance reviews.
Thanks for all u guys do btw. Just my two cents please correct me if I got some facts wrong. Not trying to ruffle any feathers and shit. Peace.
I’ll be honest, I have NEVER worn APL stuff, but I have heard good things. They make some nice looking shoes, but there wasn’t much noise from them this year around the US, so I left them off.
Alright thanks for being straight with me man.
which again reminds me that 361 needs another ball shoe on the boards.
As of now, nothing new from 361 basketball anytime soon.
I completely forgot about APL. The main reason I’ve never been interested in the shoes is because of the ‘banned’ aspect. If NBA players can’t wear them, then what’s the point?
Also, I should ask, is it all their models that are banned or just a certain model from a year or two ago?
Right? My man Bryan can WRITE
Thanks to both of you. As old as I am I SHOULD have some stories.
Great read man. Love that other companies are stepping up in the game to keep the market competitive.
Good stuff Duke!
Good read. I agree with the stripes coming up with 3 great performers… There is something for everyone..
isn’t jamal crawford with brand black… or did he leave?
He left on October 1. Went to adidas.
He left and signed with adidas.
Great article Duke, I really appreciate the time you put in to make good work like this. But, speaking of best years ever, can we just take a second and fellow Blue Devils fans to envision just how good we SHOULD be this year? Assuming Giles recovers from surgery well and we can stay relatively healthy, we could really be cutting down some nets!
The mighty Blue Devils are going all out this year. They have two starting fives honestly.
“take an American shoe and make it as close as you can with our logo.” – Peak had been ok with this, until the Delly’s.
Here’s to hoping that this is just the start of all of these.
Great article Duke! I have really enjoyed it! Definitely the best period in performance sneakers since 1996-97.
I think this year has been that lucky combination of design advances, and competition. In the case of the latter, I feel like we experienced “bubble burst” as Adidas and UA held their ground in pricing, and Nike’s overcharging was beyond common knowledge — especially after mess that was the AJ30. They caved, and are projected to drop the prices of all lines it seems.
Great write up. Only part I’m so-so about is the Chinese brands. While the WoW line took a stride, I don’t look at any of those shoes as appealing options because the pricing, wait, and being left to guess on sizing even after WT’s valuable first-hand input. At least for the US followers, there’s already a slew of better shoes readily available. The only advance I can really recognize, as you pointed out, is the bigger signings. I mean no offense but the Anta KT really isn’t anything special. Looks like a kids’ shoe and is perhaps a refined re-hash of the Hyperfuse. Allure is really just Klay himself, if you’re a fan. That’s not to say it, or any of the more prominent shoes from Chinese brands, are necessarily bad, just really not a big deal when they’re not as accessible outside of their markets.
great read and insight ounce again. People have choices now and hopefully the consumer can experience the other offerings that are available by a company either than a swoosh. on the court experiences by fellow hoopsters with regards to nike are the fit and the sheer bang for buck nature their shoes now offer, i am now seriously considering trying out other options.
Other people have already said it, but I just wanted to point out once again how AWESOME and WELL-WRITTEN this article is. Reading it was a pleasure and the knowledge gained from this, from both facts as well as Duke’s own experiences and opinions, is more than what I expected after being led here by the “click-bait” title lol. Weartesters proving once again that they’re not only the go-to for performance reviews but also wonderful reads. Here’s to hoping that more of these kinds of articles are published especially since they provide a great opportunity and platform to discuss everything sneakers.
I’m an old ass like you Duke4005 and this is the greatest year for performance Bball shoes.
I really think Steph Curry has a huge role in this. Had he stayed with nike, they would still be rolling out 200usd sigs. Signature athletes drive the shoe game
and1?
Unfortunately, their big comeback won’t be until 2017.
Duke,does and1 have other endorsers in the NBA aside fr stephenson?
Sean Kilpatrick on the Nets – his shoe is actually the low top that Nightwing has right now. Check NW on IG and look for them.
Awesome read
With some some exceptions, Nike has rested on their laurels the last 2-3 years and even backpedaled a bit. Unlocked zoom and flight plate were great. The KD9 and Hyperdunk are the only innovators. The CP3 X, Ultra fly, and Extra fly all using last year’s underwhelming CP3 IX midsole/zoom self is very disappointing.
Loving Brandblack. I’d like to see a low top Ether, and more shoes with blackfoam.
Is Blackfoam better than Jetlon in your opinion?
Haven’t tried blackfoam yet, but I know it’s one of nightwing’s top 3 cushions–boost, micro g are the other two. I wanted to try the rare metals, but no one carries a size 14. 13 is the largest. Do I ordered a pair of gray jc 2 for $100.