adidas Marquee Boost Performance Review

Is the adidas Marquee Boost the most comfortable basketball shoe currently available?

The traction pattern featured on the Marquee Boost is good ol’ herringbone. Offering multidirectional coverage from heel to toe, the outrigger section features a thicker version of the pattern — something they should have used full length.

While I love herringbone because it provides you with great consistent coverage when the rubber compound may fail, adidas made this version thin and tightly spaced. When there is a lot of dust present, you notice it as it quickly gets stuck in each and every groove. This is where the thicker, more widely spaced version used on the lateral end could have held up better than the rest.

Not only would the thicker grooves held its own against dust better, but it would been a bit more durable for those players that primarily play outdoor basketball. The rubber itself is very durable but when cut into thinly sliced lines, it becomes soft and can quickly wear away on the blacktop or concrete.

Overall, the traction was solid when the courts were clean. It needed a lot of wiping when courts were dirty and it was not as durable as it could have been outside. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. It gets the job done — which is good overall.

Full length Boost and yes, Boost is still life.

adidas’ premium cushion is used full length, however, the boost-y feeling you normally receive from the cushion is subdued quite a bit in the forefoot. Impact protection is still there, but you won’t get that bouncy feeling that you may (or may not) be looking for. The ETPU is contained on both the medial and lateral forefoot which restricts the material from moving the way it normally would — and does in the rear of the shoe.

Speaking of the rear or heel section, everything about Boost you may love (or may loath) is featured in the rear. It’s very bouncy and offers that under-foot feedback a lot of players look for in their basketball shoes. However, this was a bit too much cushion for me — at least at the moment.

I’ve been suffering from tendonitis inflammation in my heel and Achilles tendon for the past few months and very soft cushion aggravates it quite a bit. This goes for lifestyle and performance versions of Boost as well as other brands that have shoes using soft midsole cushion. It has been a big pain to deal with — literally. It’s been a process figuring out what has been causing the flare-ups and it has come down to cushion. The softer it is, the more pain I’m in.

This is obviously a personal issue, but it may be useful for some people. If you’ve been experiencing the same thing, firmer setups help. Not too firm though as you’ll need to find a balanced ride, but that’s what I’ve been trying to convey within my reviews over the past few months. When I talk about cushions that offer that balance or blend, those setups are the ones that I can play in for hours without having too much pain, whereas the softer stuff like Boost end up causing me a lot of pain on and off the court.

I love the materials used as it’s a nice mixture of knits, canvas and micro-molded mesh.

Everything has done well containing the foot, allowing for flexibility while remaining supportive and to top it off — durable. Showing signs of wear on a basketball shoe is not something I normally care about. I know that when I play in a shoe they’re going to look like I’ve played in them. However, there are some people that want their shoes to look as nice as possible for as long as possible. This is where the Marquee Boost has done well.

An example, which you’ll see once that review is complete, is the adidas N3XT L3V3L. Really fun shoe to play in, very good performance as well, but they look like they’ve been run over by a truck. The Marquee Boost… not so much. They look like I can wear them to the store and it looks like I just bought them yesterday.

True to size is what I went with and length wise, it’s what I’d recommend. But the fit isn’t the best all-around.

The toe area flexes weird and while it didn’t cause any issues while playing, it was a distraction. Distractions from your gear, while playing any sport, is never ideal. You typically want to feel like you’re not wearing anything at all. You can definitely tell you’re wearing a shoe when you’ve got the Marquee Boost on.

At the rear, I did experience the dreaded “heel slip” upon my first wear. I wound up having to mess with the laces and my choice of socks quite a bit before finding a good way to lace them up. Brand new socks were not my favorite in the shoe by the way — even ones that were washed a few times. I found wearing older socks worked best. For some reason, the newer socks just weren’t very compatible with the silky-feeling liner used inside the shoe.

Once I was able to work through the sock and lacing issues, things were pretty good. But again, you can definitely tell you’re wearing a shoe while playing. Some people may like that and some may not.

Support is standard for the Marquee Boost. Everything you need is there: torsional support — check. Outrigger — check. Wide platform for stability — check. Heel counter — check.

Everything is good to go. Just make sure you try them on in-store if possible as the potential sloppiness of the fit may cause problems for some.

The adidas Marquee Boost is definitely one of the more comfortable basketball shoes currently available, especially at its price point — ranging between $120-140 depending on the colorway. However, I did not love the shoe as a whole. I still find them to be a beautiful looking shoe but not one I’d keep in my gym bag.

Traction consistency, I feel, could have been a non-issue had the herringbone been of the thicker variety. Fit needs a bit of work as well. The whole “too much cushion” thing is my personal issue, so I can’t really fault the shoe for that — it’s just not what I need right now. What I really need is a lot of rest, but if I do that then I can’t earn a living, so that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

If you’ve been playing in the adidas Marquee Boost, feel free to let me know how your experience was below in the comment section. How was the fit/lockdown for you? Was the Boost boost-y enough for you or did it leave you wanting more… maybe less?

Sound off below and let me know. As usual, thank you for reading/watching and I hope this helped someone out. Until the next one…