6 Best Nike Volleyball Shoes 2024

This page will cover the best Nike volleyball shoes available right now. We keep it updated as we review new or better options.

Updated 08.09.24

Best Nike Volleyball Shoes

Best Nike Volleyball Shoe: 1st Place

Pros

When you put your foot into the Nike Lebron 21, you notice the comfort immediately. The sphere liner collar is plush around your ankle, and the upper can lockdown without being crazy tight. The premium leather shroud is comfortable and the laces lay nicely across the top of your foot. I’ve heard lockdown complaints but I didn’t have any problems at all. I also tried these with insoles, and still felt secure inside the shoe, even with my foot sitting higher in it. The Lebron 21 has a bit of an outrigger to it, and with great lateral containment, the stability along the net or playing defense is great. I thought there were traction issues at first, but once the outsole broke in, the rubber was sticking to both wooden and plastic courts. I’m a habitual shoe wiper but with these, it didn’t feel necessary. I still did though. 

I am writing a whole separate paragraph here to discuss the premier feature of this shoe and the reason it costs a steep $200: the cushioning. In the words of one of my co-testers, Stanley Tse, here, this is “the McLaren of sneaker cushioning” (Duke4005 likened it more to a Jaguar). I’m gonna skip past a car analogy and just say the Nike Lebron 21 has quite possibly a perfect cushion setup. A forefoot Zoom Turbo unit is top-loaded, which means you can feel that spring every time you jump. In the heel, you need impact protection, so they put a 13.5mm (read: huge) zoom unit under your heel. The rest of the midsole is full-length Cushlon. The Lebron 20 is bouncy where it needs to be and cushions your landings at the same time. This sneaker feels amazing to jump in and easy to move in – ideal for a volleyball shoe.

Cons

The Nike Lebron 21 is almost perfect. But not quite. It does have a TPU midfoot shank, but I still noticed some pain in my arch that usually comes from shoes with a lack of torsional support. Partway through a long day of play, I opted to put insoles in to add a little more support through the midfoot, which I don’t always need to do. This might not bother everyone though. The elephant in the room is the pricetag. The Nike Lebron 21s cost around $200, which is about as much as you can pay for basketball/volleyball shoes these days. You are getting an incredible shoe with top-tier tech for that tag. But I can see that price pushing many people to options that are almost as good for a fraction of the price.

Price aside, the Nike Lebron 21 is a premier option that manages to overtake sneakers with some other better features simply by having such incredible cushioning and traction. If these are in your budget, these are the ones to buy, and are therefore one of the best volleyball shoes in 2024.

Best Nike Volleyball Shoes: 2nd Place

Pros

The best feature on the KD 16 is the the cushioning. A full-length Cushlon midsole surrounds a large Zoom Air unit in the forefoot and a Air Stroble that covers the heel and midfoot.. I find myself using these when I need the cushioning. Knees are sore from a heavy leg day? Played the first day of a tourney yesterday? Playing on a ¼” plastic sport court in a cement convention center? Slip on the KD 16 and you won’t feel a thing. The Nike KD 16 manages to be soft and absorbant while still having bounce back. This is truly a top-tier cushioning setup.

The other feature that stood out to me with the KD 16 is the rounded edge on the outsole. This is something that is way more noticeable in volleyball than in basketball. That rounded edge lets you be aggressive and really throw that penultimate step out in front of you, rolling through to your final, pushoff step. These shoes feel great to jump in.

Cons

The first problem I have with the shoe is its bulk. The KD 14 had a similar feeling on foot, although the KD 16 does have a better lockdown. It’s not a particularly heavy shoe, but the upper material is pretty thick, and the collar is pretty substantial. Neither of these are inherently bad, but I did find them feeling a little clunky at times. This is just a preference thing, though.

The other issue I have with the Nike KD 16 is a small stability concern. I played in these shoes for hours on end, and on a few separate occasions, I would land and feel the shoe wobble. I figured out what was happening: The cushlon is so soft, and when combined with the Air Zoom unit and Air Stroble, landing at certain angles would cause the edge of the shoe to over-compress under your weight. This would make an otherwise stable shoe roll a bit underneath you. This is not as big of a deal as it sounds, as I only had it happen a few times in many, many hours of testing. In all but one of these occasions, I had a different insole in the shoe, which may have been sitting weirdly on the Air Zoom Strobel.

Overall, the Nike KD 16 is an excellent shoe that should be considered one of the absolute best options available. The elite cushioning setup in this shoe is so valuable in volleyball that I almost always have them in my bag. If I start feeling my feet and knees getting sore, I’m putting on the KD 16s and the pain goes away. Find a full performance review of the Nike KD 15 (for basketball) here!

Best Nike Volleyball Shoe: 3rd Place

Pros

The Infinity’s best feature is noticed as soon as you take a step: the cushioning. The forefoot Air Zoom unit feels bouncy right where you want it to. Jumping feels responsive and explosive but soft on the landing. The shoe is extremely stable, with a rather wide forefoot and a traction system that wraps up around the edge of the foot. This makes it feel great when cutting in for an approach jump, with a smooth transition as you roll through the motion. The lockdown on this sneaker uses bands that wrap tighter around your foot as you pull on the laces. This works extremely well, and your foot will not be moving anywhere it shouldn’t. As a last note, the traction gripped perfectly on wood and plastic courts, even with some dust. 

Cons

That crazy lockdown actually leads to the only cons: comfort and fit. This shoe is very, very snug, and gets tighter when you tie the laces. This feels secure and is great for not slipping inside the shoe, but it can be very uncomfortable depending on your foot shape. The toebox was a little narrow for my fairly narrow foot. If you have a wide foot at all, or even just a more neutral foot shape, I would consider going up a half size.

Despite some minor discomfort, these are great sneakers. The traction, stability, lockdown, and cushioning are top-tier, making them the best Nike volleyball shoes. Find a full review here.

Best Nike Volleyball Shoes: 4th Place

Pros

The React Hyperset uses a long strap that wraps around the midfoot back to the heel. This combines with the Flywire lacing to give great lockdown. This shoe also has great stability. The React cushion is responsive but not very soft. The shoe remains stable, leveraging a wide forefoot base to keep your foot flat on the ground. The traction on this sneaker is good as well, with no slipping on clean floors.

Cons

The primary issue with this shoe is the cushioning setup. It’s not particularly great for volleyball. React is responsive but not the softest (it’s much better in running shoes). In my experience, it’s less bouncy than Zoom Air, but also doesn’t provide the same impact protection as other, softer foams. If you’re jumping high or landing heavy, you might want something with a little more protection. The other issue is availability. The Hyperset seems to go through waves of being easy to find and then impossible to find. Hopefully, Nike (and most other shoe companies) can get their supply logistics figured out soon. 

You can see the full review here.

Best Nike Volleyball Shoes: 5th Place

Pros

The key feature of this shoe is its price point. At $85 (often cheaper in some colorways), it’s the most affordable on the list by a good margin. Most importantly, it outperforms its low price point. The tech isn’t anything crazy, and it’s lacking Zoom Air, but the foam midsole is sufficiently responsive and will still protect your joints. This cushioning setup is basic but surprisingly effective. The lockdown comes from how your foot sits comfortably below the top of the midsole combined with a plush, breathable upper. I was surprised by how nice the shoes felt on foot. 

Cons

The con for this sneaker is highly volleyball specific. The outsole is widened in the forefoot, but it doesn’t have the smooth, rounded edge of the Kyrie Infinity or the Puma MB.01. The lateral edge is squared off and very stable. The problem is that it’s so tough that it doesn’t want to roll over that squared edge. When you take an approach, your penultimate step needs to be able to roll from the lateral side to the medial side of your foot. It wasn’t impossible in these shoes, but it did feel a little restrictive. 

This is still an excellent shoe. You can read the full review here.

Best Nike Volleyball Shoes: 6th Place

Pros

The Nike Hyperace 2 uses a basic but effective lockdown system. The laces hold your foot in place and tighten the heel cage. With this lockdown, your foot stays where it is supposed to inside the shoe. This combines with the wide forefoot to give adequate lateral stability. The traction is a very unique pattern with lines along the edges and wide circles through the arch. I was worried this wouldn’t be effective, but I didn’t notice any slipping. 

Cons

I’m putting cushioning in the cons, but it’s not really “bad”. The Zoom midsole is not super noticeable but it’s there. The shoe is responsive enough but could be softer on the landing. The biggest con is definitely subjective: style. The only available colorways are white, black, white with a red swoosh, and white with a blue swoosh. When combined with the rather basic look of the shoe’s structure, I feel that most basketball shoes and a lot of other volleyball shoes look more modern, and frankly more fun. 

This is a good, all-around shoe that will get the job done, even if it’s not the most flashy option.

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Let us know what you think. Did we leave anything out? Is there another shoe that you’d put on the list?  We look forward to hearing from you in the comments, on Twitter, Instagram, or in our Discord community.