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To know more about the general steps to consider when buying basketball shoes, read our detailed buying guide. Indoor or outdoor? The sturdiness test
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. 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. 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.
TAKE YOUR GAME TO NEW HEIGHTS
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. 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. The weight of the Nike Zoom Freak 4 is 12.3 oz or 348g. This is 1.4 ounces lighter than the average, which currently stands at 13.7 oz or 387g. Because of its lightness, we became even more agile as we drove toward the basket. The basketball shoe industry is largely driven by the NBA. As such, brands rarely release shoes that are deliberately for outdoor hooping.
The flexibility of this Nike shoe was also on point. It was able to follow our movements, even the most peculiarly angled ones. In the lab, we saw why this was so. This shoe only needed 32.4N of force to bend at 90 degrees. This figure is much lower than the 40.9N that a typical shoe would need. Suspension-cables-like wires on both sides, cradling the foot and holding it securely in place especially during motion 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.
To the touch, the rubber outsole of this shoe indeed felt quite resistant to abrasion. Readings from our HC durometer confirmed our initial observation. While the average sole hardness score is only 81.5, the Nike Giannis Immortality 2’s outsole got as high as 85.8. 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. 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. Low or high, know what you want. Low-tops are not really better performers than high tops, and vice versa. It’s just a matter of preference. 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.
When it comes to traction, the Nike Cosmic Unity 3 is an awe-inspiring beast. Aside from being consistent on both indoor and outdoor courts, we were amazed by how resistant it was to dust. The sole gripped the floors so well, even if we did not wipe it much. 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! Expectedly, many of the top Nike basketball shoes are from signature lines dedicated to some of NBA’s most prolific players like guard Paul George and power forward Kevin Durant. This should make choosing the right shoe easier. Shoes from signature lines are sensitive not only to the star player’s personal preferences but also their playing positions. Looking for your next go-to court shoes to take your game to new heights? You’ve come to the right place. At Under Armour, we cram our basketball shoes full of the latest innovations to give you unbeatable bounce, speed and support. 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!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. 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. The shoe’s base also did a good job keeping our rides stable and protecting us from twists. After manually twisting it in the lab, we thought that this shoe deserved a perfect score of 5 out of 5 for torsional rigidity. 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! Lab results showed us that the heel counter is flawlessly able to hold its own in the face of pressure. No amount of manual squeezing could make it give up its shape and secure clasp on the rearfoot. It very well deserves the 5 out of 5 for stiffness that it got from us.
Nike dominates the basketball market definitely not by chance. It offers a good deal of innovations that help with performance on the hard court. 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. 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. Aside from pampering our feet with its comfortable softness, it also gave us a lot of energy return. As a result, we were quite explosive as we ran past our opponents, and our jumps during rebounds and dunks were aptly energized as well.If you often play outdoors, you need to know how to assess a shoe’s outdoor playability. Here’s our suggestion: Compared to the 14.22 oz or 403g average, this shoe comes in really light at 12.63 oz or 538g. We were able to run faster and jump higher because of this lightness. Air unit with tightly stretched tensile fibers knit inside it for a more perfect balance of responsiveness and impact protection Flyknit innovation for LeBron James that becomes increasingly stiff at the midfoot where stability is most needed
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