- 5,140
- 12
First things first. I haven't played this much ball in a single week in years. In the 5 days that i've owned these shoes i logged roughly 17 hours inthe gym with them including a session just this morning. The instant i got them i wanted to strap them on and have at it. It was very refreshing to be able totake a trip back to my younger days (tho im not that old by any means) when i would do this quite often.
Lets get to the review shall we?
First Impressions
The pair that i tested was the Steve Nash GR version. An exceptionally clean white/silver/purple/orange colourway with the Steve Nash logo embroideredprominently on the lateral side heel. A great call by whoever made the decision to not have the logo hidden away where an uptempo or some other logo should be.This version was released in Asia and as i understand it right now, is only available in Canada over here in North America.
Comfort
The shoe features a mostly synthetic upper with a full grain toe box. The change in material implementation in the toe caused the shoe to be very supplefeeling and flexible right out of the box. The collar was soft and free of any seams or material thart could irritate the ankle and i wore no show socksthrough every session without any problems. Not only did i log a ton of gym time in these shoes but i also wore them as casual shoes every day this week. Atone point i switched to a pair of shox classic and compared to the BB's it felt as if i had bricks stapped to the bottoms of my feet. Needless to say but iswitched back.
Fit
The first day of testing brought about a unique dilemma. I was ready to label the fit of this shoe as 'attrocious'. Soon after beginning i noticed thatmy feet were slipping around inside the shoe on alost every move i made. Upon closer attention to the problems i realized that this was only happening in oneshoe. I soon realized it was because i had a moisture wicking underarmour sock on that foot (couldnt find a matching pair that day
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Let me switch to a public service announcement for a second. Moisture wicking socks, no matter the brand, SUCK. All they ever dois the exact opposite of what they are supposed to seemingly just holding moisture around the foot untill it feels soaked and slimy.
Upon switching to regular socks I found the fit to be very good. Supportive without being restrictive. Altough i still experienced some slippage on the hardestof cuts.
Cushionong
The worries that this shoe's full length 6mm Zoom Air unit wouldn't provide the impact protection and overall level of cushioning that i usually preferin a basketball shoe were quickly proven to be unfounded. This is not just the best implementation of Zoom Air i've come across but some of the bestcushioning ive experienced period. The court feel is incredible very similar to but better than that of the Uptempo Motion Nash, making it the best ive had theoppurtunity to use. However the cushioning in that shoe can be very unforgiving at times while the cushioning in the BB's is firm but always does its job.While the cushioning in an excellent zoom shoe such as the Huarache 2k4 can go jump for jump with the BB in terms of impact protection (perhaps with a softerfeel), it is soundly defeated in terms of court feel. It's been so long since ive come across a shoe that provides stellar court feel while stillmaintaining such a high level of impact protection. Not since the Air Zoom GP II have i seen a combo of these two traits that is this good, and the Zoom BBexceeds that shoe as well. For years i have chosen cushoning over court feel and the Zoom BB proves that one does not have to be sacrificed for the other.
Intangibles
Let me say this now. This is THE ABSOLUTE BEST traction that i've ever experienced in a shoe period. Not just bball but in any shoe ever. It's justplain ridiculous. It was even somewhat bothersome to begin as ive never had anything close to this, but i quicly learned to appeciate the ability to stop,turn, push off, or drive on a dime.
The transition is superb, 2nd only to the huarache 2k4 and the shoe feels very ergonomic.
Ankle protection is not an issue for me and never has been, but a word to the wise, this shoe is cut LOW. As in so low that if you were to land on someoneelse's foot, then your ankle would quickly evolve and learn to warp itself to another dimension just to avoid all the pain that's coming your way.
Conclusion
This is without a doubt the best low top basketball shoe to come along in years and i suspect for many years to come. Much more natural and less clunky thanthe Zoom LeBron II Low which is a recent favourite amongst low top fans. Court feel isnt even close and impact protection is just as good. Fit is also muchbetter.
I have decided to leave out sentiment factor and perceived bang for buck out of the equation in my reviews to provide a more objective review, but this shoecould easily get a 10 outof 10 on the shoulders of those two things. ( this also would take my grades of the Uptempo Motion Nash all the way down to an 8 andthe Air Force 25 to a 9 for those of you keeping track.) Regardless of all that, visually the design of this shoe (along with the mids) is stunning. The lowsare especially clean, with this colourway definitely being my favourite.
Worth the money and i am definitely intrigued to try out the mids, as the higher cut could solve the fit issue. Although the colourways are lacking(white/grey/red is nice but useless for anything but bball). Black/white with pinstripes is a nice colourway with some crossover to casual appeal.
This shoe was the best ever for me in more than one category and perhaps that is why i couldnt give it a perfect score. I couldnt help but feel like the slightfit issue stopped this shoe from being perfect. Maybe im bitter that it was just so close.
Comfort: 10/10
Fit 9/10
Cushioning 10/10
OVERALL 9.5/10
Clutch.
Nascar and Poker ARE NOT SPORTS!!!
Lets get to the review shall we?
First Impressions
The pair that i tested was the Steve Nash GR version. An exceptionally clean white/silver/purple/orange colourway with the Steve Nash logo embroideredprominently on the lateral side heel. A great call by whoever made the decision to not have the logo hidden away where an uptempo or some other logo should be.This version was released in Asia and as i understand it right now, is only available in Canada over here in North America.
Comfort
The shoe features a mostly synthetic upper with a full grain toe box. The change in material implementation in the toe caused the shoe to be very supplefeeling and flexible right out of the box. The collar was soft and free of any seams or material thart could irritate the ankle and i wore no show socksthrough every session without any problems. Not only did i log a ton of gym time in these shoes but i also wore them as casual shoes every day this week. Atone point i switched to a pair of shox classic and compared to the BB's it felt as if i had bricks stapped to the bottoms of my feet. Needless to say but iswitched back.
Fit
The first day of testing brought about a unique dilemma. I was ready to label the fit of this shoe as 'attrocious'. Soon after beginning i noticed thatmy feet were slipping around inside the shoe on alost every move i made. Upon closer attention to the problems i realized that this was only happening in oneshoe. I soon realized it was because i had a moisture wicking underarmour sock on that foot (couldnt find a matching pair that day
Let me switch to a public service announcement for a second. Moisture wicking socks, no matter the brand, SUCK. All they ever dois the exact opposite of what they are supposed to seemingly just holding moisture around the foot untill it feels soaked and slimy.
Upon switching to regular socks I found the fit to be very good. Supportive without being restrictive. Altough i still experienced some slippage on the hardestof cuts.
Cushionong
The worries that this shoe's full length 6mm Zoom Air unit wouldn't provide the impact protection and overall level of cushioning that i usually preferin a basketball shoe were quickly proven to be unfounded. This is not just the best implementation of Zoom Air i've come across but some of the bestcushioning ive experienced period. The court feel is incredible very similar to but better than that of the Uptempo Motion Nash, making it the best ive had theoppurtunity to use. However the cushioning in that shoe can be very unforgiving at times while the cushioning in the BB's is firm but always does its job.While the cushioning in an excellent zoom shoe such as the Huarache 2k4 can go jump for jump with the BB in terms of impact protection (perhaps with a softerfeel), it is soundly defeated in terms of court feel. It's been so long since ive come across a shoe that provides stellar court feel while stillmaintaining such a high level of impact protection. Not since the Air Zoom GP II have i seen a combo of these two traits that is this good, and the Zoom BBexceeds that shoe as well. For years i have chosen cushoning over court feel and the Zoom BB proves that one does not have to be sacrificed for the other.
Intangibles
Let me say this now. This is THE ABSOLUTE BEST traction that i've ever experienced in a shoe period. Not just bball but in any shoe ever. It's justplain ridiculous. It was even somewhat bothersome to begin as ive never had anything close to this, but i quicly learned to appeciate the ability to stop,turn, push off, or drive on a dime.
The transition is superb, 2nd only to the huarache 2k4 and the shoe feels very ergonomic.
Ankle protection is not an issue for me and never has been, but a word to the wise, this shoe is cut LOW. As in so low that if you were to land on someoneelse's foot, then your ankle would quickly evolve and learn to warp itself to another dimension just to avoid all the pain that's coming your way.
Conclusion
This is without a doubt the best low top basketball shoe to come along in years and i suspect for many years to come. Much more natural and less clunky thanthe Zoom LeBron II Low which is a recent favourite amongst low top fans. Court feel isnt even close and impact protection is just as good. Fit is also muchbetter.
I have decided to leave out sentiment factor and perceived bang for buck out of the equation in my reviews to provide a more objective review, but this shoecould easily get a 10 outof 10 on the shoulders of those two things. ( this also would take my grades of the Uptempo Motion Nash all the way down to an 8 andthe Air Force 25 to a 9 for those of you keeping track.) Regardless of all that, visually the design of this shoe (along with the mids) is stunning. The lowsare especially clean, with this colourway definitely being my favourite.
Worth the money and i am definitely intrigued to try out the mids, as the higher cut could solve the fit issue. Although the colourways are lacking(white/grey/red is nice but useless for anything but bball). Black/white with pinstripes is a nice colourway with some crossover to casual appeal.
This shoe was the best ever for me in more than one category and perhaps that is why i couldnt give it a perfect score. I couldnt help but feel like the slightfit issue stopped this shoe from being perfect. Maybe im bitter that it was just so close.
Comfort: 10/10
Fit 9/10
Cushioning 10/10
OVERALL 9.5/10
Clutch.
Nascar and Poker ARE NOT SPORTS!!!
