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Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world, and the only thing more popular than the sport – is the shoes NBA players wear. While almost all of us will never make it to the pros – we love to wear the flashy, awesome shoes that our favorite players wear.
Starting with Michael Jordan in the 1980s, it became a ritual to buy your favorite player’s shoes. Now it’s almost a cliché to have the best basketball sneakers on your block.
With that popularity, has come an influx of thousands of shoes to choose from. But we did the legwork, aggregated millions of online user reviews, and tested the top pairs ourselves. Without further adieu, here are our picks, for the best basketball sneakers on planet earth.
Our Top Pick
Adidas Men’s Harden Stepback Basketball Shoe
While it’s subjective when it comes to choosing the best basketball sneaker, we rank this pair from Adidas as our top choice. Sleek, functional, affordable, and coming in a wide variety of colors – they are all-but-impossible to beat. Highly recommended.
Other Great Picks
Nike Men’s Air Visi Pro VI
Nike arguably popularized the very idea of wearing your favorite player’s basketball shoes, all the way back in the 1980s. This modern pair, the Air Visi Pro VI, is a perfect combination of great design, durability, and affordability. Definitely a great pick.
Beita High Upper Basketball Shoes
While many basketball shoes can be somewhat pricey, Beita comes in with this great budget pair. The user reviews are stellar, and we thought they felt like a pair that would cost 2-3 times more. A stellar pick.
Under Armour Men’s Lockdown 4 Basketball Shoe
Under Armour first came to prominence for their athletic wear, but these shoes make a great case for UA taking over the footwear game, as well. Minimalist, sleek, flexible, and providing great performance, it’s impossible to go wrong with this pair. Highly recommended.
Nike Lebron Soldier XI Men’s Basketball Shoes
Lebron James has become the most recognizable basketball player in the world – and it’s all-but-impossible to not admire his amazing athleticism. This colorful pair of shoes from Nike won’t give you the skills of Lebron – but it will make you look a lot more stylish. Functional, colorful, and well-made – we give this pair our highest recommendation.
Adidas Originals Men’s Vs Hoops Mid 2.0
Adidas has been a mainstay in the athletic footwear world since the 1970s. This classic looking pair of basketball shoes is no different – they’re a huge best-seller, and are extremely well-crafted. A definite thumbs up.
Nike Men’s Lebron Witness III PRM Basketball Shoes
Another popular shoe made for Lebron, the Witness III has hundreds of great consumer reviews, a cool look, and a good price point. If you like low tops, and you want a sleek looking shoe (not a colorful one) – this might just be the pair for you.
Under Armour Men’s HOVR Havoc 2 Basketball Shoe
This futuristic looking shoe from Under Armour (the orange shade is our favorite), not only comes in at a good price point – it feels great on your foot. With a near-perfect score, even after hundreds of reviews, we can’t recommend this pair enough. A top choice.
Nike Precision III Basketball Shoe
This retro looking shoe from Nike is not only lightweight, but it’s also light on your wallet. While there are flashier shoes, we love the feel of this pair, as well as the almost-perfect score from hundreds of buyers. Definitely recommended.
Under Armour Men’s Curry 3 Basketball Shoe
While not a budget pick, the Curry 3 has a great feel – not to mention a futuristic look. We are partial to the blue color, but the truth is – every style looks absolutely fantastic. Two thumbs way up.
What Is A Basketball Sneaker?
Like most athletic shoes, basketball sneakers are specially designed. They are made to maximize speed, jumping height, mobility, and agility.
However, they also work well for simply lounging about, walking, or nearly any other activity. Usually made from the lightest weight fabrics, and with stylish and colorful designs, basketball shoes are easy to see from afar, and work in nearly any casual situation.
How Much Should I Spend On Basketball Sneakers?
It’s hard to say for sure how much you should spend, as everyone’s needs differ. If you’re a serious basketball player, a pair that costs $150-$200 is certainly worth it.
If you’re only wearing basketball shoes for the fashion statement, it isn’t necessary to spend more than $60-$70 for a pair. However, if you’re in it for the fashion side of things, usually you’ll be after the most expensive pairs of basketball shoes on the market.
How To Stop Basketball Shoe Odor
When it comes to any type of athletic shoe, you have to take care to make sure they don’t become odorous. Since you’ll be sweating in your shoes and socks, it’s important to keep them as clean as possible.
The trick is to always wear good, thick socks, which will absorb and trap any bad odors. If your shoes get wet with sweat, and then stay wet – the bacteria will take over.
You should also make sure your shoes are removed from your feet as soon as you’re done playing, and replace the sole insert on a regular basis, to really mitigate any chance of bad odors developing inside your shoes.
What Socks Are Best With Basketball Sneakers?
When it comes to choosing socks to wear with your basketball sneakers, the thicker options will generally work better. This is because they not only provide protection from developing blisters and chafing, they also absorb sweat and any bad odors.
Thin socks are not recommended, as you will likely develop blisters from the constant rubbing of the shoes on your heel. Thin socks also don’t provide much protection (or support) for your ankles.
Since basketball involves quite a bit of ankle movement and motion, the more ankle support you have, the better off you’ll be. In fact, for almost every sport, thicker socks are preferable, for very much the same reasons we outlined above.
How Much Do Basketball Shoes Usually Cost?
There is a pretty wide range when it comes to the price of basketball shoes. You can get a great budget pair for about $50, but top of the line, collectible pairs can cost up to $500.
History Of Basketball Shoes
Before Michael Jordan, basketball shoes were generally not too exciting. Converse All-Stars were one of the more popular models, but they were anything but exciting.
However, once Michael Jordan signed on with Nike, basketball shoes started to become a cultural touchstone. Since no one had seen anyone play like Jordan before, they quickly clamored to buy his unique, branded sneakers.
As the 1980s wore on, basketball shoes became more and more complex. The designs for the shoes also became much flashier.
Wild colors, original designs, and even “air” bubbles and air pumps – these all became standard. In many ways, it was a quantum leap forward.
By the 1990s, many players had custom shoes – it was no longer limited to just Michael Jordan. Shawn Kemp, of the Seattle Supersonics, had a particularly distinctive and popular pair designed by Reebok.
Another popular pair, was designed by Nike specifically for Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway of the Orlando Magic. Of course, seemingly every year, Michael Jordan also received a new sneaker design as well.
There were the black and white pair Nike made for what was supposed to be his last season, the Jordan X model. It seemed that nearly every kid in American had this pair of shoes, and they even listed a year-by-year breakdown of Jordan’s accomplishments, across the bottom of every pair.
By the mid 1990s, the floodgates had truly opened, and Allen Iverson, Grant Hill, Kobe Bryant (as well as countless others) – all had their own basketball shoe. Typically, each team’s colors would be incorporated into the shoe’s design, and the styles became more and more complex.
The Reebok Pumps (most popular in the early 1990s) were also particularly iconic. This shoe is notable for being the first adjustable pair of basketball shoes available to consumers, as the pump mechanism allowed the upper part of the shoe to be tighter (or looser).
Somewhat forgotten manufacturer FILA, had a hit in the mid-90s as well, with their special design for Grant Hill. Unlike most other shoes of the era, these offered more a minimalist approach, with a sleek blue stripe.
Reebok also developed an iconic shoe for Allen Iverson, the fabled Questions and Answers series. Relatively simple by 1990s basketball shoe standards, Iverson nevertheless made the shoes incredibly popular.
Kobe Bryant’s signature shoes from Adidas, on the other hand, were anything but subtle. They sported large, swooping designs, and were extremely eye-catching.
Scottie Pippen, legendary small forward for the Chicago Bulls, also had a bold shoe designed for him by Nike. Sporting giant letters reading “AIR”, Pippen’s shoes were easy to spot from a mile away.
Gary Payton’s legendary “Glove” shoes were also extremely popular, and – as the name implied – they were perhaps the sleekest-looking basketball shoe of the entire era. Payton was one of the best defensive players of all-time, but in an era filled with flashy players, he remains somewhat forgotten, to this very day.
Kevin Garnett’s shoe from 1999 was also particularly distinctive, mixing black and blue into a tasteful-looking high top. Of course, that only takes us through 2000, and many more cool basketball shoe innovations were to come.
In the 2000s, And1 came out with one of the most popular sneakers – the Tai Chi. While previously only a clothing company, they started to venture into footwear, and were fairly successful.
Vince Carter also had a custom model designed by Nike, and he even wore them against Michael Jordan (during MJ’s ill-fated return on the Wizards). The Air Zoom line of shoes was equally popular, as Lebron James wore them early on in his NBA career.
The Nike Hyperdunk was also a very popular model during this time period, with some of Team USA wearing them during the Olympic games. Kobe Bryant continued to get new updates to his Adidas line of sneakers during this time period, as well.
Reebok even came back with a new version of their classic Pump shoes, in 2005. Tracy McGrady also had his own shoe line that became very popular, named the T Mac.
Lebron James also began to have his own custom shoes designed for him, on his way to becoming (perhaps) the single most dominant basketball player of all time. Unfortunately, we will never get the dream match of prime-era Lebron James facing off against peak-era Michael Jordan.
Ultimately though, the more things have changed, the more they’ve stayed the same. Flashy styles, eye-catching colors, and sleek designs – these elements have remained the staples of basketball shoes for well over 20 years.
What started as a simple endorsement deal with Michael Jordan, has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry. In fact, kids in other parts of the world covet American basketball sneakers, especially brands like Yeezy’s.
No matter what you are looking for, there is undoubtedly a perfect pair of basketball shoes out there for you. You can get Pumps, Nike’s, minimalist sneakers, flashy colors, or anything your heart could possibly desire.
Many brands (Nike included) now allow you to customize your own shoes, so you can truly let your mind run wild. While this option is always pricier, it does allow you to design and own a shoe that is truly one of a kind.
The Best Basketball Sneakers
There you have it – our picks for the best basketball sneakers. Whether you want high tops, low tops, or a medium-rise shoe – there are tons of great options to choose from, when it comes to basketball sneakers.
While Michael Jordan may have popularized wearing your favorite player’s shoes, the game has moved on to new players, as well as new brands. Since there are so many excellent pairs out there, it ultimately comes down to what color, style, and brand works best for you.