7 Best Nike Basketball Shoes in 2024

Choosing the best model overall is not an easy task, yet the LeBron 21 and its wonderful performance made it easy for us to give it the gold medal in this category. This shoe’s balanced features and fantastic playability work in harmony to make it a wonderful all-rounder.

We could feel its amazing durability not only during our rough games (in and outdoors) but also in our lab tests. We grabbed our Dremel and it could barely scratch the toebox (earning a 5/5 in durability) and the outsole (which ended up with a minimal dent of 0.5 mm according to our tread gauge). This is thanks to its high-quality materials, which make a very supportive structure. This translated into confidence and surefootedness in our wear tests, two key features for basketball.

The LB 21 also includes a Zoom Turbo unit in the forefoot and a Zoom Air unit in the heel of its Cushlon midsole. These technologies offer a mix of shock absorption, powerful toe-offs, and bounciness. Added to its low stack (at 26.6/22.4 mm according to our caliper), which offers a close-to-the-ground contact, this created a fantastic balance between shock absorption, response, and move control.

This model’s premium design offers an efficiently balanced cushioning system. But that can be easily seen in its skyrocketed price, which might be a drawback for budget-conscious hoopers.

After hours and hours of testing the Nike KD 17 in our lab and on the court, our data and feet have reached an agreement: it's the Nike basketball pair with the best traction we’ve reviewed so far.

We found the wavy pattern of its outsole pretty grippy on every surface. We always try shoes on outdoor and indoor courts, and the KD 17 showed consistent traction on both! Even if the surface was dusty, this Nike pair bit like crazy. Consequently, cuts and layups were a piece of cake.

Its bottom demonstrated it's ready to last after its battle with our Dremel. What makes this shoe the best is that its incredible traction comes from a hard rubber compound. Our durometer returned 87.1 HC (a score higher than average), which means this shoe's outsole works like a strong armor!

What might not fit everyone is the narrow and stiff design it has. After our lab and wear tests, we don't believe it's suitable for wide feet.

The Nike G.T. Jump 2 made sure we learnt about its heavenly cushioning not only during our wear tests, but also in our lab. This hooper focuses on impact protection, soft landings, and even energy return. That's why it's got the crown among our Nike basketball shoes with the best cushioning.

At 35.6/29.2 mm, its heel and forefoot stacks are impressively high. Whenever we jumped, be it going for a rebound or even fadeaways, our landings felt effortless and stable. These Nikes took all the impact harshness thanks to their dynamic cushioning and dual-density foam, and we kept our balance thanks to the stability features we found once we cut the shoe in half.

Even before we took the G.T. Jump 2 to our lab, we already knew its midsole was the main character. We felt it was soft, stable, and responsive, which is an amazing yet uncommon combination. It features a generous amount of Nike React foam in the heel, which is 60% plusher than average (at 16.0 HA according to our durometer), accompanied by a firmer EVA foam (at 36.6 HA). The first one protected your joints from tough landings, and the second one made sure we didn't lose balance. The finishing touch is a full-length Zoom Air strobel, which makes its ride responsive.

We felt this model was made for centres, as it sacrifices court feel and weight to add shock absorption. We believe quick guards should go for a more agile pair.

A stand-out aspect of the Nike Zoom Freak 4 is its stability, which it provides without needing a higher collar. Besides the anti-wobble structure, this shoe also boasts pronounced court feel at the forefoot. And the Freak 4 delivered all this without adding so much to its weight. Because of all these benefits, we consider this shoe the most valuable lightweight shoe out of all Nike basketball releases.

In the lab, our caliper showed that the platform is 115.7 mm wide at the forefoot. This adds 3.1 mm more width to the average, giving the shoe a lot of extra room to stably hold the foot. 

Our caliper measurements also showed that the forefoot is 8.3 mm lower than the heel. Because of this setup, our heel strikes were a lot easier to execute. We also got to feel the court more through the forefoot, which in turn made us quicker on our feet.

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.

In spite of all the goodness, we still cannot recommend this shoe to ballers who want to feel a lot of plushness underfoot. As per our HA durometer, the softness (27.0) of the midsole does not fall far from the average (27.9). This means that the impact protection that this shoe can give is decent at best.

Our feet enjoyed the incredible comfort of the G.T. Hustle 3 right off the bat even before our lab results could verify it. When we cut it in half, we saw its generously padded interior and stunning midsole. So we needed no further evidence to declare this pair guilty of providing the best comfort among the Nike basketball shoes we’ve reviewed so far.

Its midsole offered us fantastic impact protection and bounce during our wear tests. When we took this pair to our lab and divided it into two halves, we could see it featured multiple Nike technologies. Its two Zoom Air units gave us incredibly soft landings after jumping, as well as energy return. And its soft foam translated into shock absorption and forgiving cushioning, which made the ride incredibly comfortable.

Apart from being padded all over, the G.T. Hustle 3 features an 8.2 mm insole, according to our caliper. It’s an incredible 44% thicker than average, leveling up its already cushioned and comfortable self.

But all these cloud-like features have a price. If you don't want to spend your savings on a new hooper, we believe you should go for something else.

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.

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. 

Many of us play as guards, and the court feel that this shoe delivered during our test games allowed us to be quicker on our feet. In the lab, our caliper showed that the stack height of this shoe is only 27.9 mm at the heel and 20.7 mm at the forefoot. These figures are 2.1 mm and 0.9 mm thinner than average. As a result, we felt much closer to the court surface while wearing this basketball shoe. 

What made the experience better was the firmness of the tooling. Using our HA durometer, we learned that it is on the firmer side with a rating of 33.3 when the average is only 26.6. Aside from enhancing ground feel, the firm midsole also ensured stability.

The Cosmic Unity 3 is not a good pick for those who want a lot of tongue cushioning. The padding in this part of the shoe is only 4.9 mm thick, which makes it 4.5 mm thinner than average.

The Air Max Impact 4 is simply an amazing shoe. At $90 per pair, this model is way cheaper than average, which is priced as high as $135. Performance-wise, this basketball shoe delivers impressive lightness and flexibility. Yet, it doesn’t fall short when it comes to providing twist protection. Hence, it’s easy for us to declare this shoe as the best budget pick in Nike’s lineup.

At only 12.06 ounces or 342 grams, this cheap basketball shoe is definitely a lot lighter than the typical hoop footwear (14.22 ounces or 403 grams). When used on the court, these light kicks didn’t get in the way of our movements and strikes.

When it comes to flexibility, this shoe is not to be overlooked, either. Our digital force gauge in the lab showed that this shoe needs only 34.7N of force to be bent at 90 degrees. This number is significantly lower than the 40.9N required by a typical hoop shoe.

In spite of its lightness and flexibility, the Air Max Impact 4’s base never ran out of the needed rigidity to resist torsional twists. This shoe, instead, got a pretty high score of 4 out of 5 for torsional rigidity after we gave it a pretty good squeeze and twist in the lab.

The shoe’s stability, however, made us a little worried. Its platform, particularly the heel area, is way too narrow. The heel is only 82.5 mm wide when the average opens as much as 91.1 mm.