ASIAN Hoopers Guide: The BEST BASKETBALL SHOES OF 2023

Here are the top 10 basketball sneakers of 2023 according to Weartesters.com. Oh, and we're going to give our opinion on their opinions. Andrew, you got a narrow foot. I got a very wide foot. Let's talk about it. Andrew, first off, we got the Hardin 7. Agree, disagree? Of course, me and you, we are not that into Adidas, generally. I heard this shoe was incredibly comfortable. I tried it on. However, I will say this, light strike in the front, for me, is not enough cushioning. Listen, man, from a narrative standpoint, James Harden is only putting up 16, 4, and 8. The clippers do look like they have a better flow, but if he was not putting up MVP numbers, this shoe is not going to be selling that well. I have not seen anybody buy it in person. Maybe there are people at your gym who have it. I personally have not. I don't think a lot of people are buying it, even if it's a pretty good shoe. Interestingly enough, I do think this is the best Adidas shoe out right now because Trey's line, er, game's line, er. Yeah, I was hoping for Adidas to come back to glory ever since, like, the Harden 3, which I loved. Right, Donovan Mitchell's line, er. Andrew, can Anthony Edwards, do you like the AE1 real quick? They look interesting. They do look interesting. All right, moving on, Andrew. The KD16. Wow. This is actually the highest rank that wear testers gave any shoe this year. The KD line, man, always good. And even though, man, David, why do you think this shoe is actually slept on, though? All right, this shoe is slept on because you don't see as many people buy it as the KD13 or the 14. The 15, I don't think people really liked it because of the heel slip. I don't see as many people wear the KD16 right now, but in the NBA, a ton of people are wearing it. And you know why I think that is? Because they sort of made the KD this year, Andrew, a little bit more for, like, a medium body type. Whereas prior, I believe 12, 13, 14 were more for skinnier bodies, such as yourself. Because this year, Andrew, I had the KD16. And you went away from it. Do you feel like the way that they buffed it up, like, with the heavier cushioning setup made it unideal for your skinny body type? Possibly. I think that even if you have a narrow foot, it will still do really well, but it's not necessarily like the glove-like fit that it used to be, at least for me. Right, because it's wider. It's wider now. Also, I felt like the heel-to-toe ratio was like, I felt like almost a dip in the back. Anyways, 9.5, you can't beat that score. You know what I noticed is some people, they all agree the KD16 is a really good all-arounder, but some people say it's like 7.5 all-around, but other people said it was 9.5 all-around. But everybody agreed it was pretty much an all-around shoe. All right, David, let's talk about this next shoe. This was the hottest women's shoe of all time. Easily. This is the hottest women's basketball shoe in history. The Sabrina One. I actually got to try these on because I was considering buying them in a woman's size. I think it was gonna be 11 1⁄2. And a lot of men bought these in women's sizes. I seen guys hooping these, and I wanted to like them. And I actually do think I would've liked them, but the arch support is too high because scientifically speaking, on average, women have a higher arch than men do. They also have a shorter ankle length and a narrower instep. So if you make it more for the woman's foot, it will fit a lot of guys, but not every guy's. And I have a flat foot, so I couldn't wear them. I know that the midfoot is very narrow on these. Like you said, to accommodate more of a female foot shape. I will say this. You could argue that this is the best looking signature shoe in a really, really long time. It almost looks like they took the best Kobe throwaway and like Kyrie throwaway and like mixed it together. I wanted to buy them, man. I really did want to get them. For 120, that was a steal, man. For a guy's shoe. Because guy's shoes are expensive. Moving on, Andrew. The Zoom Freak Five. I think that this is a really weird shoe because it's like an uglier KD-13. And the setup is essentially the same minus the heel zoom as a KD-13. Yeah, it looked a lot like a KD-13 too. I would say, you know, I haven't tried these on, but I do know a lot of like forward shaped guys. Like, you know, the guys who are kind of maybe wider or medium length feet, a little on the heavier side. They like these. People who would maybe play like Giannis. Yeah, I mean, and I think they're sticking with the big swoosh. And I think that's a cool kind of like signature for Giannis. I think that the reason why the sales of the Zoom Freak Five were hurt was because they launched with that really ugly Gucci colorway that was sort of like a Milwaukee Bucks, like throwback colorway. I was like, this was a horrible colorway to lead with. Also the design, it's simple and cool, but it's like, it's too simple. There's just nothing there. Does it not look like a takedown KD-13? Like a cheaper version? Something like that. Moving on, Andrew, to the Curry 11. Some people, they will die by this line of shoes with the Flo-Tro outsole. I personally have never really enjoyed it myself, but I do know that there's some people, they only want to wear Currys. Man, I'm not going to lie. The people that I've seen wear the Curry 11 or the Curry 10, I see more people still rocking the Curry 10s. They like to shoot. They do like to play like Curry. Like I've never seen anybody do some crazy high-flying drives in them. These guys are all shooters. Set shooters too, specifically. Even De'Aaron Fox kind of sometimes is a set shooter from deep, at least. So it goes to show you, I mean, you know, like I said, I guess they changed, Andrew, the Flo outsole. They said it was dual density, but I just really, really doubt that that has a lot of bounce back, in my opinion. Moving on, Andrew, this, your shoe right here. Here's a bunch of clips of you shooting in them, hitting a, what, a game winner against the toughest comp that, you know, anybody's ever seen. But Nike LeBron 21. Nike LeBron 21, man. For me, I liked it overall better than the LeBron 20, but there was this weird side-to-side slippage for my foot. So I felt like the lockdown in the forefoot wasn't as good as the 20s, but overall, I liked the feel. They're super comfy out of the box. There is no break-in time needed. There is more security around the ankle and the heel and stuff like that, which I enjoy. It's a little bit higher. It's a little bit more of a mid. So you're saying the LeBron 20 did take a lot more break-in time? Yes, for sure. The LeBron 20s need break-in, while the LeBron 21s do not. And so I would say I want to get the LeBron 21s in a different color way, not the black ones, because I think the black ones might stretch more. Okay, moving on, Andrew, the Nike GT Chump 2. This is crazy that I actually do not have this shoe yet, because I tried it on at the store and the forefoot was a little bit too tight for me, and then I needed to go get the EP pairs. But lately, Andrew, in our building gym, they started having so much pickleball on it, the gym has gotten so dusty that a lot of the EP pairs got me slipping around because of the harder XDR rubber. So now it's really causing an issue for me to buy certain EP shoes, because they have the harder rubber designed for China's outdoor courts, and now I'm slipping around on my indoor courts. Wow, struggles of an EP buyer. But yeah, I think that the Nike GT Chump 2, I'm looking forward to it because it has double stacked Zoom Air in the front. Ultimately, that's going to provide you a ton of bounce back. Wear testers are very reputable, man. They gave them nine out of 10, and honestly, these shoes look mad clunky. Like, I just, I don't know. Yeah, I heard they have like a mini Eclipse plate in them too. Eclipse plates, they really give you that like springback effect. The springback effect doesn't only come from the cushioning. It can come a lot from that shank plate, whether that's TPU or carbon fiber. Moving on, Andrew, we got the Puma MB03. Are you excited by it, disappointed by it? Because it's essentially the third year, and they have not switched up Lamello's line at all. Man, what do you think they're thinking about not switching up the design? They're like, listen, we found a good thing. We don't want to mess with it. Yeah, I think that Puma has made the Lamello line essentially their hyperdunk, where it's a mid-cut. It pretty much fits everybody. It's for like heavier guards. From what I heard, Lamello, he likes like a little bit more forward style shoes, even though, because he's just a big guard himself, which is like 6'6". So I'm saying that it's kind of like their catch-all mid-top. So I guess they feel like if it's not broke, don't fix it. Plus, I'll tell you this, they probably sell a ton of them. Dude, I would love a pair of the Puma MB03s. Moving on, Puma All Nitro Pro, All Pro Nitro. This was Scoot Henderson's debut colorway before Scoot got his own shoe, even though Scoot, I'm not going to lie, he's not playing as well as I thought he was going to play. What do you think? What do you think about all Puma shoes like kind of being the same? Kind of a simple design. I think they want to keep it simple and they want to sign the young players that can help make the brand. And then I'm sure they'll probably put in more money over the years into R&D and design. Right, because the tooling is incredibly simple, right? Literally, it's literally just a toying in a shoe. That's pretty good, man. I mean, dude, if a shoe gets an 8.5 out of 10 on Wear Testers, if you can find it on sale, like 20, anywhere from 20% off and more, think about buying them. They do do their research. Of course, everybody's foots and their tastes are a little bit different, but generally there is a general direction and agreed sort of like rating on shoes. The Puma Stewie 2, Andrew, another female shoe. Brianna Stewart. Yeah, and they gave that a nine. But I feel like, yeah, like I said, Pumas, they're all about like 7.5 out of 10 on everything. Like, you know what I mean? And then maybe with the Lamello having better ankle support. Moving on to honorable mentions, Andrew, they got the Jordan 38. How do you feel about this one? You're a huge fan of the Jordan line. Yeah, I mean, I tried them on, I'm going to get them, but I've just been waiting for the Nike store to get them because I know that they actually, like the sole falls apart due to some sort of like X-plate design that they have. The sole really disconnects from the upper of the shoe. And that is unfortunate because if you're going to charge 200 retail for a sneaker, I mean, you know, that's just something that you shouldn't have happen. A ton of people are still wearing the LeBron 20 in the NBA, Andrew, as much as the LeBron 21 is popular as well. No, no, no. If you can get them for 140 or 130, guys, I think the LeBron 20 is a steal. Technology-wise, they will take a few games to break into, but definitely get them. One game for your life. Broken in LeBron 20s or are you going with the 21s? Broken in LeBron 20s. Oh! But I got to try more LeBron 21s. Way of Wade All-City V2. This has become a really, really popular series. You know, the Way of Wade series from Way of Wade All-City 10 to 11 to 11 V2 to now All-City 12. I don't know. Just people really like it. I think it's almost like a takedown, like Wow 10, because the Wow 10s are too expensive and I think that carbon fiber shampoo plate's a little too strong for some people. Nike Air Max Impact 4 coming in as the number one best budget shoe of the year. Wow. What do you think about people going to the big five, the Gart Sports, the Dick's Sporting Goods shoes? Ain't nothing wrong with that, man. But should people just go get signature shoes on sale or is it okay to go get the Air Max Impact 4s right off the bat? What's the Air Max Impact 4 if you identify with the Air Max Impact 4, man? It's true. Some people don't feel comfortable wearing signature shoes, right? Way of Wade 10, the best basketball shoes for wide feet. I don't even know if I fully agree with this one, to be honest, because I feel like it's kind of thin in the midfoot. But yeah, like I said, they got a wide forefoot. Everybody's foot is wide in a different way. I got a wide midfoot and a wide forefoot. But interestingly enough, my toes don't stick out. Some people, they got like a thinner forefoot than me, but their toe might stick out. Yeah, imagine if you had that bone sticking out, kind of like a bunion. That makes things very complicated. Some people only have that additional bone dorsal fin on their left foot. So that complicates things as well. And we're talking about the best traction, the serious player only player one. Do they need to send you some shoes, man? Man, I really wanted to try these on, man. They look like, remind me of my favorite Kobe's that I had. The Kobe 8s, right? I mean, I guess, what do you think of this shoe? It's kind of controversial because some people are saying, all right, this is a Chinese shoe brand. They completely ripped off the Kobe 8, Kobe 10, Kobe 11 for their design. But then it's also like, they're giving people what they want. Like Nike's not retching those, but like pro-trolling them. I mean, if it's a good shoe, let the market speak. Let the players speak, right? Yes, yes, yes. I agree. They said the LeBron 21 was the best for flat feet. I think it is good for flat feet. I would say so. I agree with this take for sure. Right, because you're saying it's comfortable for flat feet, falling arches right out of the box. How important is that? Some people can deal with, you know, like a painful play-in time to warm up a shoe. Some people can't deal with it. I don't know if the arch ever wears in though. Is that how it works? I don't think so. I think if the arch hurts you in the beginning, it's not good. It's not good for you. My Jordan 35s tore my foot up so bad one time, I literally was like paralyzed for like 20 minutes afterwards. They said the NB03 had the best ankle support. They considered the LeBron 21 a low top. I don't even know if I agree with that. The best high top shoes is the GT Jump 2. Most comfortable shoes was the 21. Now we're kind of just getting into your ultra expensive shoes. Wait, how come LeBron 21 only got a nine out of 10, but it keeps ranking as most comfortable, best shoe, flat foot, it's the low top, most comfortable. How come it only got nine out of 10? You know, sometimes it just depends on who was delivering the ratings, I guess. Because to be honest, I think the 9.5 for the KD16 is a little high, even though I really liked that shoe and I think that's probably one of the most slept on shoes of the year. Best value basketball shoes, New Balance 2-Way V4. Jamal Murray, Zach Levine, everybody's wearing it. You know, I got to get a wide pair in the neon color way. They still had the Kyrie Infinity on the best cheap shoes, Andrew. This, the Kyrie Infinity is still the shoe you see the most often on a pickup court because obviously after the whole controversy. They're on sale. I mean, 70 bucks, 70, get them. They also had the Anta Shockwave 5, the shoe that they gave Kyrie. They had already had it designed, but then they gave the Shockwave 5 to Kyrie as well as the Shockwave 5 Pro, which by the way, guys, is incredibly good looking. Anyway, just to address some major questions, Andrew, that they didn't have in there. What do you think about Grinches last year, right? Or two years ago, and now it's reverse Grinches this year. People are insanely in love with the Pro Tro 6. Yeah. How come you haven't, you know, sprung the money and got them? Pro Tro 6, I mean, they're super expensive, man. Right. They're hyper expensive. I don't know if I need them. Like, I did have Kobe's back in the day, and if there's a way for me to get Kobe's for under like 180 bucks. Do you feel like with the ability to get LeBron 20s and 21s, you don't need to get Kobe 6s? I don't know. I haven't actually played in the Kobe 6s. I just know that they're amazing shoes. Right. Would you get the Kobe 6 reps that Nike this year has just announced that they're starting to go after people making the reps? No, because that's wrong. I would never get that. Right. Even though they have full-length Zoom. I would never get the Kobe reps, Nike. Moving on to the KT line, Andrew. I think the KT line is slept on, the KT9, but it's just like people don't want to wear Klay's shoes, to be honest, in America. Zion. Zion has a new shoe out right now, Andrew, that a lot of people say plays like a Kobe, and they're coming out with a Zion 3 strength version that has full-length Zoom, and people have said that it's going to play like a Kobe 11 with the ID full-length Zoom insole. So that would be- Wait, yo, how come the GT Hustle pop up here at eight out of 10, and they say this is one of the best guard shoes of the year, but it wasn't on their list? Listen- What's so good with the GT Hustle 2? Are they good or not? You know, the GT Hustle 2 was supposed to be Wemba Nyama's shoe, but Wemba Nyama has been sticking with the GT Run 1. David, are Anta Shockwave 5s going to sell? It's going to be tough, because they don't really have widespread American distribution right now, but I think that that Shockwave 5 Pro is one of the best-looking sneakers of the year. I'll be interested to see how his full signature looks. David, you got to buy a shoe off this list right now. Right now? Yes, you have to spend the money. Probably the GT Jump 2. Just because I have the GT Jump 1, but it was kind of messing with my Achilles a little bit, but yeah, I mean, I want the boost effect. However, I will say this. My favorite 3-6 brand right now that is trending upwards, and it was funny, because this is not even considered a top-tier Chinese brand. It's considered a second-tier Chinese brand, is 3-6-1. Guess who they just signed? Who? Reigning best player in the NBA, Nicola Jokic. Wow. He's going to be wearing the 3-6-1 Future. They got Aaron Gordon with the AG4, and right now, I'm wearing the 3-6-1 Big 3 Pro, which is worn by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Ultimately, Andrew, what do you think is the hope for Adidas? Donovan Mitchell's line is down. Trey Young's line is down. A lot of people do not feel Dame's line anymore. Anthony Edwards, Anthony Edwards. I think Harden's kind of fame has peaked. But he's still selling in China. He's still selling in China, which is good, but I think Anthony Edwards is the next hope for Adidas. I just hope the shoes are good. I haven't tried them on. I do want to try them on. Do you think the JAW series is going to be impacted by all this negative press? It sold pretty well, the JAW 1. JAW can still be the face of the league, actually, or at least top two faces of the league. He actually still can be, if he doesn't have any other off-court issues. Right, because he's so exciting. He's small. The kids want to play like him. Dude, if he cleans it up, he could be top two, top three faces in the league, and he's going to sell. Yeah. And the shoes are affordable. They look good. They're low profile. He could still do it, but he's got one more chance, I think. What do you think about this other guy who could potentially be the face of the league right now, Andrew? Jason Tatum. He got the JT1 that just launched with Jordan Brand. He got his own signature. D-Book shoe is coming out. D-Book 1. Luke is on number two. So these are all the new young faces of the league, and they're all on their first or second signature. I actually think none of them will sell as much as Ja Morant, if we're all comparing them at the same time. Okay. Hey, Ja still got it, man. We're rooting for you. Anyway, guys, let us know what you guys think was the sneaker of the year. For me, my ultimate pick, Andrew, KD16. All right. Listen, look how many players are wearing it. LeBron 21, let's go. All right, everybody, let us know in the comments down below. Hopefully this list was helpful, and let us know which basketball shoe you guys wanna buy. Again, if you can find any of these shoes for on sale for 25% off, 20% off, I think it's worth it, honestly. And remember, guys, if you are a wide footer, get a shoe that fits a wide footer. If you're a narrow footer, get a shoe that fits a narrow footer. It's just gonna make your life easier. Otherwise, you're gonna be doubling, tripling up on socks, insoles, all that type of stuff. Let us know what you think in the comments section below. Until next time, we're the Hot Paw Boys. We out. Peace.