If you follow me on social media I bought the NXT but sent it back mostly due to this
This is with the insole in btw I took pics without it as well. Not a trend I’m a fan of personally and I know MJ definitely wouldn’t wear anything like this.
After 10 months, I finally got rid of plantar fasciitis a few weeks ago with stretching, a night splint, stretching and surprisingly (sort of) some BOSU exercise.
Anyways, I decided I did not want to deal with PF again so why risk it with a shoe I don’t find attractive at all and it’s expensive (we all know schwollo pricing rule #1, everything goes on sale). In addition it feels so similar to the NXT 360 that I really didn’t need see the point.
But as a “reviewer” I did want to share my thoughts anyways and you can decide if it’s for you even though I’m sure there are 100 reviews out by now.
Weight
16 ounces so right on par with every other mid.
Traction
This pattern looks pretty good but given the history of translucent outsoles I’d guess you’d need to wipe fairly frequently. Probably very similar to the Kobe NXT 360
Cushioning
Yay another drop in insole. At least Nike has fixed my biggest peeves about drop ins which is the low side walls.
Nothing ground breaking here. Cushioning directly underfoot feels great but I can’t say it works any better than conventional set ups.
The insole is just a mix of REACT and Cushlon.
The little cut out is for the FF mechanism
If you like drop ins, you’ll like this set up. Very similar in feel to the 360 NXT. I wouldn’t consider it an upgrade or anything.
Fit
As with all Nikes and Kobes these fit true to size for me leaving me a finger width at the front. No heel slip walking around the house either which isn’t surprising.
The real marketing star of the show is the fast fit which really gives zero benefit to the wearer unless you’re really bad at lacing up your shoes.
You can see how thin these cables are but you don’t feel any pressure from them
This is probably the first time I got a good look at fast fit. It’s a plastic wind toy.
Although it works well enough, Fast Fit assumes every player wants the same lace(less?) pressure so you really can’t tune it to your exact liking. I like more pressure over the midfoot and ankle personally. But FF works fine but once again there are non actual benefits to it. The AJ 34 already ditched it which is pretty unsurprising.
And yes I’ll try my best to review the Aj 34. Looks pretty good to me all around.
Materials
MEHterials
Inspired by Kobe’s love of taking a shower and walking in the rain.
If premium feeling or looking materials are your thing these are not it. The outer layer is stretchy while the base layer is just mesh.
Support and Stability
No issues here although the higher cut doesn’t really have any structure to it.
Here is a shot of the shoe without the insole.
Stability is improved in the heel and isn’t nearly as rounded as the NXT and Exodus. I already sent these back and I forgot to take a pic. Sorry! Forefoot outrigger is stable as always See below
Containment
I don’t foresee any major issues here. Slightly raised midsole.
Conclusion
I didn’t actually wear them so there is no conclusion but if you’re a PF sufferer or want more midfoot support, look elsewhere. If you really want these, why pay $200 when they’ll go on sale soon? I’ve been too busy to write so instead of buying everything out there, I’ll wait for something I’m actually interested in. I’m still waiting on a better coloroway of the Alphadunk and of course the AJ 34. So hope have a review for those in the near future.
Yea really like the shoe looks wise but for 200 I feel like I need zoom. I’ve never really been a fan of pure foam setups the impact protection isn’t enough for me. If they go on sale I’ll grab them only thing is Kobe’s generally don’t go on sale where I live and his shoe line tends to be stingy with coupon usage as well. Guess I’ll continue to stock Protro 1’s and 4’s till then. Did you get any of the undefeated Protro 4’s or were you even interested in them?
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No interest in the undefeated protro 4’s. Only reason they get any buzz is bc of Undefeated. I’m old school and prefer shoes with actual history vs collabs. The purple yellow ones are the only ones I find attractive
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I actually never had any Nike Kobes: i had the top 2000 (when they came out- yes im that old) and couple of other ones (recently the KB 98BYW) which are okay but zoom>boost for basketball
These ones just look awful (de gustibus non disputandum est) but they just look off
The fact you can roll up most Kobes is just another thing not to buy them (at least for me)
Oh and waiting for the jxxx4 review: i love the black/white ones and they finally look like proper Jordans unlike the 2009 abomination (and couple of other models)
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Agreed ! I don’t think any Kobe was this flexible prior to the 360 Nxt..aj 34 looks good even looks wise imo
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Yup. It does look good
Niketalk thread had one guy saying its got retro futuristic vibes and i have to agree
Looks like a shoe MJ would wear and some of the models since xiv were atrocious to say the least
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Will you be doing a review on the D.O.N Issue 1 on the Nike Zoom GP Retro?
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No plans on either right now pretty happy with my rotation
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hey, i havent found ur mail or any other way to contact you, i just like ur blog and i ask for some recommandation.
ok so here is goes: i have wide feet and im 6″0 guard, i had the kyrie 4 true to size and they were awsome after break in time(even though all say its narrow i have wide feet and they are awsome) kyrie 5 i orderd true to size and they ruined my foot and my small finger eventhough i gave it few months
im looking for recommandation to shoe that can last outdoor and is similar to kyrie 4 (i have to order online beacuse i live in a shithole)
i had the dame 5 and i orderd them true to size, i but i get alot alot alot of pain from the tight lacing!(maybe advice for that? cause i see everywhere all loves the dame 5) i love to lace my shoes tighat as possible and the dame 5 give me terrible pain in the midfoot when i lace
maybe its beacuse i should have gone down half a size? sorry for the big post and thanks in advance 🙂
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Double sock dame 5 to help w lace pressure.
Why not get the Kyrie 4 again if you love it ?
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Yeah, I wasn’t interested in these either. Its 200, but none of the tech is worth the price. Fastfit is just a gimmick to me and it actually makes lacing more of a chore to get the right pressure setting. And that outsole looks like it has the durability of a Walmart shoe.
A shoe I’m intrigued by that is less than half the price of this at retail is the KD Trey 5 7. 90 bucks and they seem like they implemented renew cushioning in it better than they ever did in a react ball shoe, where you can really feel it. Are those on your radar for a review?
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No not on my radar never liked any kd trey. Why bother when I can get previous years shoes with more “premium “ tech and better looks for the same or less money
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True i should just wait for the 12s to go to outlets
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Won’t be long !
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These remind me of an Asian dish I had that looked like an eggroll, but the outer park was transparent. I forgot the name of it. It was good as hell, and tasted better than these Kobes look. Anyway, between now and the AJ 34, will there be a Zoom Rize vs Alphadunk comparison/review?
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Vietnamese spring roll
Lol
Still waiting for
Better colorwsy or the alpha dunk ..will go on sale anyways like any xxxdunk shoe
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Yes! I need to hit up a Vietnamese spot soon.
I need a new ball kick soon and want to know if there’s much of a difference in the two and if these new bigger area Zoom units are all that. Alphas definitely need better colors.
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Felt stiff in the store but I could feel the zoom. Won’t feel any better than a KD 9 or 10. Really just half of the set up from the looks of it
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The last Kobe shoe I actually really loved visually was the original AD NXT. That one played really nicely too. It was like the kobe 11 but with better traction and the fit was something else too.
Not a fan of these visually too and don’t really see myself grabbing these. Seems to me like they just grabbed the converse BB and added fastfit to it and put on kobe branding just to be able to sell it.
The AJ34 has me very excited. Don’t think I’ve been this excited for the latest AJ in years. Visuals look amazing and early reports I’ve been reading look promising.
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Yea the first nxt was great all around, 360’nxt not so much and this one is just fugly to me.
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Schwollo I’ve seen articles where you said you’ve used I think it was shoe goo to repair sneakers, I was wondering have you played in any shoe that you repaired that way and did they hold up my midsole on the medial side of my right shoe on my Kobe 6’s just started separating?
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Shoe goo works although it can get messy if you don’t do it right. I have shoe gooed so many pairs over the past decade and they hold up. Even patched a hole in a pair of Kobe V’s plus glued the flopping outsole and it’s still holding up. Actually about to fix a friends pair of v’s soon
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Ok thanks
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Any recommendations for PF sufferers? Been hurting playing in Dame 5 and harden 3
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You typically want a stiffer shoe midfoot and back. Shoes with carbon fiber are traditionally the stiffest but most shoes use plastic now. Harden 2 is very stiff midfoot and back same with Dame 3. Jordan sigs (not team) have all been good . Best thing I got for pf was a night splint and doing stretching and foot exercises
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Air Mag inspired?
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Slightly gaha
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How do you review a basketball shoe without actually wearing and playing in it? Seems like you made up your mind as soon as you saw they could bend…LOL. Trash review.
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The title of the post is Why I Passed on the NXT FF so this is not a review. I had plantar fasciitis for almost a year and have had enough experience and doctors tell me to wear something stiffer so I returned them. Not going to risk injury for a shoe review
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