The Best Men’s Basketball Shoes

Buying Guide

Using the right tool for the job always helps us do the job better and more efficiently. In the case of playing a sport like basketball, the shoes are the tool and the same philosophy applies. If you have the right shoes for the sport you’re playing and, even more specifically, the right shoe for your body and the position you play, you will be set up well to have healthier feet and the proper mobility to play well. The technology behind basketball shoes has grown tremendously over the past couple of decades and now you can find shoes that not only look cool but fit you and your style of play perfectly.

Basketball shoes can come with high-reaching uppers that lace all the way up to the lower part of the ankle. This style of high-top basketball shoe is less common than it used to be because it limits the mobility of your ankle which can hinder players who are quick and agile like a point guard. However, this high-top basketball shoe is usually ideal for a center or large power-forward who needs the added stability for when he steps on another player’s foot, or even when he does a simple lateral cut but with a lot more bodyweight than most guards. The extra lacing and height of this shoe will keep your ankles healthy so you can keep playing and continuing to grow in other areas instead of constantly nursing twisted or sprained ankles.

“The benefits of purchasing basketball shoes are increased support and stability on the court,” says expert  Stephanie Mansour, a personal trainer. “Basketball shoes are designed for maximum cushion, mobility and ankle support since there’s many forward/backward/side-to-side motions and jumping in basketball.”

A lower shoe offers more ankle mobility and caters nicely to a more agile player in either of the guard positions. The lack of ankle support from the shoe is less of an issue in these players and you can see by watching basketball on TV that it’s now common practice for a lot of players to opt for these lower-topped shoes. If a player is mostly on the wing and does a lot of lateral back-and-forth movements, then a shoe somewhere in the middle might be best so it gives some ankle support but still allows a lot of mobility for the quicker movements.

In addition to the height of the shoe, there are some important parts of the sole to focus on when you’re shopping around. A cushioned mid-sole of the shoe, which is the area around the center of the foot where the arch is, is helpful to players that are doing a lot of jumping. Every time you land a jump, you have a significant force compressing down on the bottoms of your feet. With proper cushioning and arch support, this wear-and-tear from jumping so much will be less noticeable as your shoe is doing a lot of work to absorb that shock before it goes into your feet and knees.

The outsole on a basketball shoe is also an important factor when looking at the overall effectiveness of a shoe. The outsole refers to the hard rubber at the bottom of the shoe and you will want to look at how wide the forefoot is, as the width of these can vary a lot from one brand to another. A wider toe box lets your toes naturally splay out a little bit and gives you a better sense of balance and stability. This helps with general stability of your foot and lets you avoid rolling the front of your foot over, eventually leading to another ankle issue. Having too much room in this wide part of the shoe can also be something to watch out for since you want your foot to be held snugly in place without sliding back and forth inside the shoe.

It’s important to get the right shoe for yourself so you can focus on training and improving other parts of your game. A proper pair of shoes can help you be quicker and healthier or have a more stable footing so you can ultimately have the confidence to play at your highest level.

“If the shoes are more comfortable, you might be able to play longer and even move better because you’ve got the right support,” says Mansour.

• If you’re into playing basketball, you most likely already watch some amount of professional or college basketball. Try to find a handful of players that have a similar body size and shape that you do and see what shoes they wear. Basketball players at these levels have likely already tried many shoes out over the course of their career and they have chosen to wear the current pair that they have on for a reason. If you’re a point guard or a center, there’s a good amount of players you can watch to get a good idea of what shoes are their favorites and you can use this as a great starting point in a basketball shoe search.
• When you try on new basketball shoes, you should run around and jump up and down, maybe do a few sprints and lateral cuts in them. A shoe might feel comfortable when you first put it on and casually walk around the store in it, but as soon as you start running and cutting you might find that your toe rubs the edge weird or that the arch isn’t exactly in the right place for your foot. It’s better to be cautious up-front and really try the shoes out before you step foot onto the court.