Best Basketball Shoes of All Time
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Air Jordans reached new heights after Michael Jordan's performance in the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.Some of the best basketball players have worn some of the best shoes. But just as there are debates about the greatest players of all time, picking the greatest basketball shoes of all time is even more difficult.
So guess what? We’re going to stick our necks out and name the greatest shoes. (Critics, get ready.) The debate began as the list was being made. Is the definition of greatness the way shoes look, the way they feel, or are they the signature kicks of our favorite players? It could be all of that and more.
Who in their right mind would do such an evaluation? (We would.) The rating of these shoes comes from many areas: how they perform, what made them popular, what some experts said about these shoes, along with some of the criteria already mentioned. These are the best basketball shoes of all time.
50. Under Armour Curry 2.5
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Release year: 2016
Who wore them: Stephen Curry
What made the shoes iconic: Maybe it’s not the shoes but the player who is wearing them. Curry has become one of the most well-liked athletes in sports. If these shoes work for him, they might work for you, too.
49. Nike Air Alonzo
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Release year: 1997
Who wore them: Alonzo Mourning
What made the shoes iconic: Alonzo Mourning made his shoes iconic. After signing a sweet deal with the Miami Heat, he joined the elite of the NBA, and his popularity was soaring.
48. Starbury
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Release year: 2006
Who wore them: Stephon Marbury
What made the shoes iconic: The name of the sneakers was a good attraction, but you also received a quality sneaker that performed indoors and outdoors at a low price. Consumers like that combination.
47. Jordan Melo M10
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Release year: 2014
Who wore them: Carmelo Anthony
What made the shoes iconic: One fan tries to calm another fan down in the commercial for the M10 as they are stuck in a subway heading to a Knicks game. They begin to imagine Anthony having the game-winning drive with the premise "Stay Melo." And all is calm.
46. Nike Durant V
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Release year: 2012
Who wore them: Kevin Durant
What made the shoes iconic: The commercial deserves credit. In the video ad, authorities are looking into another "vicious dunking," while Durant plays a police investigator with glasses. Evidence? A KD 5 shoe. Durant is missing a shoe. But his colleagues say he’s too nice to be a suspect.
45. adidas Harden 2
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Release year: 2018
Who wore them: James Harden
What made the shoes iconic: Harden’s second signature shoe is his best — so far — as he shows in his commercial all the while with him saying, "So you’ve got me figured out?"
44. Nike Shox BB4
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Release year: 2000
Who wore them: Vince Carter
What made the shoes iconic: OK, if you’ve seen Vince Carter’s mind-boggling dunks, and you’re a basketball player who can jump, this is the shoe for you.
43. adidas Crazy 8 University Red
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Release year: 2013
Who wore them: Damian Lillard, Jimmy Butler
What made the shoes iconic: Lillard’s rise to stardom in the NBA has developed a nice following that has fans buying his shoes, and they look pretty cool, too.
42. adidas J Wall
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Release year: 2014
Who wore them: John Wall
What made the shoes iconic: Here’s where success pays off. Adidas rewards Wall with his first signature shoe line after a run to the NBA playoffs and a slam dunk championship.
41. adidas adiZero Rose 2
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Release year: 2010
Who wore them: Derrick Rose
What made the shoes iconic: Beside Rose taking the NBA by storm, it had to be the commercial where he takes on bullfighters in a ring and glides past them with a variety of moves, finishing with a soaring two-hand jam.
40. Ewing Athletics 33 HI
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Release year: 1993
Who wore them: Patrick Ewing
What made the shoes iconic: The sneaker came out after Ewing’s finest season in the NBA, and it turned out to be his best signature shoe.
39. Nike Air Zoom Flight V
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Release year: 1997
Who wore them: Jason Kidd
What made the shoes iconic: This was Kidd’s first signature sneaker, and fans who admired the flashy point guard and his brilliant moves in open court couldn’t wait.
38. Li-Ning Way of Wade
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Release year: 2014
Who wore them: Dwyane Wade
What made the shoes iconic: This line of sneakers kicked off Wade’s "Make Your Own Way" campaign, illustrated in a commercial that shows the birth of these sneakers and Wade taking the final steps to stardom.
37. Reebok Answer 1
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Release year: 1997
Who wore them: Allen Iverson
What made the shoes iconic: Fans who loved the Question series got a glimpse of Iverson in his Reebok commercial demonstrating his spin moves wearing the Answer 1, and that was the only answer they needed.
36. Nike Air More Uptempo
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Release year: 1996
Who wore them: Scottie Pippen
What made the shoes iconic: The shoes were featured by actor Brendan Fraser in a key part of the movie "George of the Jungle." He's delivered in a crate, drops a shoebox on the ground, pulls out the Air More Uptempo shoes, straps them on and runs into the African plains. Now that’s what we call marketing.
35. adidas T-Mac 2
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Release year: 2002
Who wore them: Tracy McGrady
What made the shoes iconic: McGrady’s second venture with his signature shoes was one of the first low-cut shoes embraced by his followers.
34. Reebok Shaq Attaq
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Release year: 1993
Who wore them: Shaquille O’Neal
What made the shoes iconic: Shaq was set to make a huge debut in the NBA, and Reebok was right there, making the rookie center its first signature sneaker for an NBA player.
33. Nike Air Pippen I
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Release year: 1997
Who wore them: Scottie Pippen
What made the shoes iconic: One of the first basketball sneakers to have the Air Max bag.
32. adidas Mutombo
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Release year: 1992
Who wore them: Dikembe Mutombo
What made the shoes iconic: Kicksologist.com admired how adidas managed to incorporate Mutombo’s beliefs and personality with his passion to help his native African culture, calling this sneaker "one of the most unique signature sneakers ever."
31. Nike Zoom Kobe V
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Release year: 2010
Who wore them: Kobe Bryant
What made the shoes iconic: It’s not too often that a low-top shoe can outperform a high-top on the basketball court, but this one did.
30. Converse Aero Jam
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Release year: 1993
Who wore them: Larry Johnson
What made the shoes iconic: Any basketball fan from the early 1990s could not forget the "Grandmama" commercials portraying Johnson and an elderly lady. Wonder if the ads gave Tyler Perry the idea behind Madea? In Grandmama’s case, it sure helped sell some Aero Jams.
29. Puma Clyde
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Release year: 1973
Who wore them: Walt "Clyde" Frazier
What made the shoes iconic: These shoes were cool among all basketball fans from the beginning. And they have mass crossover appeal. Wikipedia describes them as popular "within the old school hip-hop and skate punk subcultures."
28. Nike Zoom Flight The Glove
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Release year: 1998
Who wore them: Gary Payton
What made the shoes iconic: Of course, these sneakers need to be called "The Glove." That was Payton’s nickname for his outstanding defense.
27. Nike Air Penny I
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Release year: 1995
Who wore them: Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway
What made the shoes iconic: Sometimes you have to give credit to a marketing campaign, and the ones featuring Lil' Penny, voiced by Chris Rock, put these shoes on the front line in the mid-to-late 1990s, particularly when more commercials were being released.
26. Nike Air Garnett III
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Release year: 1999
Who wore them: Kevin Garnett
What made the shoes iconic: Nike’s Camp Flight commercial with Garnett and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The NBA rim-rattlers taught campers some hysterical ways to make the air their friend. Watch it if you haven’t seen it.
25. Air Jordan IV
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Release year: 1989
Who wore them: Michael Jordan
What made the shoes iconic: Nike can thank Spike Lee for making these sneakers famous after characters in his movie "Do The Right Thing" wear them.
24. Nike Kyrie 4
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Release year: 2018
Who wore them: Kyrie Irving
What made the shoes iconic: Has to be Kyrie’s dribbling drill as the Boston Philharmonic followed along in perfect symphony. It is the best of Irving’s commercials.
23. Nike LeBron Soldier XII
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Release year: 2018
Who wore them: LeBron James
What made the shoes iconic: Perhaps the "Chosen One" commercial featuring James as a youngster in a Las Vegas tattoo parlor inspired a new generation of potential LeBrons.
22. Reebok Shaqnosis
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Release year: 1995
Who wore them: Shaquille O’Neal
What made the shoes iconic: Obviously, having Shaq’s blessing for a shoe makes it iconic as it is, but this shoe has a look like no other shoe of its time.
21. adidas KB8
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Release year: 1997
Who wore them: Kobe Bryant
What made the shoes iconic: The shoes came out following Kobe’s rookie season. They were his first signature shoes, and his fans flocked to the stores.
20. Air Jordan VI
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Release year: 1991
Who wore them: Michael Jordan, Kanye West, Diddy, Carmelo Anthony, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, Jerry Seinfeld, Drake, Wiz Khalifa and many others
What made the shoes iconic: Jordan wore these shoes during his first run to an NBA championship.
19. Nike Air Max LeBron VII
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Release year: 2009
Who wore them: LeBron James
What made the shoes iconic: What better endorsement than James himself. "The new LeBron VII takes my signature line to a new level of innovation," he said.
18. Reebok Kamikaze II
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Release year: 1996
Who wore them: Shawn Kemp
What made the shoes iconic: Kemp’s shoes got noticed, big time, when he had the best season of his career while wearing them.
17. Nike Air Max Uptempo
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Release year: 1995
Who wore them: Scottie Pippen, David Robinson
What made the shoes iconic: The Foot Locker commercials featuring Pippen brought their own version of cool to his shoe.
16. Nike Kobe IV
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Release year: 2009
Who wore them: Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, among others
What made the shoes iconic: In a sea of high-top shoes, many asked if these shoes were the start of a low-top revolution.
15. Reebok Pump
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Release year: 1989
Who wore them: Dee Brown
What made the shoes iconic: Seeing Brown pump up his shoes in the 1991 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and then go on to win the competition caught the imagination of hoop fans everywhere.
14. Nike Air Zoom Generation
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Release year: 2003
Who wore them: LeBron James
What made the shoes iconic: James played his rookie season in the NBA with these shoes, and it didn’t take long for fans to hit the stores to buy a pair.
13. Nike Zoom KD 4
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Release year: 2011
Who wore them: Kevin Durant
What made the shoes iconic: Durant’s Nike commercial on these shoes played off his "Thunderstruck" movie, where he lost all of his talents to a kid. People loved the movie and the shoes.
12. Air Jordan I
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Release year: 1985
Who wore them: Michael Jordan
What made the shoes iconic: The first of the Air Jordans hit the shelves, and a new revolution of basketball sneakers was upon us with comfort, durability and remarkable lightweight. I owned a pair and wish I still had them.
11. Converse Weapon
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Release year: 1986
Who wore them: Larry Bird, Magic Johnson
What made the shoes iconic: The Bird-Magic era brought out the classic black for Larry Bird and the Lakers colors version for Magic Johnson. Their status alone put these shoes on the national stage as the popularity of the NBA began to soar.
10. Nike Air Penny II
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Release year: 1996
Who wore them: Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway
What made the shoes iconic: Many believe that the second installment of the Air Penny was one of the best sneakers of all time. The player wasn’t too bad, either.
9. Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars
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Release year: 1920
Who wore them: Chuck Taylor and almost anyone who played basketball until the 1970s. Mickey Johnson was the last NBA player to wear them during the 1985-86 season with the Nets.
What made the shoes iconic: When Taylor, a semi-professional basketball player, joined Converse as a salesman in 1921, he helped redesign the shoe, and All Stars became the first celebrity-endorsed athletic shoes. They have been a part of culture for decades without much redesign.
8. Air Jordan V
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Release year: 1990
Who wore them: Michael Jordan, Will Smith, Jay-Z, Chris Rock, Spike Lee, John Goodman, Ludacris
What made the shoes iconic: Just the fighter-jet inspired look was awesome, with mesh side panels and the red iconic Jordan logo on the soles.
Bottom Line: Air Jordan V
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Watch and learn.Russ Bengtson of Complex calls this the greatest Air Jordan of them all: "The V was something different — an evolution of the IV, to a degree, but at the same time a giant leap forward."
Also, did the extra-long tongue on the shoe reflect MJ’s famous look on the court?
You be the judge.
7. Nike Kobe VIII
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Release year: 2013
Who wore them: Kobe Bryant, DeMar DeRozan
What made the shoes iconic: They are perhaps the lightest shoes among all sneakers, which transitioned from players wearing them to sneakerheads.
6. Fila Grant Hill
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Release year: 1995
Who wore them: Grant Hill
What made the shoes iconic: Hill had a clean-cut reputation that made his shoe line popular to the masses, and he shared 1995 Rookie of the Year honors with Jason Kidd.
5. Reebok Question
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Release year: 1996
Who wore them: Allen Iverson
What made the shoes iconic: Kicksologists.com calls these the greatest Reebok sneakers ever made and, arguably, the best non-Air Jordan shoes in history.
4. Nike LeBron VIII
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Release year: 2010
Who wore them: LeBron James, Eric Bledsoe, Pharrell, Nate Robinson, Mike Miller
What made the shoes iconic: This shoe came out the year James bailed on Cleveland and signed with the Miami Heat.
3. Air Jordan XI
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Release year: 1995
Who wore them: Michael Jordan, Lil Wayne, Damon Wayans, Jay-Z, Will Smith, LeBron James, C.C. Sabathia, Notorious B.I.G., Manny Pacquiao and others
What made the shoes iconic: These shoes ushered in Jordan’s return to the NBA after a not-so-great stint in professional baseball, and hoop fans responded at the shoe stores.
2. Nike Air Foamposite I
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Release year: 1997
Who wore them: Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway
What made the shoes iconic: The cool design and what many called the futuristic Foamposite technology.
1. Air Jordan III
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Release year: 1988
Who wore them: Michael Jordan
What made the shoes iconic: Jordan’s legendary dunk from the free-throw line in the 1988 NBA All-Star Game Slam Dunk Contest in front of his home crowd in Chicago. It also was the year he won his first league MVP.