We sure have a great pair of basketball kicks to go over today! Let's go ahead and get right into it!
What's up everyone? Airjayp is back and today we are going to take a look at the Nike Basketball Kyrie 7s. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years'! Now lets check out the kicks!
Traction: 3
Would you expect anything less on a Kyrie Model?? The 7s get a perfect score from me in what I call my favorite category on any basketball shoe, the traction. Kyries are mostly known for having great traction and these are no different. Whether the court was dusty or clean I had no issues whatsoever. I was able to plant and get where I wanted to on the court without any issues. The traction pattern is a little odd and I was a little concerned about how it was going to work, but as I said it worked very well for me and I have no complaints!
Fit: 3
I recommend going true to size in the Kyrie 7. I went with my standard size and had no issues. Kyries normally fit super tight and these are pretty tight with the initial try on, but after a short break-in period, they started to really loosen up for me. I could not see myself going down half a size in these as I feel they would then be too snug, but on the opposite end, I definitely do not need to go up half a size either. As I initially said you should be perfectly fine going true to size. Wide footers I would recommend trying these on if possible.
Lockdown: 3
The lockdown was also another very strong point to the shoe in my opinion. I never felt myself at any point feeling like my foot had any unwanted movements or much moving around in the shoe that may cause an injury. when driving to the basket the shoe gave me a great locked-in feel and I felt comfortable at all times. You have heard me say that at times when the lockdown and traction are able to work together you can find a really good sneaker, and this is a perfect example of that. You feel very locked in, and you also have a very strong traction setup resulting in a great safe feel at all times on the court.
Materials: 2
I really enjoyed the materials on the Kyrie 7, but the only thing that I do wish is that they were a little more breathable. The materials feature basically a mesh upper which is lightweight! The shoe also features a very comfortable tongue which is comprised of comfortable, lightweight materials as well. The materials seem that they will be durable and in my opinion, would work well indoors or outdoors. As I previously stated the only issue I really had was a little bit of breathability issues. Nothing too serious, but something I was expecting to be a little better especially with this material setup. The materials are nothing premium, but will definitely get the job done for you on the court.
Cushion: 3
The Kyrie 7 features Air Zoom Turbo cushioning along with a phylon midsole. The shoe features a large zoom turbo unit in the forefoot and it worked very well for me on the court. Before the recent models of Kyries, most were known to have a minimal cushion setup and much more court feel. This was something I always enjoyed and have stated on several occasions that most times I prefer court feel over the cushion. On the opposite end if I find a cushion setup I really like, I am always good to roll with it, and this one I really liked! The setup is basically what I am always trying to explain that I am looking for. A cushion setup that gives me the cushion I need for my knees, body, etc, but also gives me still just enough court feel to feel comfortable or the way I want to feel on the court. These still do not offer the cushion feel as say a Lebron model, so if that's what you are looking for, you may want to try them on first. If you've liked previous Kyrie models that have Zoom turbo you will enjoy these, and in my opinion, you will enjoy them more!
Overall: 3
If you follow me on Instagram I posted before the New Year that I was not going to post my top 10 performance shoes from 2020 because I do not think I even go to test 10 with the pandemic and struggling to get to play basketball as much. What I did post was what in my opinion would be my favorite basketball sneaker from what I am going to call the 2020/2021 season. The Kyrie 7s were what I posted. At that time I was very early in the testing process and did not even have my full opinions on the shoe. After testing these I can say it will take a lot to knock these off the top spot for me. I still have plenty of shoes I want to test on the court or review for this season but I have a good feeling these will be very high on my list the whole way. From every standpoint, I basically rated these perfect. The only negative I really put out there was the breathability of the materials and that's not a very big deal. If you want a great basketball sneaker on the court these are definitely ones you need to try out and you will not be disappointed!
Thank you for checking out my review on the Kyrie 7!