The LeBron 9 P.S. Elite has been one heck of a surprise on-court. I’ve played in the LeBron 9 & the LeBron 9 Low… these by far are the most versatile of the three and the best performing.
The traction doesn’t look like much… if anything, upon a visual inspection I’d have chosen the LeBron 9 to be a better performing shoe in the traction category. However, this is not the case. The rubber is so soft and flexible that it can handle almost anything you can throw at them. Sharp cuts and quick stops are no problem for the traction at all.
As stated above, the traction can handle ALMOST anything you can throw at them. The outrigger gave me issues in the LeBron 8 (all three versions) and the same can be said for the LeBron 9, LeBron 9 Low & LeBron 9 Elite. I’m not sure if ‘slashing’ is the appropriate term for what I had done but I was moving at a fairly high speed which put a lot of torque on the shoe. Since I can’t see myself play I’m not quite sure the angle I was at – I tend to get pretty low while ‘slashing’ – but for whatever reason my foot literally slipped out from under me resulting in a turnover. This didn’t occur again as I was able to adapt my style of play accordingly but for those who place a ton of pressure while moving around opponents; this is something to look out for.
Within the last Teaser I had mentioned the Carbon Fiber caused a bit of pain. This pain may have been caused by the socks I had been wearing as this did not occur again. I wore the Nike Elite Crew Sock when I had pain & I was wearing the adidas Team Speed Crew Sock when I didn’t feel anything at all. adidas’ Team Speed Crew socks are quite a bit thinner than the Elite so I believe that was the issue.
With that being said… I had a different area cause some pain. Again, I believe this is due to the socks for the most part as I didn’t have this issue before. There was a hotspot somewhere around the collar and I tried to re-lace my shoes a few times but nothing was working. Basically I had to lace up my right shoe without using the top two eyelets. I usually don’t recommend doing something like this but in this particular situation, it wasn’t a bad idea.
After inspecting the shoes post game, the highlighted area is what ended up causing the hotspot. There is a small section of internal stitching that is a bit thicker than the other side – this issue isn’t present on the left shoe and they are stitched perfectly fine – so once the laces were tied it was painful. Again, the socks I wore were much thinner than the previous times I wore these on-court so I wasn’t able to feel this at the time.
In case you are wondering why it was okay for me to lace them up partially… it’s because of two things.
1. The lockdown tabs – or wings – do most of the work as far as keeping your foot in place so using the additional eyelets is just to ensure a secure fit all the way up the shoe.
2. This version of the LeBron 9 is built very similar to a Huarache. Huarache sneakers are essentially low tops with additional material on the upper making the wearer feel as if they are wearing a high cut when you actually are wearing a low.
In addition to the low cut and lockdown tabs, the Pro-Combat sleeve is nicely sculpted in the heel which also promotes additional lockdown, keeping your heel nice and secure.
I have really enjoyed playing in these and they may actually be one of the better shoes I’ve played in this year.
The one question that keeps coming up is; are they worth $250? Honestly, I can’t justify any shoe which retails above $200. I understand Foamposites are now $225 – which is ridiculous – but this is where Nike and Jordan Brand are headed with their products… unfortunately, I can’t do anything about that so I am forced to judge these products based only on their performance.
If you think that Nike and Jordan Brand are the only company’s taking advantage of the Sneaker Market… think again. From what I’ve been told, the adidas adiZero Rose 3 are said to be listed around the $160 price range when they hit retail… crazy right?
Love the site and the videos!
Is the gold paint flaking off of the swooshes?
Thanks! Its not flaking but its being scratched off during gameplay. My shoes usually get pretty beat up with how i play.
i dont play basketball in these i just wear them to school or work every so often. i dont even wear them out side but for some reason the paint is flaking off is there anyway to stop it or to fix it? i mean there 250$ the paint should come of with just casual use.
Are you just nitpicking these hot spots because it is a big flaw or because the rest of the shoe is that good?
Its not nitpicking if its an actual issue… And i have discussed how you can resolve the issue based on the socks you are wearing. Wouldnt want someone to buy them bc i said so and then they have these areas of pain and blame me bc i said they were legit. Luckily i wore two types of socks and received two different results… Which is part of the review… At least its something i personally would want to know if i were reading or watching a review.
But overall, yes the shoe is very good. So good that it makes the LeBron 9 look and feel like a $170 piece of garbage.
Yea that makes sense, still nuts for the normal price of the LeBron 9’s for how they performed.
Thats what im saying… You charge $170 and i expect a near perfect shoe. I guess nike feels that a near perfect shoe is worth $250 instead lol.
Yeah Nightwing, same thing happen to me about areas of pain in my when I was wearing my CP3.III in my right foot. I was wearing thicker sock then another day a thinner sock and no pain occurred.
Its weird that something so simple such as socks can change everything.
I had the same hotspot in the 9’s along with others. Whe Ty Lawson wears 9’s he doesn’t lace the upper portion either. I got two identical scabs on either foot. No sock change worked. Is it that bad? Or just an annoyance?
The issue in the lebron 9 was with the tongue. The stitching that holds the top of the tongue to the mesh is sloppy and thick, no socks were able to fix that one for me either. I had to wear a neoprene ankle sleeve to stop it.
Hey NW just wondering if anything on the Air Jordan III’s will be up soon. And sort of random what ever happened to the zig encores
Not yet, ill begin playing in those soon.
The reeboks are horrible… I can barley finish a game in them.
They looked like shit in footlocker and the foam was wack so I went with the AdiZero Rose 2.5
Wow man you seem so excited about playing in these: you just posted a performance teaser and now here is the teaser Pt. 2
Im trying to get them done and out of the way prior to their release. Ive played everyday this week so im almost done with them.
Nightwing I am having trouble finding a new pair of shoes. I was wearing kd iiis, and they were pretty perfect, but my feet are to small now. So I bought the kd ivsexpecting a similar fit. The arch is too high, and the strap and upper dig in and cause a hotspots. Is there a shoe similar in fit,.and low arch support to the kd iiis? Tis is mostly due to the fact that I am a pretty flagpoles overpronater… any suggestions?
Lol* too big not too small.
Dyac….flatfooted overpronator….kd ivs expecting…this…Sorry for all these errors..
You may want to try the hyperfuse mi or low, hyperenforcer or hyperdunk 2011.
you bullshitting?? 160$ for some adizero rose 3
Wish i was… Everyone has been increasing prices except for adidas so i suppose they see an opportunity.
the prices that are comming out boggles my mind o.O like seriously but i know people are still ganna pay these prices and prices are going to keep going up adidas jumped 50 bucks how do u justify that o.O
I dont know man but its def a bummer.
i’m not sure about the kobe and hd2011 elites but with all the previews of the colorways of the lebron elites hopefully they’ll be on sale super quick. i can’t see average people spending $250 retail before tax for bball let alone casual use.
I hope so too… Id like to get another pair since i trashed these so quickly.
Hey, so these fit true to size? I had to size up for normal lebron 9s. Thanks!
They do, i went with my true size and they fit perfectly.
i heard that most of the hyperfuse technology sneakers run smaller (ie nike zoom hyperfuse, hyperenforcer, wade 2, lebron 9….etc), u need to go 1/2 size up. is it true?
As far as I know, wade 2 fit true to size but run narrow.
how bout the other hyperfuse sneakers, do u go 1/2 size up? when u go 1/2 size up, do u have any dead space at the toe area?
I do and there isnt any dead space as they run narrow.
Not with the wade but the hyperfuse and enforcers yes. These are things i state in the reviews in the fit section.
the nike swoosh is fading off,OMG,250 for this kind of quality…….
Its a good quality shoe. This would happen to any shoe you play hard in.
Hi NW,
How do you like the Jordan fly wade 2 EV?
They look like the wade 2 just w a flywire upper. Have to check them out in person to see if anything else has changed.
oh i forgot to ask, how’s the carbon fiber glass?
I like it. Tons of support and its moderately lightweight.
How much do these whiegh?
Interesting fact: 5’11 Nuggets PG Ty Lawson plays in LeBron 9s
Hes a lot bigger and heavier than a 5’7 140 lb guard.
So does Clips’ Eric Bledsoe …so we’ve got two of the leagues quickest and strongest point guards, both around the 6’0 mark, playing in a shoe built for a 6’8 260 forward. Now that’s interesting!
Will you be reviewing the Kobe and hyperdunk elite as well??
Not sure yet. I want to check them out in person.
It’s interesting how similar this is to a huarache. The Rose 3’s are going to be $160? I’m disappointed! I always liked how Rose’s sig’s were pretty affordable and were great performers. Unless Adidas has something up their sleeve, I can’t see justifying $160 for a Rose shoe. Not that I wouldn’t pay that much for adidas shoes but they’ve always focused on affordable good all around best bang for your buck basketball shoes. Maybe Adidas thinks they aren’t being taken seriously when their signature shoes are so much cheaper compared to Lebron’s and Kobe’s shoes.
Its how it is now.
Hey NW nice review of the elites hehe I’m you’re fan here in the Philippines cause I’m a shoe lover but I’m always curious about there performance so when first saw how you reviewed it I said to myself that you’re the guy whom I’ll always watch for info hehehe btw my question is how to get rid of the hotspot in the shoes cause my lebron 8 always heat up under my left foot and it never occurs in the right why is that hehehe by the way pleasure of meeting you^^
Thanks. Hot spots are when the interior chafes not when your foot gets hot.
ohh hehe sorry ^^ so what should i do with the heating point on the bottom of the shoe cause it sometimes blows my game off and its kinda irritating i dont know if it is the socks i wear or in the insole and hehehe thanks for trying to help me ^^
Only thing you can do is get a shoe that offers more ventilation if its that bothersome.
Sir nice review just one question if im buying this shoe for just malling, walking what size do you suggest. My shoe size is 11 – 12 really depends like i have a ambassador 5 sz 11 that i play with and size 12 lbj9. thanks
I went true to size and they fit perfectly fine for me. If you are worried, going up 1/2 sz wont hurt.