Barefoot Shoes Hit the NBA and WNBA
Absolutely huge for the future of barefoot shoes and my personal comfort while playing basketball
In late April, I started writing a post on barefoot shoes and basketball, inspired by the Uncivilized Sneaker being released in more sizes. The Uncivilized Sneaker is the only ready-to-wear barefoot shoe that’s marketed as a basketball shoe. More on them when mine arrive and I get to try them out.
Three weeks later, Xero Shoes announces that Denver Nuggets shooting guard Justin Holiday has partnered with them to develop a basketball shoe! Holiday wore them during the NBA Western Conference Semis. I missed this huge announcement by writing about the lack of barefoot basketball shoes, tabling the idea while I waited for the only barefoot basketball shoe out to get shipped to me, and writing about barefoot GATs instead.
Holiday isn’t the only pro hooping in Xeros either. Indiana Fever forward and long-time Xero Shoes fan Tèmi Fagbenle has been seen in an iteration of Xero’s basketball shoe.
Both shoes look like they’re based on Xero’s Forza Trainer, but Holiday’s is a mid-top and Fagbenle wears lows. The Forza Trainer is a barefoot shoe with basketball potential that I mention in my in-progress post because the strapping system could provide good lockdown.
Aesthetically, the unnamed Xero basketball shoe fits in great on the court. I didn’t notice Holiday and Fagbenle were wearing barefoot shoes despite watching the NBA playoffs and the start of the WNBA season! The low stack height doesn't look abnormal, instead, it makes the shoe look low-to-the-ground, responsive, athletic. Also, basketball shoe design— past and present— can get experimental, making Xero's design relatively conservative. The shoes are clean and simple.
Popular shoe review site WearTesters had this to say about their performance:
It was reactive and surprisingly fun. It also included cushion and elite stability. Playing in high performance zero drop minimal footwear will soon be a possibility…a type of shoe you’ll find curiously absent from our current basketball shoe reviews.
It's extremely exciting to see another barefoot basketball shoe option, especially on a stage as big as the NBA playoffs. Basketball is the ideal sport for barefoot shoe adoption, and I’m not just saying that because I play basketball and want barefoot basketball shoes. Basketball is so entwined in streetwear and sneaker culture. I think barefoot shoes’ presence in the sport could lead to barefoot shoes becoming a part of sneaker culture.
On a podcast, Steven Sashen, founder and CEO of Xero Shoes, shares what he's learned about trends from his experience starting a shoe company and from reading about the topics. He explains that famous people often don’t get involved in a trend until it has at least a bit of credibility to avoid looking silly if the trend flops. That means Holiday and Fagbenle playing in Xeros is a great sign of the barefoot shoe times.
The concepts of barefoot shoes and barefoot training will begin to trickle down to college and high school, as athletes are always looking to model the pros. Sashen estimates that in about three athletic seasons, there will be a significant bump in barefoot shoe popularity. Time will tell!