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16. Nike Zoom Kobe II Lite
The Good: The collar featured Nike’s Sphere Lining, which is seriously one of the most plush and comfortable liner materials Nike has ever used. (It’s crazy they’ve entirely ditched it.) The platform’s Zoom Air bags are directly underfoot and perfectly responsive, and the podular Free-principled herringbone traction pattern also worked great.
The Bad: With a basic full leather upper, the shoe’s collar cut was simply too restrictive and ill-fitting to ever work. The forefoot was sloppy and didn’t provide enough lockdown or support for cuts. Even though the name may have implied these were “Lite,” they certainly weren’t when they released in 2007, and aren’t even close by today’s standards. The shoe simply didn’t flex or articulate as hoped either, and is well behind the more modern and well-contoured performance high cuts like the Hyperdunk 2015.
