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NBA NBA Season Latest The bond NBA players have with their shoes is special. How do they decide which pair to wear? Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos: Gregory Shamus, Ethan Miller, Jason Miller / Getty Images, David Richard / Imagn Images Jarrett Allen needs your help. The Cleveland Cavaliers center — his perfectly curated afro kept neat inside a headband, looking like a blast from basketball’s past — came into the NBA in 2017 after being drafted by the Brooklyn Nets. With him, Allen brought the Kyrie 3, the third installment of Kyrie Irving’s signature Nike shoe released in 2016. The specific pair Allen wears is black and white. Clean. Professional. Advertisement The shoes and Allen have never separated. It’s a marriage rooted in, as Allen says, comfort and stubbornness. To this day, 620 career games later, including his lone All-Star appearance in 2022, you’ve never seen Allen without those Kyrie 3s, officially named “Nike Kyrie 3 TB Black White. ” The kicks are part of his work attire, just like the afro and headband. However, a divorce might come soon, but not because Allen wants something different. “I’m on my last pair, ” Allen, with sadness in his voice, told The Athletic. “As I find them online, I buy them as soon as I can, but I haven’t found a new pair in the last 1 1/2 years. So, the run might be over with those. ” Allen is an anomaly. He’s as rare as some of the Kobe Bryant signature shoes New York’s Jalen Brunson wears or the player-exclusive (PE) Jordans P. J. Tucker would rock. Basketball and sneakers go together like Prodigy and Havoc. One without the other doesn’t feel right. Players have personal relationships with the shoes they sport, which is why you might see your favorite player wear a different sneaker every night or another favorite wearing the same shoe game after game. It’s why Allen is desperate to find another pair. To be clear, he hasn’t worn the same pair of shoes since his first NBA game. Even he understands that would be malpractice, given how important functional shoes are to his profession. It makes sense, though, why Allen’s run with the Nike Kyrie 3 TB Black White might be coming to an end. Allen wears a size 17. The Kyrie 3 colorway Allen loves was released in 2017 and hasn’t been re-released. Nike doesn’t make as many pairs of general release shoes for the feet of giants as they do for us mortals because, well, there are more of us than there are of them. Naturally, there was always going to be an expiration date on Allen’s relationship with that specific sneaker. Advertisement Yet Allen is holding out hope that someone out there has a pair stashed in his basement, garage or sneaker room and will soon post the shoes online so he can keep his streak alive. “I have more colors of the same pair, but it’s the black-and-white ones that really touch my soul, ” Allen said. “I practice in Kyrie 8s or something like that, so that I can try to make these ones last as long as possible. ” Players have sneaker deals. Some are sneakerheads off the court. Social media accounts are dedicated to showcasing the best NBA kicks nightly. It’s one of those games within the game that drives interest in the league. Most players wear approximately 10 pairs of shoes in a season. Others wear 50 or more. The difference can depend on several factors — such as status, level of interest, comfort or superstition. Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham, a Nike athlete with a signature shoe expected to come out next season, and Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey, a Puma athlete, both told The Athletic that they wear around 60 pairs in a season. Through their endorsement deals, both players are granted access to more colors and bigger-sized shoes than the average player or person. Giddey prefers to take advantage of those privileges. “If I’m playing in them, I don’t let them get too worn down, ” Giddey said. “I’ll wear them three, four or five times and then go on to a different pair. I’ve got so many colors that I like to change it up. ” So, what do players do with all these shoes when they’re done?  The answers vary. Some keep them at home or in their lockers at the arena or practice facility. Some toss them out if the shoes are too worn. Those who aren’t superstitious give shoes with meaning behind them — worn in a big game or for a career-defining moment — to their loved ones. And some players are more charitable with their game-worn shoes. “We have a donation box at practice, ” Mike Conley of the Minnesota Timberwolves said. Advertisement “I sign them and give them away, ” Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie said. “Some I do throw away, like the ones that are super, super beat up. If no one asks for them, I’ll just toss them. Often though, after a game, a kid will be like, ‘Can I get your shoes? ’ and I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, sure. '” Cunningham, New York Knicks forward Josh Hart and Timberwolves big man Naz Reid have some similarities when it comes to wearing kicks in a game. All three can get a fresh pair out of a box, do their pregame routine in the new shoes, and then immediately play in them. Only once in Cunningham’s career did he wear a shoe in a game without giving it a test run first, and that was earlier this season. “Only time I wore a pair for the first time during the game was in Charlotte, ” Cunningham said. “My high school coach had just passed. I flew in a high school colorway, and those got in right before the game, so I put those on. Other than that, I’ll at least warm up in them. ” In talking to many NBA players for this story, that’s a point of contention. Some feel it’s blasphemous not to break in shoes by practicing in them first before wearing them in a game — like Champagnie, who can’t comprehend why a player would do that to their feet. “I feel like when I have too many to play in, my foot doesn’t adjust to one, ” he said. “I either play in Kobe 4s, Kobe 6s … I have one pair of Kobe 5s and Nike GTs. Nothing else. I might try a different brand and see how I like it. But I have to break it in first and see how I like it. I can’t just start playing in a shoe. ” Hart has his own quirks. “I like my shoes to fit tight, ” he said. Hart only plays in Kobe’s signature shoe, except for the one time during his rookie year when he wore a pair of Kyrie’s Nike sneaker for one half. The same goes for Reid, who will only play in Kobe 6s and 8s and estimates that he wears just north of 10 pairs of shoes in a season. “That’s probably my superstition, ” Reid said. “I just like the fresh ones, the new feeling. ” Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody can also be finicky when it comes to keeping sneakers. In his locker, Moody has a pair of Devin Booker’s first signature shoe with Nike. He doesn’t wear them anymore; they just serve as a reminder of what Moody feels was a pivotal moment in his career. Advertisement “I had a really good summer and I worked out in them the whole time, ” Moody said. “I didn’t plan on working out in them. I keep them just as a memory of that summer. ” Conley’s quirk is a bit more traditional. “My superstition is all based on winning, ” he said. “If we win a bunch of games in a row, I stay in the same pair. I won’t change until we lose. Then we lose, all right, now I can change them. ” When a player decides to part with a sneaker is based on preference. Conley changes into a new pair when the soles are worn out, or when the seam on the edge of the sneaker starts breaking away. Hart moves on when the sneakers are no longer firm. Indiana Pacers guard T. J. Mc Connell recently signed with Chinese shoe company Anta. It’s the first time in six years that Mc Connell has been with a shoe company. When Mc Connell was a sneaker free agent, Indiana’s equipment managers would buy his preferred shoes — the Nike signature shoes of Ja Morant and Irving, who is now an Anta athlete — in bulk at the start of the year. Mc Connell goes through close to 10 pair in a season, switching them out based on hygiene. “I find a shoe that I like and don’t really deviate from that shoe until there are holes or the sweat stains are too gross, ” Mc Connell said. The players who have unlimited access to shoes have a relationship that is a bit more excessive. Cunningham has spent most of his career wearing variations of the Nike GT Cut. It’s his choice based on comfort. Cunningham has the ability to wear any Nike shoe — with player signatures such as Kevin Durant or Le Bron James — but it’s the GT Cut he’s gravitated toward until his own shoe debuts. As a signature Nike athlete, Cunningham has a different relationship with on-court sneakers than your average NBA player. Given the 24-year-old’s rising status, there are times when Nike will ask Cunningham to debut a new sneaker or color of a current shoe for big games or events. The same goes for Brunson, who is the official face of Kobe Bryant’s line. For example, at this year’s All-Star game, Cunningham debuted one of Nike’s newest basketball sneakers, the ST Charge. It was the first time the shoe had seen an NBA floor. Brunson debuted the “Warning Label” Kobe 3 low, which also first touched the hardwood during All-Star weekend. Yet, Cunningham does have the option to wear something else despite Nike’s nudge. Advertisement “They were like, ‘All-Star would be a great chance to get them out there and see them. It’s a great platform to show the masses, '” Cunningham said. “Moments like that, they’ll ask for me to wear this, but if I’m not comfortable in the shoe, I don’t have to do it. ” Being the official face of Bryant’s signature shoe is a full-circle moment for Brunson. The Los Angeles Lakers legend was one of his favorite players growing up. When Brunson was in high school, Bryant personally handed him a pair of his Christmas 9s at the United Center after a game. There’s even more of a personal connection as Brunson’s mother, Sandra, was a volleyball teammate and roommate at Temple University with Bryant’s sister, Sharia. As Brunson became an NBA household name as a member of the Knicks, sneaker opportunities were presented to him left and right. Brunson decided to be under the Bryant umbrella. At the end of 2025, Brunson received his first player-exclusive sneaker as part of the Kobe brand. “The Statue of Liberty” Kobe 6 is teal with a gold Nike swoosh and trim. It also honors the landmark Statue of Liberty. PE shoes are limited pairs, some made only for the player, that are a variation of another player’s shoe. “The Statue of Liberty” PE ultimately was released to the public, but only about 9, 000 pairs were made for the general public. They retailed for $200 and are now selling on the secondary market for more than $700, depending on the size. “It means the world to me to be able to wear his shoe and have a little bit of input on it as well, ” Brunson said. “His family is amazing. I’m just really thankful. ” The relationship between sneakers and NBA players can be as different as the paths these athletes take to make it to this point. It’s all based on personal preference. Some are bigger stars than others and, therefore, have different access to shoes. Some like to make fashion statements through the shoes, wearing rare kicks to try and impress not only the masses but their colleagues, as well. Some don’t care what’s on their feet, as long as they’re comfortable. Basketball and sneakers will always be synonymous with one another. The best part is that the beauty of the relationship is always in the eye of the beholder. “I’m just stubborn now at this point in my career, ” Allen said of wearing the same shoe for nine seasons. “It’s how I am as a person. I don’t know why I do it, but I do it. ” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle James L. Edwards III is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New York Knicks. Previously, he covered the Detroit Pistons at The Athletic for seven seasons and, before that, was a reporter for the Lansing State Journal, where he covered Michigan State and high school sports. Follow James L. on Twitter @JLEdwards III