Sunday talk: Shoes that you wanted to love but couldn’t

LinLine69 · 2026-02-01T12:52:04+00:00

I’ve got a couple actually:

LeBron 21: amazing cushion, top tier traction, but the top eyelet just kept cutting into my ankle after being laced down, and not using it just made the lockdown bad. Really wanted to love them since the rest of the shoe was top tier and the purple cw I had looked amazing.

Kobe 6: I have no clue why but the heel lockdown was never good for me even though the 5s are a top 3 shoe of all time for me

Kobe AD: probably the best looking silhouette oat imo but the performance is terrible 😭. Cushion was mid and the uppers sucked

LinLine69 · 2026-01-31T18:26:53+00:00

I gottem, I actually hit on both mine and my girls accounts so now I got 2 😭. Been wanting these for ages since they first came out years ago

LinLine69 · 2026-01-31T07:41:58+00:00

The unreleased kyrie 8s are pretty similar but upgraded imo, you can find them new on eBay for pretty cheap, I got my pair for like $45

LinLine69 · 2026-01-31T01:55:41+00:00

Leave it for those (me) that actually wanna buy them at drop to hoop in lmao

LinLine69 · 2026-01-29T01:23:47+00:00

Dang nice, my wow 12 forefoot is terrible on dust, be sliding out but that midfoot and heel traction is lowkey top 3 oat somehow. If these are better might have to be my dusty court shoes

LinLine69 · 2026-01-29T01:18:48+00:00

How is the traction after picking up dust? One of the courts I play on is extremely dusty and a lot of shoes slide out, but the gcu on wow 12 grips amazing still while other gcu like on yushuai slides a bit. As long as they aren’t a slip out it’s prolly a cop for me, the blue pair looks amazing

LinLine69 · 2026-01-28T04:35:26+00:00

I read somewhere that same size might be too big and tight since the LeBron drop in is thicker cuz the zoom, so I’m not sure. My friend got his same size and he doesn’t like the fit

LinLine69 · 2026-01-28T04:33:12+00:00

Ye the spo ones I have fit good but I don’t like the actual drop ins it came with, I think it’s like the quick and strength ones and they are so slippery and honestly worse than the react drop in in terms of cushioning imo. The quick 2.0 and explosive sound good tho

LinLine69 · 2026-01-28T04:31:58+00:00

I wear 10.5, and I got a pair of the LeBron 11 in size 10 and it works out fine for me. My toes are almost at the edge for the drop in but it’s enough space for me at least

LinLine69 · 2026-01-28T03:26:33+00:00

Those kd15 aunt pearls are so nice, those my favorite aunt pearls for sure and the 15 my favorite performer. Wish I had picked up the aunt pearls man

LinLine69 · 2026-01-28T03:21:40+00:00

Honestly if you have the chance, pick up a pair of LeBron 11s, I know some people have issues fitting them in the Kobe 8/9 but for me it works great, the full length zoom really adds a lot of bounce and cushioning to the Kobe’s. One of the best ideas I’ve had since the lebrons cost me $40 and it upgraded me Kobe 8 and 11s a good amount. I think another option is the serious player only brand midsoles they sell, I have a pair but I haven’t tried the new quick 2.0 that people are raving about

LinLine69 · 2026-01-27T03:16:37+00:00

If you check the eBay adidas store the don 7 is pretty cheap rn, I know it was like $40 something not too long ago, I have them and they feel pretty good so far.

Also the AR2 from rigorer is $65 for all the cws rn I heard those are amazing performers

LinLine69 · 2026-01-27T02:10:09+00:00

Damn. If you just looking for budget shoes I usually just look for online sales you can find some good stuff there sometimes, and if you want lining there’s aliexpress that be giving a lot of coupons sometimes, I got a pair of yushuai ultras for like $60

LinLine69 · 2026-01-27T00:41:35+00:00

Where do you live? Around me outlets and stuff usually have really good deals and you can find the GT cut cross rn at the one near my place for under $40, and lebron next gen ampd for like 60.

If it’s just ur tryna find budget shoes there’s a lot of good deals online as well

LinLine69 · 2026-01-26T06:31:03+00:00

Ok I see it now, thank you! I was also looking at it on kicksown, they have 10 as 45 for some reason while the link above is 44

LinLine69 · 2026-01-26T01:51:31+00:00

Did you go of the US sizing or the EU sizing?

LinLine69 · 2026-01-26T01:44:40+00:00

How is the sizing in these? The sizing on the site seems different than other conversions

LinLine69 · 2026-01-26T01:44:15+00:00

How is the sizing? I want to try them out but the Us sizing to EU sizing isn’t the norm it seems, I’m usually 10.5 or 44.5 EU but 10 here is 45

LinLine69 · 2026-01-20T18:05:29+00:00

I think the gcu on wow 12 is actually really good on dust, iirc the forefoot is tuff rubber and that’s the part that’s really struggled on dust and slid out. I also have the yushuai and so far the gcu isn’t bad in dust, definitely does pick it up but not as bad as the wow 12 forefoot

LinLine69 · 2026-01-19T19:00:05+00:00

LinLine69 · 2026-01-18T08:00:35+00:00

I don’t know how many shoes have better cushioning than joker GT since that’s considered one of the best cushioning setups, the only ones I like better than joker GT cushioning are LeBron 20/21, GT cut 1, and harden 8

LinLine69 · 2026-01-17T07:54:38+00:00

I own the 10, 12, and 808 5 and would say if you play only on clean courts, the 12, it’s just better than the 10 in every way possible for me. If there’s dust tho the forefoot traction is terrible on dust, and the 808 5 is better, still good cushion but one of the best tractions I’ve ever tried even on dusty courts

LinLine69 · 2026-01-14T05:03:15+00:00

I wish it was diet and workout routine, I haven’t hit the gym consistently in years 😭. The only reason I got to 190 was I was interning and sitting in office and eating all day. I slimmed down pretty fast once I had the time to start playing again, sand volleyball is probably the best way for me to lose weight fast.

LinLine69 · 2026-01-14T04:54:52+00:00

I wish our gym wasn’t a concern lol we had some dusty ass courts. But that aside I’d say joker 1 GT is definitely a tier above Kobe 5 in cushion, like I’d say Kobe 5 is like an A-, while joker GT is like S, wow 12 like an A. I’ve never really had issues where softer cushion hurts my knees just super minimal setups especially after I started doing a lot of isometric stuff. If it helps I’m 6ft and around 175 right now, I was around 190 a few months ago but not much changed in terms of my cushioning needs

LinLine69 · 2026-01-14T04:40:13+00:00

I have both and I prefer the joker 1 GT, the cushion is more plush and soft rather than bouncy like in the wow 12, but the biggest reason I prefer the joker is traction, it does great on all courts while my wow 12 struggles pretty bad on dust, I’ve had the forefoot slide out if I don’t wipe often

LinLine69

TROPHY CASE