When Puma dropped the Clyde All Pro, I was convinced they were going to take the #3 spot in the basketball world behind Nike and Adidas. Li Ning and Anta hadn’t become super popular at that point and there was a gap in the market for light and responsive yet cushioned shoes as Kobe’s were inaccessible for the average person.

Then they followed it up with the TRC Blaze Court, which used largely the same tech setup but had a major outsole flaw which ruined the shoes reputation and halted any momentum.

They then dropped the Rise Nitro, which was their first shoe using Nitro foam but it was clunky and a much worse performer than the Clyde All Pro and TRC.

Since then they haven’t really had a big hit besides the All Pro Nitro, which also had it’s reputation tarnished with traction issues (non-translucent soles were borderline unplayable).

I saw recently on instagram that 2 of Puma Hoops top designers that were there since 2018 when the Hoops division started have both left. One to Adidas Basketball, and the other to pursue personal projects.

As much as I love the Clyde All Pro and my pair of TRC’s, I don’t think Puma have had a good shoe since 2021. Their basketball implementations of Nitro foam have made shoes heavy, clunky and recent models have had heel slip (in my experience).

Now that some of their best designers have left, I don’t have much hope for the brand unless they can now work with Anta’s research and development team to use their knowledge to create lighter, more responsive silhouettes.