Okay, so I’ve been getting back into watching more hoops lately. You start noticing little things, right? And one thing that caught my eye was what shoes some of the players are rocking.
Specifically, I zeroed in on Killian Hayes for a bit. Saw him playing and thought, “Hold on, what are those on his feet?” They didn’t immediately look like the usual Nikes or Adidas everyone seems to wear. Took me a minute, had to rewind a couple of times on the recording I had.
Finding the Kicks
Turns out, from what I could gather digging around, he’s been wearing Pumas quite a bit. Specifically, the Puma Court Rider Chaos model seemed to pop up a lot when I was looking into it this season. Interesting choice, you know? Puma’s been pushing back into basketball lately.
So, I actually went down a bit of a rabbit hole. Started searching for those specific shoes. Not because I was gonna buy them immediately, mind you, but more out of curiosity. How do they feel? What’s the deal with them?
- First, I just did a general search for “Killian Hayes shoes”. Lots of photos came up.
- Then I tried finding the “Puma Court Rider Chaos”. Found the shoe model, saw different colors.
- I looked at some pictures, trying to get a feel for the design. They look pretty solid, decent profile.
It reminded me of trying to find gear back in the day. It was always a mission. You’d see something cool on TV, but finding it in a local store? Forget about it half the time. Now everything’s online, which is easier, but sometimes sizes or specific colors are just gone, poof.
What Makes a Good Basketball Shoe Anyway?
Thinking about his shoes got me thinking about basketball shoes in general. For me, it always comes down to a few basic things:
Fit and Comfort: Gotta feel right. Can’t be too tight or too loose. If you’re playing, you’ll feel it pretty quick if the comfort isn’t there.
Support: Especially around the ankle. Don’t want to be rolling an ankle because the shoe is flimsy.
Grip: This is a big one. You need that traction on the court. I remember seeing info that basketball shoes often have those herringbone patterns on the bottom. That’s supposed to help you stick, cut, and move without sliding all over the place. Makes sense.
Nike, Adidas, Under Armour… they all have their thing. Jordan brand is obviously huge. But seeing guys like Hayes in Puma makes you wonder how they stack up on these points. Are they comfortable? Do they grip well? You can only tell so much from pictures.
Anyway, that was my little project for the afternoon. Started with seeing Hayes play, ended up digging into Puma basketball shoes and thinking about what makes a good shoe for the court. Just thought I’d share the process. It’s always interesting to see what gear these pro guys trust when they’re playing at that level.
