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Odds on the Future of Nike’s Futuristic Self-Lacing Shoes

Sascha Paruk

by Sascha Paruk in College Basketball

Updated Mar 7, 2019 · 10:02 AM PST

Nike HyperAdapt BB shoes.
Nike's self-lacing basketball shoes aren't taking off due to issues with the associated app. Photo by Twitter user @TheSiteSupply.
  • Nike has developed self-lacing shoes, inspired by Back to the Future 2.
  • The release of the shoe and its associated app was more of a failure to launch.
  • Coupled with the recent Zion Williamson incident, is the sneaker giant skidding into March Madness? Not exactly.

Evidently, Nike’s footwear developers are big fans of Back to the Future 2. The sneaker giant is the first to market with self-lacing shoes inspired by the 1989 Michael J. Fox sequel.

The first iteration (HyperAdapt 1.0) was actually released back in 2016, but it cost $720 and, for obvious reasons, wasn’t a huge seller among the general public.

The second iteration (HyperAdapt BB) was supposed to be different. Not only was it less than half the price ($350), it was also touted as a high-performance shoe for honest-to-god basketball players.

The shoe has been tried out by a few NBA stars and one college basketball team, but it’s also suffered from serious technical issues. Before jumping into the full saga of the HyperAdapt BB, here are the odds SBD’s team of basketball junkies has calculated pertaining to the future of futuristic footwear.

SBD’s HyperAdapt BB Odds

PROP SBD’s ODDS
Odds any NCAA players wear the HyperAdapt BB during March Madness 2019 3/1
Odds a HyperAdapt BB breaks/malfunctions during March Madness 2019 32/1
Over/Under NBA players who wear HyperAdapt BB in a 2018-19 game 4.5
Over/Under Nike share price after Final Four (Apr. 8, 2019) $87.49

As you can see, we don’t see the shoe catching on in the pros or college just yet, but we don’t see Nike — whose reputation also took a hit from a recent shoe-splosion at the college level — suffering from the slow uptake either.

Nike’s Vision for the HyperAdapt BB

The HyperAdapt BB was going to be a game-changer: revolutionary tech that could actually bang on the boards, slash to the hoop, and be the launch pad for the next Jayson Tatum posterization.

As Mark Bain reported in January, “Nike staff noted that an independent study by the University of Denver found the Adapt BB reduced the foot’s movement inside the shoe by up to 40%. Jordan Rice, the senior director of Nike smart systems engineering, compared the Adapt BB to Nike’s Zoom Vaporfly 4%, a running shoe that … reduced the amount of energy runners used by 4%, allowing them to run faster for longer.”

“Nike staff noted that an independent study by the University of Denver found the Adapt BB reduced the foot’s movement inside the shoe by up to 40%.” — Mark Bain, QZ.com

That’s not how it’s played out so far, though. Nike developed an app in conjunction with the shoe, and the app was supposed to allow the wearer to control the tightness of the shoes remotely while also saving preferred settings.

No more bending, stooping, and fiddling.

Just one problem (and it’s a big one): the latest version of the app doesn’t work, like at all.


The malfunctioning app has completely derailed the HyperAdapt BB and, unfortunately for Nike, the app malfunction isn’t the only disaster its sustained recently.

In late February, future #1 NBA draft pick Zion Williamson was injured when his Nike PG 2.5s fell apart mid-spin.


The two events sent Nike’s share price down almost 2%.  That might not sound like a lot, but when your company is worth more than $100 billion, it equates to a loss of well over $1 billion.

Don’t feel bad for Nike, though. The loss was incredibly short-lived. The share price hit an all-time high of $87.99 on March 4th. And it’s looking pretty likely that, in time, the HyperAdapt BB will be a bona fide option for elite ballers.

Among the college ranks, the Kentucky Wildcats became the first NCAA team to wear the shoe back in February.

It doesn’t appear that any other teams have done so, however, and there’s no indication that UK will risk wearing the shoes during March Madness.

Hagans, a freshman guard known for his motor, actually took them off mid-game.

When it comes to NBA players, Tatum isn’t the only star who’s donned the HyperAdapt BBs already. Rookie of the Year favorite Luka Doncic wore them when his Dallas Mavericks played San Antonio. Sacramento sophomore De’Aaron Fox is an early adopter, as well.

But don’t expect the HyperAdapt BB to become a widespread phenomenon in the Association this year, not with the current app issues.

The NBA has a bundle of rules surrounding use of the shoes in-game, and with the extant app problems, they will likely be deemed too risky by most players.

“[T]he lights that appear on the midsole are not allowed to be lit up [and p]layers will be prohibited from using the app to adjust their shoes on the sidelines during games … [T]hey will be allowed to manually dial in their fit via the shoe’s midsole buttons during timeouts.” — Mike Destefano, SoleCollector.com

Have you spotted the HyperAdapt BBs on any other college or pro players? Do you think this next wave in sneaker tech will be the new normal in the near future? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter.

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