Nike Kyrie 7

Materials: 

When it comes to material use for the upper, Nike went on a material shopping spree with the Kyrie 7 compared to last year's model. It has the same full-length mesh tooling as Kyrie's budget line (Kyrie Low, Flytrap, or Kybrid), but it lacks the spectacular rare half made of genuine leather or suede on the 6's.

While the in-hand sensation isn't worthy of a position on a trademark shoe, the on-foot sense was very different. Having said that, a paper-thin mesh arrangement distributed across the upper body allows for a flexible/adaptive welcome from the start. Though the break-in process is still present, it is a short and painless one, lasting around one to two days for a complete adaptation to your foot.

Cushion: 

Nothing has changed on paper, yet it still seems different. It's only a notch, but it's enough to notice, and it shouldn't affect any sort of player who loved the previous two editions. Unless your feet are really fussy.

The Zoom Air Turbo's forefoot supremacy remains unaffected. However, Nike appears to have used a Zoom Air Turbo restriction to prevent us from having a genuine Air experience in terms of step-in comfort. It might be due to a firmerthicker caging surrounding it, or something has altered inside the foam itself; I'm not sure. Fortunately, once you reach it in a real game with actual contact, the forefoot begins to operate the way I've been used to for the last two years. So there's no need to be upset. But, I'm not going to lie, the first encounter terrified me.

On the other hand, the rare end has become softer and more compression-friendly than ever before. Not because of increased foam or altered softness, but for additional cut out (flex zone if so). So, theoretically, the same technology with a little tweaked execution provides greater impact protection. Smart thinking.

Traction: 

The swoosh brand went to great lengths to record a slew of athletes' actions, pressure locations, and other vital data in order to create the computer-generated traction pattern. That extra time spent was well spent.

No matter how bad your game is, this traction setup will force you to bring your A-game every time. Just a short note: the rubber, like the upper, takes a few laps to soften up and start beasting regardless of where you take them.

Because of the widely and deeply spread grooves, dust was never a concern for me during the testing time. That also contributed to a longer life span for outdoor use, which I think is pretty nice.

Fit: 

If you don't want an extreme one-on-one fit where your fingers are only a few head hairs away from touching the toe box, go a half size higher. If you have broad feet, you should immediately move up a size. If it doesn't work, just ignore them this time. Instead, I recommend checking out the Nike Cosmic Unity — the unofficial Kyrie x KD hybrid. Also, this year's biggest fave thus far.

On the court, the Kyrie 7 feels exactly like any other Kyrie out there, with one exception... They've lost a little of their DNA by acquiring a flatter base around the margins. However, Nike did not soften the midsole's renowned curve too much, as you can still pull up some pretty sharp edges. However, it will not be as buttery smooth and fluent as in previous generations. So it's one of those win-lose scenarios.

Support: 

 

So the primary story here revolves around the Kyrie 7's lack of a torsional plate. Nike disguises this as an attempt to make an already lightweight basketball series even lighter. That certainly does not make sense, especially when such a crucial component as a torsional plate is removed. That being said, I, like Nightwing and many others on Reddit, believe this is merely Nike's way of saying, "We're cost-cutting your butts."

When it comes to putting it into practice, I'm not much of a shot maker who makes wild maneuvers. As a result, I didn't see the necessity for increased torsional stiffness. That's why I'd like to hear other ballers with varied play styles whether they've had a similar problem.

Aside from that, the Kyrie 7 has a normal support load-out that performed admirably for me. I even preferred the flaps attached to the lacing method over the strap because they cover a larger region of your feet once laced up.