From their $495 price tag to whether they were responsible for Lonzo Ball having ankle problems at the start of Las Vegas Summer League before they were ultimately redesigned, Big Baller Brand’s ZO2 sneakers have been a hot topic for discussion among Los Angeles Lakers fans and the NBA as a whole.
That said, it’s been hard to learn specifics about the shoes, as most opinions on them are anecdotal. To that end, the YouTube show “What’s Inside” decided to order the $1,000, signed version of Ball’s signature shoe and try to figure out what exactly makes them tick.
The primary criticism levied by the show’s two hosts before cutting the shoe in half (yes, seriously) to see what’s inside was that the sole wasn’t very “grippy,” or didn’t seem to grip the floor in the same way that other shoes they’ve tested like Nike’s line for Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry’s signature shoe from Under Armour.
Additionally, they spoke about how the ZO2 sports the same frame and design as the “Future Legend Low” shoes from BrandBlack, a Sketchers-funded start-up that helped Big Baller Brand produce the shoe. That shoe retails for a much more respectable $120.
Once the hosts chopped the shoe in half, they were able to show that the soul was also basically just one solid piece of rubber, which isn’t quite as high-tech as Nike shoes that have things like air pockets and tensile fibers in order to improve the performance of the shoe.
Whether or not criticisms like that will affect the sale of the shoe or the way normal people feel when they wear it is unknown.
But for those who want to see the entire guts of a ZO2 sneaker and/or just see what it looks like to cut one in half, they can check out the entire video for a unique look at the oft-discussed sneaker of arguably the most important member of the Lakers’ young core.
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