Funnily enough I've never sprained my ankle wearing Kobe's. With the D-Rose mid/high tops I've destroyed my ankle so badly I couldn't walk for a week. Take it with a grain of salt, but ankle support doesn't matter if the shoe design is so horrible it lends itself to constant ankle sprains. The Kobes have a great shoe design.
different preferences for different people. in your case kobe's are best for you as you may not be as prone to sprain your ankle as someone else that plays differently than you.
I also like and play in Kobe 7s. Maybe partly psychological but the wider forefoot area seems to prevent or at least lessen the chance of Ankle roll. At least year you could buy an add-on Ankle brace but I never felt the need. My daughter likes and plays in hyperdunks which seem good too.
Ive played in Nikes and Adidas my whole life. I can't say I've tried Under Armour yet, Reebok just doesnt do it for me, anything else (excluding Starbury) is subpar. Each shoe would depend on what type of player you are. I play post, so I loved the adidas TS Commander (Tim Duncan, KG, etc) Nike HyperAggressor has been great for me lately. I also liked the Hyperdunk lows.
This thread is cursed. I just played some pickup games outside and sprained my ankle in my Kobe's. First time I sprained an ankle in these shoes.
nobody makes a more comfortable shoe than Asics. They quit making bball shoes but you can still find some on the interwebz. I just buy their xtraing shoes for hooping. Can not go wrong with Asics and their gel.
Kobe's offer AWESOME ankle support, just because a shoe is a "low top" doesn't mean it can't be great in the way of ankle support. The heel clip or whatever they call it in the Kobe is amazing, the foot feels so secure but not overbearing.
i wouldn't call it "AWESOME" low tops do not have the support of the ankles as mid/high tops. that's the just the nature of the shoe.
The ankle support of a high top is some what over blown. If you were going to have a serious ankle sprain the high top isn't going to prevent it. You can have high tops, an ankle brace and tape and still sprain your ankle. You can also risk injuring another part of your leg if the ankle can't turn and your acl or knee or some other part of your leg takes the force of the inversion instead. There have been studies that suggest that high tops can reduce the chance of inversion on lesser sprains but there are also studies that suggest that high tops can cause you to have less mobility, strength and functional ankle joint stability, and have no effect on maximum inversion sprains. With a low top you are engaging a full range of motion during your normal movements, which can help strengthen your natural ankle support, where as restricting that natural movement can have the opposite effect.
lol theres no right or wrong answer here. no need to try and support claims here. its all about personal preference
I like under armour basketball shoes [as well as running shoes]. I only recently discovered that I like under armour's ugly shoes, maybe within the past year or so. I was told that under armour was making quite the investment in their shoe department so I decided to give them a try. I love both of my under armour pairs so far.
Of course it's all preference as far as comfort, and looks go, but if your preference is due to concerns about ankle sprains, then you should know that the protection provided by high tops is not as great as many people believe. The full range of motion provided by a good low top made for basketball can help you strengthen your ankle joints, which can also help prevent ankle sprains. If you have a severe ankle sprain, it's going to happen regardless of whether you are wearing a high or low top. Low top isn't better, but it isn't significantly worse either. This is one of the most recent studies published on Feb. 18, 2014:
Totally agree, these were my favorite shoes. I need to get another pair. I have been wearing Air Max the last 6 months. They're heavy and boxy, don't like them at all. I wore D Roses before, the sides were too narrow. Melos before those cut into my heal really bad. I've had some other random shoes in between, but nothing was ever close to how comfortable the Kobes were. I too am looking to buy some new shoes. I ripped the Air Max last week (wahoo!), but I'm kinda broke so right now I just have them wrapped in athletic tape, haha.
