Our Favorite Performance and Retro Basketball Sneakers for the New NBA Season

Our Favorite Performance and Retro Basketball Sneakers for the New NBA Season

We get you ready for the 2023-24 NBA season with the best performance and retro basketball sneakers on the market this fall.

Matt DeSciora

Now that the dust has settled on an exciting offseason, a new NBA season officially begins tonight. As you would expect following a flurry of moves that saw Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Chris Paul, and others change teams over the summer, not to mention all the other interesting storylines happening around the league, basketball fans have been waiting patiently for the NBA’s return. As for us? We’re just as excited as anyone to see how the season plays out. But we’ve also been waiting to see all of the great sneakers that will be on NBA courts this season!

Nike has already begun releasing colorways of LeBron James and Kevin Durant’s new signature shoes, the Nike LeBron 21 and the Nike KD 16, respectively. Puma has also been releasing new colorways of Charlotte Hornets’ star LaMelo Ball’s new signature sneaker, the Puma MB.03, since the summer. Moreover, there has been a ton of hype surrounding WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu’s new Nike Sabrina 1, and it’s expected that the sneaker will be on the feet of more than a few NBA players this season.

Not only are brands getting creative with current star’s signature shoes, but they are also looking back to the past by releasing new colorways of classic models like the Air Jordan 12, the adidas Crazy Infinity, and the Nike Air Max CB34.

Clearly, there’s a lot of interest in basketball sneakers at the moment, and that has inspired us to look into our inventory to find our favorite performance and retro basketball sneakers in celebration of the new NBA season.

So, without further ado, here are our selections for the best basketball shoes—new and retro—right now.

Performance Basketball Sneakers

Nike KD 16 “Ember Glow”

Now in its sixteenth edition, Kevin Durant’s Nike KD line continues to be among the most popular signature collections in basketball. An early favorite of the new Nike KD 16 colorways is the “Ember Glow,” otherwise known as the “Triple Red.” The shoe’s all-red look calls back to the “All-Red-Everything” trend in sneakers that happened back when a younger KD was hooping for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the early 2010s.

Nike LeBron 21 “Akoya”

As LeBron James continues to deny the odds for a player who has played in as many games and logged as many minutes as he has at his age, his Nike LeBron signature line continues to draw rave reviews with each new model. The new Nike LeBron 21 is already a hit among sneaker collectors thanks to colorways like the “Akoya.”

Women’s Nike Sabrina 1 “Iconic”

Simply put, the Women’s Nike Sabrina 1 is one of the most exciting new sneakers out right now. Both collectors and hoopers alike have been singing the shoe’s praises, and it’s easy to see why because of colorways like the “Iconic.” The shoe is easy to style off the court, and ultra comfortable and supportive on it.

Nike Kobe 8 Protro “Halo”

It’s not a performance shoe, it’s not a retro, it’s both! Also known as the “Triple White,” the Nike Kobe 8 Protro “Halo” represents the first colorway of the late Kobe Bryant’s Nike Kobe shoe to release following Nike’s new agreement with Kobe’s estate. Keep an eye out for even more great Nike Kobe sneakers in the future, including a new Nike Kobe 6 Protro “Reverse Grinch” colorway that is set to be one of the biggest sneaker releases of Holiday 2023.

Puma MB.03 “GutterMelo”

LaMelo Ball has the most exciting new signature shoe line in basketball. Don’t believe us? Just check out the hype around the new Puma MB.03 “GutterMelo,” a collaboration between Puma and the popular NFT collective known as Gutter Cat Gang.

Retro Basketball Sneakers

Air Jordan 1 High OG “Mauve”

The Air Jordan 1 is back for another season. This fall, Jordan Brand is unleashing Michael Jordan’s original signature model in a new “Mauve” colorway that places muted purple overlays on a crisp white leather base that gives the shoe a versatile appearance.

AMBUSH x Nike Air More Uptempo Low “Black/White”

No signature shoe from the past has seen more love from more collaborators than Scottie Pippen’s Nike Air More Uptempo. Just recently, another brand, this time AMBUSH, the luxury jewelry brand headed up by Yoon Ahn and Verbal, collaborated with Nike on the first-ever low-top version of the beloved hoops shoe that retains the model’s original, graffiti-inspired “Air” branding.

Nike Air Max2 CB94 “Baroque Brown”

Next year marks the 30th anniversary of Charles Barkley’s Nike Air Max2 CB94 and, to celebrate, Nike is bringing the shoe back in new and retro colorways alike. One of the more unique releases has been the “Baroque Brown” style that places different shades of the earth tone hue on the classic hoops model.

adidas Crazy Infinity “Chalk”

Originally called the adidas KOBE back when a young Kobe Bryant wore the sneaker in the NBA, the adidas Crazy Infinity updates the super cool, super futuristic, Audi TT Roadster-inspired basketball shoe with a few new features. One of our favorite new colorways of the renamed, repackaged shoe is the “Chalk” seen here.

Air Jordan 12 “Cherry”

The Air Jordan 12 “Cherry” is back. Why is that significant? The colorway, which was regularly worn by Jordan throughout the 1996-97 NBA season, has only been released three times in its history: 1997, 2009, and 2023. Now that’s “Rare Air.”

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