The Official Jordan XXXI Thread

[nuclear90]

They are great for casual.

Comfortable for all day wear. Look good on foot.

My wife complimented the Banneds and she hates my taste in shoes.

 

[rfx45]

I do find it weird that NBA players has a solid sole, could it really be for traction?

These guys play in squeaky clean that you could eat off of it floors so you would think the clear sole would suffice, no?

 

[ajny88]

They don't wanna just suffice though. My thing is, if they know that the solid outsole is better, than why so few solid outsole colorways?

 

[spoonmanofthehour]

View media item 2282978Those lace tips look like max orange to me.[emoji]9785[/emoji]️

Come on, kemizie, you can barely see them.

 

[rfx45]

Well "suffice" doesn't necessarily mean mediocre, I just mean it works and plenty of regular guys get decent to good traction with the clear sole on less than stellar courts so on a very well maintained hardwood, I don't think it would be a problem at all.

And as mentioned here before, plenty NBA players play in retros and even non basketball shoes and be perfectly fine with their performance.

To me, it just seems like the clear soles would have to be so bad that even on the spotless floors the players would look like they're ice skating.

Just my curious mind I guess.

I am even more curious and want to hear from Russy himself why he continues to have the 30 midsoles on his 31s?

 

[kemiza]

Come on, kemizie, you can barely see them.

Spoonie! I thought you tapped out on the 31's.

 

[tacowatch]

Interesting stuff guys. Thanks for the info! I have a pair of Kyrie 2s and Lebron 12s that work just fine but with it being the new year, I want a new shoe lol. The league is pretty casual and I will be using it as a way for me to get in my cardio so maybe the 31s will be just fine.

 

[spoonmanofthehour]

Spoonie! I thought you tapped out on the 31's.

Nope, not yet. There is still a flicker.

 

[woody23]

Cool. Cause I wanted a pair of the 31s and with the sale on the Chicagos down to 125 on the link posted above, I want to scoop.

edit: read reports of issues with traction. Is it really that bad?

Thanks!

It's not the best and it's not the worst. I played on a pretty dusty floor at 24 hour fitness and was actually trying to cut hard to see if I could get them to slip. Only got them to slide a little once.

 

[bigjny88]

 
Interesting stuff guys. Thanks for the info! I have a pair of Kyrie 2s and Lebron 12s that work just fine but with it being the new year, I want a new shoe lol. The league is pretty casual and I will be using it as a way for me to get in my cardio so maybe the 31s will be just fine.

The 31s might be ok for workout shoes, if you're just using them for treadmill and basic weight training stuff.

Otherwise, proceed with caution on the court itself.

 

[gothmog]

 
The Black Toe 31 coming out next week, after seeing the LATEST PICS...............they are definitely NOT "orange."

It is true Red in the bloody eye, like the Red on the Black Toe 1s.

best 31s after the banneds 

 

[Tony $now]

I'm looking for a new hoop shoe. Is the traction on the clear soles really as bad as the reviews state? Or should I just wait and grab the rubber outsole version?

 

[bigjny88]

 
best 31s after the banneds 

They definitely make up for that "Chicago" release a couple of months ago..........these were the Black Toes 31s I envisioned to be released alongside the OG Black Toe 1s back in November, not that "subpar" Chicago colorway we got.

 

[ajny88]

Well "suffice" doesn't necessarily mean mediocre, I just mean it works and plenty of regular guys get decent to good traction with the clear sole on less than stellar courts so on a very well maintained hardwood, I don't think it would be a problem at all.

And as mentioned here before, plenty NBA players play in retros and even non basketball shoes and be perfectly fine with their performance.

To me, it just seems like the clear soles would have to be so bad that even on the spotless floors the players would look like they're ice skating.

Just my curious mind I guess.

I am even more curious and want to hear from Russy himself why he continues to have the 30 midsoles on his 31s?

Yea I mean why have decent to good traction when you could have something better on the same shoe? Why else would Russ switch outsoles? To get equal to worse traction?

Also people (not you) sleep on retros like they weren't the most tech advanced basketball shoe in the world every year for 14 years. And the best traction I've ever experienced was the Jordan 1.

I find all Jordan retros to have good traction except the 7.

 

[rfx45]

Well I think Westbrook actually prefers the unlocked zoom on the 30s over the full zoom on the 31s and not really for traction reasons..

And while I have no problems with retros, I do not merely mean traction but overall quality. Like PJ Tucker seems to be using general release, I don't think he is a big enough player with a good fanbase to be getting his own retroes that are far better built and dude pulls out retroes that are like 10 years old at times.

Plus yes those shoes were advanced when they first came out... but that was when they first came out.

I think you are honing in too much to the traction and that they'd be looking for something worse if they wore the version with clear sole, majority of these players probably get it with a solid outsole without requesting, chances are these guys won't have problem with the traction because they play on perfect hardwoods.

Jeff Green was playing in XXXIs w/ clear soles at times and it wasn't until recently til Biyombo got some PEs (along with other players iirc), I think he was mostly playing with GR version for the most part of the year.


And as for my reference with retroes or non-bball shoes (like Thabo playing in AirMax), the point was some of these NBA guys could play in anything and still perform on NBA level.


At the end of the day, this discussion is probably moot and anyone who wants to try them should just, well, try them and if they slip and crack their skull then at least they'll be able to get that 20% off code from NDC

 

[vettez06]

Yea I mean why have decent to good traction when you could have something better on the same shoe? Why else would Russ switch outsoles? To get equal to worse traction?

Also people (not you) sleep on retros like they weren't the most tech advanced basketball shoe in the world every year for 14 years. And the best traction I've ever experienced was the Jordan 1.

I find all Jordan retros to have good traction except the 7.

Russell not only has different outsoles, he also has different cushioning. Maybe it's the cushioning in the 31's that he doesn't like and not the outsoles. He plays on perfect courts so traction shouldn't be an issue.

Regarding retros, they no longer make them for "Basketball", that's why most don't look at them as performance shoes.

 

[ajny88]

Why do you think JB would give them a solid outsole without asking when the regular versions pretty much all come with clear? Even more to my point that JB knows there's a difference and still makes the majority of the outsoles clear for some reason.

Haven't heard anyone complain about the full length zoom, plenty of negative reviews on the traction though. If anything I'd assume that it was both, look at the Kyrie 2; they'd rather give you a different cushion in the same shoe than Frankenstein a shoe for a player.

Just curious, why do you think the zoom is more likely the issue (have heard this from others)?

 

[ajny88]

Russell not only has different outsoles, he also has different cushioning. Maybe it's the cushioning in the 31's that he doesn't like and not the outsoles. He plays on perfect courts so traction shouldn't be an issue.

Regarding retros, they no longer make them for "Basketball", that's why most don't look at them as performance shoes.

No, they still make them for basketball. Plenty of NBA players and maybe even more college players still use them.

Like I said before, with all the complaints of traction and none about the cushion I've heard, why do you think it's more likely the cushion?

I actually see Russ slip more than most players, regardless of his shoes for some reason (because he's such a beast prolly.)

 

[rfx45]

Some of the complaints about the traction is actually due to the cushion too because the way it is set-up, the unlocked zoom protrudes above a bit so the sole isn't as flat.

As for why JB gives them a solid sole outside of traction... well that was exactly my question if there is another reason because I do believe clear sole + clean court and traction wouldn't be an issue.

Might be one of those cases where JB simply do not want to give the general public what NBA players wear? I mean they already do that to most of the best colorways so it's not far fetch where they just put solid outsole in there.

Again I am just not 100% convinced it is mainly just for traction, that is all.

 

[ajny88]

Some of the complaints about the traction is actually due to the cushion too because the way it is set-up, the unlocked zoom protrudes above a bit so the sole isn't as flat.

As for why JB gives them a solid sole outside of traction... well that was exactly my question if there is another reason because I do believe clear sole + clean court and traction wouldn't be an issue.

Might be one of those cases where JB simply do not want to give the general public what NBA players wear? I mean they already do that to most of the best colorways so it's not far fetch where they just put solid outsole in there.

Again I am just not 100% convinced it is mainly just for traction, that is all.

That's legit. Even though I think it's just from traction, if I'm right it would be very surprising that the clear doesn't even work on the pristine NBA courts. Though it could be from all the sweat they deal with? I have no clue really.

 

[yrok1986]

This pic is a YROK Exclusive. Georgetown women exclusive. Blue toe and Swoosh (men have white toe and Swoosh.)

View media item 2283923

 

[tacowatch]

Any suggestions for a basketball shoe then? If this is starting to get off topic, I can continue this else where if need be.

 

[ajny88]

Any suggestions for a basketball shoe then? If this is starting to get off topic, I can continue this else where if need be.

I've heard great things about the 31. What position do you play?

 

[turftoes]

 

I'm not sure if its been posted, but there's ~FSR for every cw on Champs website (Cosmos CW not available). Somehow, the only cw excluded from discount are the Banneds...

Thought u were saying every cw is on champs and a fsr. Fine prints? Didnt see em

I wasn't sure if Champs ever got the Fine Prints, but I see how that could cause confusion. My fault.

 

[onceyoupop]

Is there going to be a cool grey colorway?