The Nike LeBron Witness 7 is a very decent performance basketball shoe. It’s an especially good choice if you’re looking for an outdoor option.
Release Date: 2022
Price: $115
The Nike LeBron Witness 7 has a very high standard to live up to. The Nike LeBron Witness 6 was one of the best budget and outdoor models last season, and the LeBron 20 is shaping up to possibly be the best overall basketball shoe of this season. It’s tough being a LeBron model these days.
At first glance tech-wise, not a lot has changed from last year’s model. We have the same cushioning setup and traction pattern, the same midsole, and similar lateral lockdown pieces in the midfoot. But also at first glance, a lot has changed aesthetically.
It’s surprising to see how different looking the Nike LeBron Witness 7 is while keeping the same tech as the 6. The design is very off-white-esque, going for a more deconstructed, industrial vibe. The materials used on the shoe are another main difference. The weave of the textiles on the upper is now a grid, we have some new synthetic leather details, and the cut of the shoe is slightly higher.
I personally like the changes made to this shoe, but let’s jump into the performance details to see why.
Traction
The traction, as in the Witness 6 is beefy, grippy, and works great. You have a deeply set, full-length herringbone traction pattern which gives you great multidirectional coverage. The rubber of the sole is tough and tacky which makes the Nike LeBron Witness 7 a great outdoor option traction-wise.
Cushioning
Cushioning on the Nike LeBron Witness 7 is also great if you’re looking for an affordable max cushion setup. We have the same ¾ Air Max unit as in the Witness 6 that will give you a tone of impact protection. One thing to keep in mind is that you sit pretty high up in this shoe, and therefore, court feel is not a strong point. The cushion also takes some time to break in.
With my pair, I noticed at first that the Nike LeBron Witness 7 felt unstable and I even slightly rolled my ankle a couple of times. If you see the bottom of the shoe, you will see that right in the midfoot, the sole begins to thin, and you lose contact surface in that area, and you have a big slab of wobbling air right under your foot.
At the beginning of my testing, I even considered suggesting people avoid these shoes entirely. However, the more I played them, the more the shoe conformed to my foot, and the cushioning got more stable, to the point where this was no longer an issue.
Materials
Materials are the shoe’s biggest weakness. They are cheap and over-stretchy, especially in the toe box. I aesthetically really like the shoe and have even used them casually, but I would have liked some extra lockdown in the forefoot. If they had used the same materials as on the Nike Air Max Impact 4, the Nike LeBron Witness 7 might have snuck its way into our best overall basketball shoes for the year.
Support
As far as support goes, once the initial wobbling was resolved everything worked well. The lateral containment pieces help keep your foot in place on lateral movements, heel lockdown is on point, and the wide forefoot helps add stability in that area. Again, the materials on the toe box allowed for way too much movement in my opinion, but it didn’t make the shoe unplayable.
Fit
As far as fit goes, you can go true to size, and the one positive aspect of the stretchy forefoot is that I think the Nike LeBron Witness 7 will be a good option for wide-footers.
Nike LeBron Witness 7 Summary
Overall, I really did end up enjoying the Nike LeBron Witness 7. Especially as an outdoor option, I think it’s a really good performance basketball shoe. The durable and effective traction and top-notch impact protection are everything you could ask for from an outdoor hoop shoe. Plus they’re fairly priced, so when you inevitably bust them up it won’t hurt as much
They get extra points in my book thanks to their design. When I first saw pictures online, I didn’t love them, but once I had them in hand and on foot, I really dug them.
The Nike LeBron Witness 7 is a worthy follow-up to the Witness 6 and a solid sidekick to the LeBron 20.
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