3 Best Basketball Shoes For Wide Feet in 2025
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Like any other type of shoes, basketball kicks work best if they fit perfectly. Unfortunately, there are quite a few wide-footed players who are forced to go at least half a size up just to fit the basketball shoes that they want.
But our extensive lan testing shows that some hoope shoes are in fact a bit more spacious than others and we can't stay quiet about it!
In this article, we gather the best basketball shoes for wide feet for your convenience and dive into the nitty-gritties of what makes a wide hoop shoe in the guide below.
How we test basketball shoes for wide feet
We have developed a unique way of measuring the internal dimensions of basketball shoes with the help of custom gel. It allows us to filter out the widest options, which then make it to this selection.
But fit is not the only parameter we check in the testing process. Each hoop shoe goes through a series of meticulous play tests and lab tests to claim its right as the best shoe for wide feet in a certain category.
We go as far as cutting each shoe in half, using calipers, durometers, a gel mold, and even specialized shoe testing machinery to assess every characteristic - shock absorption, energy return, stability, grip, flexibility, and more.
And to make the results even less biased, we buy all tested basketball shoes with our own money.
Best basketball shoes for wide feet overall
What makes it the best?
Reaching our number 1 is never easy, but it gets even harder if the shoe belongs to such a well-known brand as Adidas! After thoroughly analyzing it inside and outside our lab, we’ve decided the Dame 9 deserves our RR ring as the best hooper overall for wide feet.
Thanks to our super effective (and super nerdy) technique, we can now precisely measure the interior of every shoe that steps into our lab. We use our own gel to create a mold, and when we had the Dame 9’s replica, we grabbed our caliper and measured its width. With 95.4 mm at its widest part (average: 92.8 mm) and 71.0 mm at the big toe (average: 63.9 mm), we can happily say big feet have found their sole-mate!
The best part of this roomy fit is that the shoe’s midsole doesn’t fall behind. At 120.1 mm in the forefoot, our caliper stated it’s way wider than average! And even though the gap in comparison to the standard is not as big, the midsole’s width at the heel goes all the way up to 93.0 mm, surpassing the average too.
Despite being this spacious, we never found this Adidas unstable! It scored a perfect 5/5 on our stability test, so it protected our feet like a piece of armor on the court. Nevertheless, all this width and protection come with a price: the Dame 9 made our scale mark 14.71 oz/417g, which is higher than average.
Pros
- Incredibly stable
- Wonderful lockdown and secure feel
- Responsive ride
- Great impact protection
- Fantastic lateral containment
- Very comfortable
- No heel slippage
- Good traction on clean courts
- Good for wide feet
Cons
- On the heavier side
- Picks up dust
Basketball shoes for wide feet with the best traction
What makes it the best?
Every single shoe that gets the VIP pass to our lab has to endure a bunch of harsh and meticulous tests. Consequently, earning a title and a spot on this list ain’t any easy! So, congratulations Luka 3, you’re the wide hooper with the best traction we’ve tested so far.
Before anything else, let us tell you that we never felt this shoe had dead space inside during our wear tests. Its sturdy and stiffened-up build made sure our feet were safe and sound, with no slippage or any other weird moves. When we took this Jordan to our lab and created a mold of its interiors with our gel, its width at the widest point reached a wonderful score of 96.6 mm. And that’s not all, as our caliper returned 70.4 mm when we measured the Luka 3’s width at the big toe. Both measurements surpass the average pretty easily!
As we’ve just mentioned, there was no slippage inside this hooper… but there was none outside either! In fact, the Luka 3 bit the court like a hungry pup during our wear tests. Later on, we took it to our lab and tested it on our newest traction machine. With a great friction score of 0.77 in the forefoot, our lab data and experience match: consistent grip is a given with this pair!
Despite its fantastic traction, this shoe doesn’t feature strong toe-dragging protection at the forefoot, so we can’t really say you should use it to play streetball.
Pros
- Excellent traction
- Great support and lockdown
- Stable jumps thanks to the IsoPlate
- Good mix of impact protection and court feel
- Generously padded yet spacious interiors
- Comfortable in-shoe feel
- Good for wide feet
- Recycled materials
Cons
- Feels cheap for its price
- Doesn't have any specific Nike technologies
- Not for streetball
Best basketball shoes for guards with wide feet
What makes it the best?
The changes we’ve seen in the Curry line with this last model got us absolutely flabbergasted. Despite being wide enough to accommodate wider feet, during our wear tests we verified it feels really light and speedy on foot. That’s why we couldn’t choose any other hooper as our #1 for guards.
When we measured its width, our caliper returned an amazing 103.1 mm at the forefoot. Surpassing the average by quite a lot, we can see wide-foot hoopers loving this extra space. But that’s not all, as the toebox follows the same path with 79.9 mm! And thanks to the wider platform of this shoe, we never felt unstable or unsafe. At a whopping 118.3/96.0 mm at the forefoot and heel respectively, the Curry 11 has a massive landing platform, so we didn’t lose our balance even if our defenders hit us mid-air after a jump-shot.
Despite its roomier fit, this UA pair felt really quick during our play tests. At 12.0 oz/340g, our scale verified, as it’s way lighter than average (13.8 oz/391g). The brand also went for a lower stack height at 25.8/19.6 mm at the heel and forefoot. This translates into better move control and accuracy, which is perfect for most guards’ playstyle! And last but not least, another key point that makes the Curry 11 perfect for guards is its great foot containment.
Even though we all love the Chef, we can’t say his shoes are as resilient. This model ended up with an awful score on our outsole durability test, as our tread gauge returned 4.2 mm. If you even play outdoors with it, better say goodbye before your game even starts!
Pros
- Incredibly good traction
- Great mix of bounce and shock absorption
- Feels light and speedy on foot
- Wonderful heel lockdown
- Really padded and comfortable
- Pretty supportive overall
- Smooth transitions
- Good court feel
Cons
- Very weak outsole
- Not the most durable foam
How to tell if you need a wide basketball shoe
If you’ve landed on this page, you are most likely familiar with some or even all of the following issues:
- burning sensations, hot spots, or blisters on the sides of your feet
- pressure on top of your instep even when the laces aren’t cinched down
- getting a size bigger doesn’t help as the shoe feels longer but remains tight
These are the surefire signs that you need a roomier hoop shoe with more internal space in a regular D medium width or an alternative width like 2E wide or 4E extra wide.
But how can you tell if one basketball shoe offers more foot space than the other one without trying them both in person?
Measuring basketball shoe width in the lab
We have developed a proprietary approach to measuring the internal space of each hoop shoe with the help of custom gel.
First, we pour liquid gel into each shoe and leave it in the fridge until the mold solidifies (2 hours) and replicates the shoe’s internal shape. We then use a digital caliper to check the mold’s dimensions as precisely as possible.
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We approve a basketball shoe for wide feet based on its shoe width at the widest part. |
Our custom-made shoe holder/caliper detects the widest part of the shoe, touching the most protruding parts on both sides of the mold.
Having measured dozens of hoop shoe molds, we found the range to be as large as 10 mm! Here is what the narrowest and the widest basketball shoes look like in comparison:
This explains why you can buy the exact same size and still not get the same fit in different shoes.
Wide shoe or wide toebox?
There are quite a few basketball shoes that show regular width in the widest area but feel notably roomier around the toes. This happens when the shoe’s toebox shape is rounded and has no aggressive tapering towards the front.
The photo below shows how a tapered toebox (top) is different from a rounded one (bottom):
If you experience pressure, cramping, or numbing primarily in the toe area while the rest of the shoe fits just fine, you probably need a basketball shoe with a wide toebox and not a wide shoe per se.
To put a number on each shoe’s toebox width, we take another caliper measurement at the big toe. The wider this measurement is, the more accommodating and less pointy the shoe’s toebox is.
If that’s what you need, see our guide on the best basketball shoes with a wide toebox.
Wide widths in basketball shoes (2E/4E)
Unfortunately for wide-footed players, not many hoop shoes have a roomy fit in a standard D width. And that’s okay because it is meant to accommodate medium-width feet, after all.
If you feel like you could use more space all throughout the shoe, your best bet is to consider basketball shoes in alternative widths such as 2E wide or 4E extra wide.
However, not many brands provide these alternative widths and New Balance proves to be the most generous in this regard. But how much more space do you get in wider widths? This varies depending on the brand and the shoe.
According to New Balance’s detailed width chart, there is an additional 3-4 mm in its 2E width and an additional 6-7 mm in the 4E width (both compared to the D medium width). But please keep in mind that each shoe’s unique shape, upper design, and materials affect the fit a lot.
When is a basketball shoe too wide?
Despite their burly appeal, most basketball shoes actually have a pretty snug one-to-one fit which is intentional considering the dynamic nature of this sport.
Any unsanctioned wiggle room can result in one of the following (undesirable) situations:
- Heel slipping out of the shoe
- Foot and ankle shifting side-to-side increases the risk of ankle rolls
- Toes swimming inside the toebox, compromising secure grip and contact with the court
Basketball movements are less predictable than they are in walking, for example. So it is okay to have a bit snugger fit in a pair of hoop shoes compared to your daily sneakers.
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