Nike Giannis Immortality 3 review

We believe you should recruit the Giannis Immortality 3 and add it to your hooper team if you're looking for:

• A solid all-rounder that adapts to different playstyles.
• A supportive shoe with a springy midsole for quick plays.
• Smooth transitions and lateral movements for defense.
• Great value-for-money!

Even though the Giannis Immortality 3 is versatile enough to fit pretty much any kind of playstyle and position, we wouldn't recommend heavy or big centers to go for it. It's the same for hoopers whose playstyle relies on jumping a lot. Its soft cushioning bottoms out sooner than expected, and it might even end up making your joints suffer. If you don't want to spend a million dollars and you're looking for some superb impact protection, we believe you should have a look at the Nike Lebron Witness 7, which is a model from LB's budget line.

If you're a light and quick player and you're looking for something nimble that doesn't break the bank, the Nike Precision 7 might be a perfect fit. It offers a very breathable structure and high-quality materials, as well as improved stability and consistent grip. But the best part is that we felt really quick playing in it!

Once cut the shoe in half, we get access to so many different pieces. In this case, we grabbed our caliper and measured the heel stack.

At 29.7 mm, it's pretty much average. We can't say there's a lot of foam there, but it's definitely soft and it helped us smoothen up our landings.

The problem with the Immortality 3's cushioning is that... it kind of bottoms out after a while. Especially if you're big! In other words, if you use this shoe non-stop or if you're on the heavier/bigger side, it'll definitely feel like the cushioning is fading.

Nike used a little bit more foam in the forefoot in this 3rd iteration than in the Immortality 2, making it higher than the average for basketball shoes, too.

Our caliper returned 24.7 mm, which means this shoe focuses on comfort. Even though it's neither the most responsive pair out there nor the one that lets you feel the court under your feet better, we could feel the underfoot comfort that Nike was thinking about when softening things up.

And we loved it!

The heel and forefoot stacks are not very different in the Immortality 3, so it's got a 5.0 mm drop.

We can clearly see in the picture that this shoe is close to being flat. But don't worry, it doesn't feel like that when you put it on. In fact, apart from the soft foam, Nike has added a long shank that keeps the ride stable and supportive.

As we were hinting throughout the whole review, the Immortality 3 has a softer foam. And it's not only softer than the average, it's also softer than the one the Immortality 2 features.

At 23.9 HA, our feet were totally right when they had this almost kind of pillowy feeling going up and down the court. Nike used a chunk of Renew foam as the midsole of this shoe, which we found soft and kind of springy.

We really appreciated this, as the brand didn't include any of its top technologies in this model. But hey, we aren't complaining... the Immortality 3 is a budget shoe after all! We couldn't expect it to have Air Zoom or other similar technologies.

At 4.4 mm, our caliper verified the Immortality 3's insole is just average.

It goes in line with the whole shoe, so nothing super fancy. We will talk about this later on, but the good thing is that it's removable, so you can always change it if needed!

At 102.1 mm, our caliper indicated this Giannis pair has an average toebox width at the widest part.

As you can see, the tool is measuring the upper. That platform you see right under the claw is what we call sole flare. The sole flare is an extension of the material of the sole that enhances the stability levels of a shoe.

The toebox is just a little bit narrower than average at the big toe, as our caliper returned 76.0 mm.

This width was alright for our standard-sized feet. Our toes didn't feel too cramped, and we had a little bit of space, so it wasn't uncomfortable.

You can see it better in this picture. The toebox is not too pointy at the top, yet it does narrow down quite a bit, so we believe the Immortality 3 might not be the best choice for hoopers with quite wide feet.

Overall, the Immortality 3 offers good support. Its padded interiors, its snug lacing system with that extra eyelet on top for the runner's knot, and its tongue made the whole structure hug our feet comfortably.

Apart from the shank, this Nike doesn't include any specific stability features. Still, this shoe feels pretty supportive! During our wear tests, we didn't feel unsafe or unstable. So, even if it's not a crazy model with some over-the-top stability features, it does fairly well for its price!

Our torsional rigidity test just confirmed what we previously stated: the Immortality 3 doesn't include any specific stability technologies, yet it felt pretty stable to us during our wear tests.

One of the reasons why our feet felt safe and sound in this shoe is its high torsional rigidity. You can see it clearly in the video: our fingers tried to bend and twist this Nike, but it was pointless! Its structure worked hard to stay in place and not give in, so we gave the Immortality 3 a well-deserved 4/5 in our torsional rigidity test.

Its heel followed with another 4/5 in our heel counter stiffness test.

As you can see in the video, the sides give in, even if it's not as easily as in other models. So it's actually the heel itself holding the fort, doing its best not to bow down.

If we combine this structured back setting with a runner's knot, we get a pretty solid support around the heel area. Which is also protected by the Immortality 3's padded nature, so no hot spots!

There's something that we really loved about the Immortality 3. We've mentioned many times in the basketball world of RunRepeat how important it is to feel safe and confident when you're playing this sport, right? Well, out of the many features a shoe can include that can give you that feeling, a wide midsole is one of our favorites.

At 120.5 mm, this Giannis pair is way wider than average, surpassing even its predecessor.

This translated into incredibly stable landings. You know, after all, a wider midsole equals a wider platform to land after jumping! And what else could a hooper ask for?

But wait, we're not done just yet! The sole flare also acts as an armor for toe dragging. Yeah, we know there's some people who claim they don't drag their toes, and that might be your case too! But to the rest of us, toe-dragging hoopers, this is a wonderful feature.

Our caliper returned 94.2 mm, so the midsole width in the heel is also wider than average. Once again, we really appreciate this design choice from the brand. Even though it's important to land on your forefoot after jumping in order to protect your joints from direct impact, your heel comes second.

And trust us, having a wider landing platform helps... a lot!

Despite its high torsional rigidity, the Immortality 3 managed to get a score lower than average on our flex test: 35.5N.

During our wear tests, the shoe moved alongside our feet easily. This helped us a lot when we were playing, as we didn't feel anything stopping us from bending the ball of the foot as much as we needed for Euro steps, crossover steps, pump fakes... and anything in between.

The best part is that this Nike has a high torsional rigidity, which means its materials are supportive and protective; yet at the same time, its flexibility levels are perfect for quick and explosive moves, as it's a bendy shoe in the ball of the foot.

In summary, a budget all-rounder.

Honestly, we did feel pretty light playing in this. It's not like the Immortality 3 is super responsive or anything like that, so don't think about insane toe-offs or springy changes of direction. Its foam is a bit bouncy, yeah, but it's thanks to the overall low weight of the shoe that we were able to move easily around the court.

At 11.9 oz/337g, the Immortality 3 is a solid 14% lighter than average. This would be a great score if the Immortality 2 wasn't around. We did expect Nike to reduce the weight a little bit more, we're not gonna lie, as the previous version of this shoe marked 11.29 oz/320g on our scale.

Our feet didn't feel the difference, though. It's not the lightest shoe on the market, but it feels pretty nice on foot. Also, we could tell that this 3rd version was more padded and softer than the previous one, which we really liked! That's probably one of the reasons why the Immortality 3 is now heavier.

The Giannis Immortality 3 came to our lab ready to tell us all of its secrets. We started with our breathability test, so we grabbed our smoke machine, light, and microscope. Are you ready? Cause here we go!

Oh, won't you look at that! The Immortality 3 let some smoke get through its toebox and, as you can see, its sides also joined the airflow party. Compared to the Nike Book 1, which scored a 1/5 on our breathability test, we can assure you the Immortality 3 won't make your feet sweat that much.

Here in RunRepeat, we always cut shoes in half. In that way, we make sure we know even the tiniest detail of them! In this case, we grabbed our freshly cut upper and put it in front of a light. It shines in some points, showing that the mesh is less tightly woven. Also, if you pay close attention, the light goes all the way out in the curvature of the Swoosh.

Yep, that means breathability!

Regarding the upper, we can see mesh woven using different patterns. This shows that Nike crafted this shoe to give it durability and breathability, evening it out!

Overall, we gave the Giannis Immortality 3 a solid 3/5 in breathability. And honestly, we can't complain!

Our next test requires some Herculean resistance, we're not gonna lie! Our Dremel is ready to devour everything it encounters. Let's see if the Immortality 3 is actually immortal.

Our 12-second drilling session at 3.2N and a speed of 5K RPM was over in no time. And whilst we panicked when we saw the yellow threads flying around, we had faith this shoe would stand strong and show us the meaning of its name.

Well, we can't complain! The tool couldn't get through the material. Additionally, there's a protective layer on the edges, can you see it? Our Dremel didn't touch that, but it's definitely resistant to abrasion.

How do we know that, you ask? Well, because we've also done wear tests with the Immortality 3 and, after playing some streetball, we can confirm it: it's quite protective!

Anyway, if we compare the results of Giannis' 3rd model with the ones of the Nike Precision 6... the difference is pretty crazy. The Precision 6 got completely destroyed, earning no more than a 1/5 on our toebox durability test. So the 3/5 we gave to the Immortality 3 doesn't sound half bad anymore, does it?

It's really important for a basketball shoe (and pretty much every shoe, honestly) to have a durable heel. If you've played or watched this sport before, it's easy to understand why!

It's not just sweaty feet, quick and explosive moves, and crazy counter attacks. If you post-play, you'll definitely get your feet stepped on; if you're a shooter, you'll most likely go for fakes... just think about your heel going up and down constantly!

That's why we also use our Dremel in this test. But wow! If we didn't have recorded evidence, we might as well have thought we never used the tool to attach these Nikes' heel padding?

Spotting the damage here is harder than looking for a needle in a haystack! This is undoubtedly a perfect 5/5 in heel padding durability. That was clean, Immortality 3!

Just in case you need some extra proof where you can see our Dremel's destructive power, here is the Reebok Answer DMX and its disastrous 1/5 in heel padding durability.

We use a durometer to measure the hardness of the outsole, look!

At 84.9 HC, this shoe's outsole is just a little bit harder than average. Just not that much to make a big difference between traction and durability, so we believe the Immortality 3 offers a healthy mix of both.

We got our hands on the Dremel again, just one last time. Even though this test is slightly tougher than the other durability ones (toebox and heel), it's because the outsole of every basketball shoe has to withstand the constant abrasion of the court.

The attack lasted 22 seconds, at a speed of 10K RPM and a force of 3.2N. Once we lifted the tool, we had a look at the dent and measured it with our tread gauge.

It returned 1.2 mm, which means the damage is slightly higher than average. This makes us say that the Immortality 3 might not be the best shoe to play streetball with. Even though it might endure a couple of games or some casual hoops, it might die before you'd want it to!

Another reason why we believe this is not the best pair to play outdoors is that its outsole is 4.0 mm thick, according to our caliper.

Even though this is not a bad score or anything like that (it's just the average), the rubber didn't show the best durability on our Dremel test. And it's not like the shoe has a thick layer with loads of material to wear out indefinitely!

If you want to play some streetball, we believe you should check these hoopers out.

Let's now have a look at the Immortality 3's outsole.

Its multidirectional pattern bit well on pretty much every surface. It needed some break-in, but once we started rolling and rolling, we were pretty happy with the result. It's definitely not the grippiest hooper out there, but we'd say its performance is decent. No issues here!

Also, the two big flex grooves in the middle of the outsole give some extra flexibility for side-to-side moves, according to Nike. When we tested this, we could actually feel some help from it, but nothing game-changing.

This shoe doesn't have any reflective elements but, as a budget pair, it's not like we expected any!

At 5.5 mm, the tongue padding is nothing otherwordly.

Nevertheless, and once again, we would like to congratulate Nike on its smart choice. The padding is more abundant near the top of the tongue, which is where we tie our laces. This is meant to protect our instep from any kind of lace bite, and it worked!

Then the rest of the tongue is not super padded, probably to save up some weight. Still, our instep felt really comfortable, and we didn't have to deal with any kind of hot spot.

We thought Nike made the right choice when it went for a semi-gusseted tongue in the Immortality 3.

It gives some extra support, but it also gives the feet plenty of space to slide into the shoe comfortably. Even though it's easy thanks to its great features, let's not forget the Immortality 3 is a budget shoe... and gusseted tongues are not common among those!

And one of the features we love the most is the double eyelet at the top! This makes the shoe's overall support levels go up like crazy, allowing us to go for a safe runners' knot if needed.

There's a really cool finger loop at the back of this shoe that matches its aesthetics perfectly.

We're just using one finger in this picture but, as you can probably guess, there's plenty of space for more! As usual, we found this really convenient to put on and off the shoe.

We are huge fans of the freedom removable insoles give us as players (and we also love them as testers, of course). As long as the shoe's structure allows it, we can just swipe orthotics and find the one that works best with us!

The Immortality 3 is a clear example. You can easily use your own orthotics with it!