Nike Giannis Immortality 5 review

The Giannis Immortality 5 should definitely be on your wish list if:

• You're looking for a cheap Nike pair that looks and feels premium.
• Traction is your number one priority in a hoop. No questions asked!
• You need something durable and supportive to enjoy your games to the fullest.

If you need the best of the best impact protection, please forget about the Immortality 5, or your joints won't forgive you. You might have to spend quite a bit more, but that's the price to pay for premium protection! Our proposal is the PUMA All Pro Nitro 2, which is not crazy expensive yet offers great cushioning.

And the same goes for energy return! Some premium features are more expensive than others, but if you're looking forward to that enjoyable bounciness, the LeBron Witness 9, another Nike takedown shoe, might be your cup of tea!

To be honest, we've decided to stop expecting insane impact protection from the Immortality line, yet our joints still felt protected. At 95 SA at the heel and 79 SA at the forefoot, this 5th iteration doesn't offer otherworldly shock absorption, but it's definitely enough to enjoy any and every game.

The lower energy return of this Nike pair just shows where the brand cut corners. Even though the overall feel and the insanely cool aesthetics of the Immortality 5 scream "performance", its poor bounce gives it away at only 48.5/48.4% at the forefoot and heel, respectively.

So, Nike, about those "bouncy forefoot" claims... we're afraid we gotta disagree. Like, a lot. Really.

At a standard 29.6 mm, this shoe has a fairly tall heel stack that protected us from the court without isolating our feet.

The forefoot is slightly taller than average, reaching a total of 23.5 mm. Due to the lower shock absorption we felt and registered, we really appreciated this extra height.

After doing our math, we've concluded that this Giannis pair features a 6.1 mm drop, which is an average result. In other words, your feet will feel right at home!

We can't quite understand why Nike, a brand that usually shows off its technologies with no regrets, decided to stay quiet about which type of foam they used for the Immortality 5... But ah well, we're here to tell you as much as we can about it! With a durometer reading of 40.6 Ac, please don't expect anything as soft as a cloud.

When Nike talks about "double stacked foam", we believe it's about the previously mentioned one and the carrier one, which you can spot at the heel in a black color.

When we analyzed it, our durometer returned 47.0 AC, which means it's even firmer than average; just as expected from a carrier foam! Just in case its solid design wasn't enough, this takedown version features a top shank!

To us, the Immortality 5 has a... polarizing fit. Once we had our gel replica ready, we started measuring it. Our caliper returned 92.3 mm, which is slightly lower than average!

Nevertheless, our caliper returned a higher-than-average score at the toebox: 70.5 mm! This is definitely unusual coming from a Nike shoe.

The toebox height is just average, at 23.8 mm. Yet the material does stretch out a bit!

The insanely good traction we felt during our wear tests just makes the fact that this is a takedown iteration hard to believe. With an amazing score of 0.84, this Giannis pair's grip is over the top!

This shoe's outsole design just follows the Giannis logo in undulating shapes that work wonders when it comes to traction. A simple design with such a premium value!

What we didn't really expect from this Nike shoe was this level of stiffness. At 31.8N, some break-in might be needed before you can start enjoying smoother transitions.

At 13.5 oz/383g, the Immortality 5 is unfortunately heavier than its predecessor, which was slightly disappointing. It's not like it dragged our feet at all, but we didn't expect the brand to take a step back in something that was already great.

We have mixed feelings regarding stability. Laterally, it definitely wasn't the best of us. It might just be because we've tested so many insanely supportive shoes, though, but our forefoot felt like the upper wasn't completely stopping it.

Can you see it in the video above? Conversely, our midfoot and heel enjoyed wonderful support!

Nevertheless, it was the torsionally rigid structure of this Nike shoe that added that extra support for us to feel confident in every step. At 23.6 Nm, the Immortality 5 needs a proper warm-up before every game, just as much as you do!

With a solid 4/5 on our heel counter stiffness test, this Giannis shoe showed us how support and comfort can definitely work together!

The wider platform of the Giannis Immortality 5 makes up for its softer upper, reaching a wonderful width of 121.4 mm. Surpassing our lab's average by a mile!

The heel follows the same philosophy, offering a very spacious platform of 100.7 mm to help the forefoot in complicated rebound landings.

Okay, with a fantastic 4/5 in our durability test, who would ever think this is a takedown version from Nike?

And the heel is just as durable! Scoring another 4/5, we have no complaints here.

The outsole was the cherry on top of our durability cake, as it only lost 0.9 mm of rubber, which is pretty neat for such a cheap shoe!

With a higher-than-average thickness, this shoe's outsole stands at 4.5 mm, so we didn't have to worry about its durability.

If the higher weight was taking a step back, then the lower ventilation is a whole hoop!

Please forget about wearing the Immortality 5 when it's hot if you want your feet to breathe. We're giving this sauna a 1/5 only.

Airflow aside, look at how cool (and tightly woven) the upper is! This colorway is just something else, really.

Most likely trying to reduce the overall weight of the Giannis Immortality 5, Nike decided to put some extra padding only where you usually tighten up your laces, reaching a score of 8.3 mm in our caliper.

A semi-gusseted tongue is another high-quality detail that we can enjoy for such a low price thanks to this Giannis hoop!

The 4.4 mm of this Nike's insole adds some extra cushioning to its overall feel.

But it's removable! Just be careful with its... peculiar shape if you want to change it, as it tapers quite a lot, yet it suddenly broadens in the midfoot transition.

This fingerloop is both functional and stylish, as its design matches really well the shoe's vibe.

If you want a basketball shoe with a takedown price but a premium feel, here it is! For only $85, the Giannis Immortality 5 features wonderful traction, a very durable design, a speedy feel, a supportive shank, and the coolest vibe and aesthetic ever. This really is a bargain!