6 Best Jordan Basketball Shoes in 2025

We are happy to see that the Jordan brand addressed the AJ39's drawbacks in the new Air Jordan 40, and the shoe now takes its well-deserved spot as the best Jordan shoe overall!

Built on a low-stack platform (25.4/20.5 mm), the AJ40 makes us feel grounded, balancing court feel with decent impact protection. The shoe’s energy return also keeps up with the category average at 64.6/63.6%, even though we expected much higher values from ZoomX foam.

The planted experience we get from the Jordan 40’s low profile is further enhanced by its raised midsole topline and sturdy upper materials, making the shoe impossible to twist (5/5 for torsional rigidity). Meanwhile, a stiff heel counter (4/5) minimises rearfoot shifting, and six pairs of webbed straps connect the laces to the sole, locking our feet in like a race car seat!

And the durability? As we anticipated from a £210 shoe, its upper and outsole materials showed excellent abrasion resistance in our Dremel tests! Not to mention their luxurious aesthetics!

A shoe that helps us to ace stepbacks, backdoor cuts, and jab steps like Luka Doncic himself? Yes, that’s the Jordan Luka 4, and we deem it the best Jordan basketball shoe for ankle support!

The core supportive element here is a subtle yet strong IsoPlate that prevents the foot from rolling over the shoe edge during powerful directional moves. It works with other stabilising features to achieve maximum torsional rigidity (5/5), preventing the shoe from twisting.

At the back of the shoe, an unyielding heel counter locks the heel and ankle in place to prevent undesirable shifting. And when we look at Luka 4 from behind, we can see the shoe tilting inward. It is an unconventional design choice that helps minimise ankle eversion, but may not sit well with all players.

We also noticed how the shoe’s low stack (26.6/19.0 mm) contributes to stability and makes the court feel quite pronounced. But the flip side is that cushioning properties like shock absorption and energy return fall slightly below average in this Jordan shoe.

How can a shoe provide maximum shock absorption (113/93 SA) with minimum stack height (25.2/18.7 mm)? The Zion 4 knows the secret and thus becomes a Jordan basketball shoe with the best shock absorption!

A mix of Air Zoom and Cushlon 3.0 works wonders not only for the shoe’s impact protection but also its energy return. Thoroughly enjoying its propulsive ride on the court, we also recorded above-average readings of 63.5% in the heel and 71.8% in the forefoot!

What’s more, the highly reliable ankle support and lateral stability of this Jordan shoe made our moves feel controlled. Not to mention its grippy outsole with a solid friction score of 0.71.

There is a lot to like about the Jordan Zion 4, but the shoe rains on its own parade with a constrictingly snug fit and narrow toebox.

With a moderate weight of 12.4 oz (352g), the Jordan Tatum 4 is more than an ounce lighter than the category average and is also the lightest Jordan basketball shoe to date.

The shoe’s low stack (24.8/17.0 mm) made us feel so close to the court that we were even surprised to measure its heel shock absorption at a normal 100 SA!

The Tatum 4 also feels quite manoeuvrable thanks to its decent forefoot flexibility. Requiring a little less force (18.1N) to bend by 30 degrees than an average hoop shoe, this Jordan flexes effortlessly with our foot.

Despite its lighter build, we saw no compromises in the Tatum 4’s durability! Both the upper material and the outsole rubber resisted our Dremel tests with flying colours, promising a long lifespan!

And while we can’t ask much from a lightweight hoop shoe with a moderate price point, we would appreciate slightly better traction and breathability in this Jordan shoe.

With the Jordan Luka .77, we don’t even stop and think about what pair to grab for streetball at the park. The brand hit a home run with this shoe’s formula, and it is now our ultimate basketball shoe for outdoor courts!

First and foremost, this kick is indestructible! Neither its synthetic leather toebox nor the textile inner lining showed major damage in our Dremel tests. And the outsole rubber stood out in particular, with a laughably shallow dent of 0.4 mm. That makes the Luka .77 well prepared for a rough encounter with concrete and asphalt!

Another nice surprise was this Jordan shoe’s exceptional outsole traction with one of the highest friction coefficients of 0.83! It made us feel glued to both hardwood and blacktop during our playtests!

And the Luka .77 doesn’t even sacrifice weight to provide these benefits! It is one of the lightest in our basketball shoe roster at only 12.3 oz (349g)!

It was thanks to its price tag that we learned the One Take 5 is an affordable pair. Its performance during our wear and lab tests didn’t give us many hints, making it hard to believe… and that’s why we’ve decided to give it the crown as the best budget pair among Jordan hoopers!

First of all, its solid structure made us feel confident and safe during our playtests. With an unbeatable 5/5 on our torsional rigidity test and a really wide midsole on the forefoot (according to our calliper, it reaches 128.2 mm), the stability levels were over the top. This let us go for more aggressive moves on the court, like quick cuts or crossover steps.

Despite having a lower stack (23.2 mm/18.5 mm on the heel and forefoot respectively) this Jordan pair features a Zoom Air unit. This translated into energetic toe-offs and a bouncy ride every time we played. But that’s not all, as its Phylon foam also helped to make it perfect for rebounds.

However, our Dremel test showed us that Nike cut some expenses on the outsole, as it ended up with a 1.8 mm deep dent that proved it lacks durability.