Nike LeBron Witness 8 review

Let the LeBron Witness 8 find its spot in your collection if:

• You're looking for a bouncy shoe with a fair shock absorption.
• You want a durable and comfortable pal to play ball.
• Sometimes you play on dusty courts and you need a hooper that offers great traction.
• You don't want to sell a kidney to get your next pair of basketball shoes.

If you need your shoes to have some extra stability or you have/have had ankle issues of any type, we kindly ask you to stay away from the Witness 8. Even though it has improved its containment in comparison to the previous iteration, in our experience it wasn't enough. We have reviewed many other models that focus on ankle support, which might be a much better choice for you if you're looking for some extra safety!

If you're not on a budget and you want a top-tier performer from LeBron, the LB 21 and the LB 22's playability is just wonderful, and both of them feature a durable outsole that can withstand the abrasion of outdoor courts (anyways, here you have some other hoopers to play streetball just in case).

At 32.1 mm, this LeBron's heel stack is higher than average. It features an Air Max unit at the rearfoot that offers some bounce and impact protection. Nothing spectacular, but we aren't complaining about it either.

There's also a substantial amount of cushioning at the forefoot. Our calliper returned 22.8 mm, surpassing the average of this category once again.

The full-length Phylon foam used in the Witness 8 hugs a big Max Air unit at the heel. That's why this shoe's drop goes all the way up to 9.3 mm, which is neither good nor bad! Your rearfoot will just feel slightly higher, but this doesn't affect performance or playability negatively at all.

Apart from this Nike technology at the back, this LeBron pair also features a shank at the midfoot. It's the black line you can see right in the middle of the shoe, and it improves its overall support and structure.

When we measured the softness of this shoe's midsole, our durometer marked 35.0 HA. As this result is way higher than average, the Phylon foam used also feels harder! Nevertheless, as the Max Air unit offers some impact protection, easing this feel and making landings smoother.

The 5.0 mm thick insole doesn't do much, as it's pretty standard, but we did find it more comfortable than other thinner orthotics.

Measuring the interiors of a shoe accurately is not an easy task at all! After giving it some thought and doing many tests, we finally got our beloved gel, which is the green thing you can see in the video below.

And we were not afraid to spill it all! What we do is pour it into every shoe's toebox, freeze it up, and then create a mould that we can measure in the lab with a calliper. In this case, the tool marked 92.3 mm, which is pretty much average.

We measure the toebox width once again, but this time at the big toe. Our calliper returned 72.4 mm, surpassing the average and making us nod in approval. The Witness 8 doesn't taper like crazy despite being a Nike pair, and our toes were really grateful!

The upper of the Witness 8 sits pretty low at the toebox, though. When we measured the vertical height in this area, our calliper marked 20.1 mm, which is not much compared to the average. The issue here is that this newest iteration has substantially reinforced its upper with multiple layers in comparison to the Witness 7, so don't expect it to be that stretchy.

In our experience, the Witness 7 doesn't offer much lateral support at all. Its materials were way too soft for that, and even though this 8th iteration has improved that... we still didn't feel the safest playing with it. It wiggles a lot, and if we put our weight all to the outer side, it felt like our ankles could snap in a hot minute.

When we took this hooper to our lab, it was surprisingly hard for our fingers to twist it. Even though it didn't feel like the most stable on foot, its structure didn't let us play with it.

That's why we believe it's so important to not only analyse the shoes in our lab, but also put them on to play basketball for a while. Even though the Witness 8 scored a 5/5 on our torsional rigidity test, its foothold is definitely not the firmest we've tried so far.

This LeBron scored a 3/5 on our heel counter stiffness test. Even though its support and containment overall are nothing crazy, there has definitely been improvement in comparison with the previous iteration. Nike listened to the hoopers' complaints, so this shoe feels definitely safer. Still, we would not recommend it to people with stability needs or ankle issues of any kind.

The wider the midsole, the more stable the shoe. And that's it, we don't make the rules! We believe the Witness 8 could've got some extra points in this aspect if its landing base had been wider, yet our calliper marked only 111.8 mm, which is smaller than average.

The heel is even narrower, at only 84.0 mm... which is actually lower than the Witness 7's score on this same test! Taking into account the stability issues of this previous iteration, it took us completely by surprise. But it might just be a strategy from the brand to reduce the overall weight of this hooper, though.

In our flexibility test, this hooper from LeBron needed 40.4N of force to go all the way up to 90 degrees. We can see why, as it now offers much better containment than the previous version with its reinforced upper.

Despite its looks, the Witness 8 didn't feel excessively heavy during our wear tests. We didn't really notice that much difference in comparison to the previous model on foot, but when we took it to the lab, our scale marked a lower result.

At 13.26 oz/376g, this newest iteration is on the lighter side of our hoopers category. We can't say it's a speedy shoe, as we didn't really find its structure safe enough to perform the fastest cuts or changes of direction. Nevertheless, we appreciate the brand's effort: it made it more supportive than the 7th and, somehow, it also managed to reduce its overall weight!

All the added layering in order to reinforce the upper took a toll on this shoe's breathability. The Witness 7 and its softer materials scored a 4/5 on this test, yet the 8th only managed to get a 2/5.

Our light test was a clear indicator of what was coming. The LED could shine through a small section of the toebox, yet the smoke didn't have it easy on its way out! In comparison to the Ja 2, the Witness 8 definitely felt hot on foot.

We believe the brand did what it could to fix the containment and stability issues of the previous model, and it looks like that meant sacrificing breathability.

This reinforced upper offered more structure, but just by looking at it through our microscope, you can definitely tell it's not gonna offer the best ventilation out there.

Even though this shoe's breathability left much to be desired, it improved a lot on durability. At 5K RPM and with 2N of force, the Dremel couldn't really do much to its armour-like upper, so we decided to give it a 4/5 on this test.

The heel fought just as bravely. As you can see in the video below, the tool couldn't do much to damage this shoe's padding, so we decided to give it another 4/5 on durability.

Our durometer marked 78.0 HC when we analysed this shoe's outsole hardness. This score is lower than average, and it might mean that the rubber used focuses more on traction than on durability.

We confirmed our previous hypothesis when we turned on the Dremel one last time. With the same 2N of force but this time at 10K RPM, it drilled the Witness 8's outsole mercilessly during 18 seconds.

When we measured the dent, our tread gauge returned 1.6 mm, which is fairly higher than the average for the hoopers we have reviewed so far. Therefore, abrasive surfaces might destroy this pair sooner than what you'd like.

Once we had cut this shoe in half, we could measure its outsole thickness. Its 4.0 mm make it just average, so it's not like the Witness 8 has loads of rubber to wear out before it gives up.

We're pretty happy with this shoe's traction. It changed its pattern completely from the previous iteration, adding different shapes and even dented lines. On the one hand, it works well on outdoor courts but... on the other hand, its durability is not the best to withstand the abrasion.

All in all, the grip level is great and it even performs well on dusty courts!

As a budget shoe from the LeBron line, we do believe you get a fairly good cushioning and traction, as well as Nike's Air Maz technology, for the price. Nevertheless, the Witness 8 costs £110, and there are many other models for a similar price that offer better support and containment (like the Luka 2 or the All Pro Nitro). To us, those are 2 key features to go all out whilst playing basketball and bring out your best performance.

There are no reflective elements in the LeBron Witness 8, but it's not like we expected it to have any, as it's part of the player's budget line.

The 7.7 mm of padding this shoe has at the tongue were enough to protect us from any lace bite and offer comfort at the same time.

One of the things that we liked about this hooper's design is that it's fairly padded overall, which makes it really comfortable, yet this doesn't translate in any extra weight.

The tongue is fully gusseted, and it mixes with the upper to create some kind of bootie construction. Even though this adds support most of the times, we can't say that's what we felt when we put on the Witness 8 during our wear tests.

This Nike pair doesn't have a heel tab. Nevertheless, and despite having a fully gusseted tongue, we didn't have any problems putting it on and off.

If you need or want to use your own orthotics, this LeBron makes it easy, as it features a removable insole that you can change at any moment.