{"id":125966,"date":"2010-10-20T19:29:41","date_gmt":"2010-10-21T00:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nicekicks.com\/?p=125966"},"modified":"2022-09-15T23:41:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T04:41:13","slug":"jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Upstart shoe company Athletic Propulsions Labs made headlines yesterday when the NBA banned their Concept 1 basketball shoe from league play. The Concept 1 claims to boost one’s vertical which the NBA deemed an unfair competitive advantage. For years herds of sneaker companies have introduced new models alleging to increase performance. Granted, if we could buy a shoe that’d make us dunk we’d all be smiling like the Enzyte guy but so far none have lived up to the hype or the height. Take a look back at the long history of basketball shoes claiming to enhance performance.<\/p>\n

Strength? Training Shoe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Model: <\/strong>Strength? Training Shoe
\nYear: <\/strong>1986
\nEnhancement: <\/strong>Plyometric Platform
\nPrice: <\/strong>$99<\/p>\n

The original and perhaps the most popular, the Strength Training Shoe revolutionized performance enhancing footwear. Designed to increase your vertical up to 5-10 inches, the Strength Shoe gained popularity in the 90s due to sports mag ad placement and a bundle package that included videos and training books. Reviews were mixed with some raving, some blaming for injury, and most just not having the discipline to do the training program.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

LA Gear Catapult<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Model: <\/strong>LA Gear Catapult
\nYear: <\/strong>1991
\nEnhancement: <\/strong>Fiberglass and graphite Catapult heel system
\nPrice: <\/strong>$100<\/p>\n

Backed by Karl Malone, the LA Gear Catapult was brought out to help the brand light up the performance market. Competing with Nike Air and Reebok Pump tech, the Catapult featured a spring system in the heel designed to propel the athlete. The Mailman did just fine in them picking up 1st Team All-NBA honors in them but most didn’t fair as well. That same year Nike would file suit against LA Gear for spring-moderator technology and a pair of Catapult sneakers would break in a nationally televised game.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

British Knights Dymacel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Model: <\/strong>BK Dymacel
\nYear: <\/strong>1992
\nEnhancement: <\/strong>Silicon
\nPrice: <\/strong>$80<\/p>\n

Baywatch<\/em> wasn’t the only thing to benefit off silicon in the 90s. The British Knights Dymacel saw BK’s intro into performance footwear and the basketball market. Endorsed by Derrick Coleman, the Dymacel used green diamond-shaped silicon cushioning shown through a window in the back of the shoe.?Unfortunately for BK and many other brands consumers soon realized that no one jumps off their heels. Nickelodeon would later give out the shoe as a consolation prize on their game shows.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Converse Aero Jam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Model: <\/strong>Converse Aero Jam
\nYear: <\/strong>1993
\nEnhancement: <\/strong>REACT Juice
\nPrice: <\/strong>$90<\/p>\n

The Converse Aero Jam was famous for two things: Larry Johnson’s Grandmama persona and REACT Juice. A series of great ads and a cameo on Family Matters<\/em> saw the 6’7 nana dunking on everyone in the REACT fueled sneaker. REACT Juice claimed to automatically move, aka react, to the area of your foot where it was most needed when jumping and cutting. A lofty claim, the shoes and tech were?commercially?successful being used in sigs for LJ and Kevin Johnson.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Converse All Star He:01<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Model: <\/strong>Converse All Star He: 01
\nYear: <\/strong>1999
\nEnhancement: <\/strong>Helium
\nPrice: <\/strong>$90<\/p>\n

What’s lighter than air? That’s right, helium. Finding themselves in quite the transition period, Converse basketball looked to float back on top with a series of helium cushioned shoes. The Converse All Star He:01 was the first sneaker to use helium claiming a lighter, lower basketball shoe. Fancy terms like Nanofilaments and Shoe-in-Shoe Construction weren’t enough to get He:01 off the ground as helium cushioning would eventually be scrapped years later.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

adidas Intelligent 1:1 Basketball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Model:<\/strong> adidas 1.1 Basketball
\nYear:<\/strong> 2006
\nEnhancement:<\/strong> Microchip
\nPrice: <\/strong>$250<\/p>\n

Bill Gates meets Bill Bowerman? Not so much. The adidas 1 was set to be the biggest advancement in shoe technology by incorporating a computer. Three years of development spawned a running shoe that adjusted compression with each stride and later a basketball model. Unfortunately there were many issues and many product returns. When the basketball version released shortly after it suffered due to the reviews of its running predecessor.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

APL Concept 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Model: <\/strong>APL Concept 1
\nYear: <\/strong>2010
\nEnhancement:<\/strong> Load ‘N Launch Technology
\nPrice: <\/strong>$300<\/p>\n

Yesterday the NBA banned the Athletic Propulsions Lab Concept 1 and all other shoes that could create a competitive advantage. The banning marked the first such action since the original Air Jordan 1 in 1985 and the first for performance reasons. While the jury is still out on the performance of the Concept 1, it’s Load ‘N Launch system in the forefoot claims to provide an instant increase in vertical leap.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Athletic Propulsion Labs’ Shoes Banned by NBA and Athletic Propulsion Labs Review? The Jury is Still Out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upstart shoe company Athletic Propulsions Labs made headlines yesterday when the NBA banned their Concept 1 basketball shoe from league…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2415,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[618],"tags":[],"cultivate_rss":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes | Snkrs Day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Where to buy Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes shoes. Snkrs Day has release dates, prices, and where to find Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes for sale.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Where to buy Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes shoes. Snkrs Day has release dates, prices, and where to find Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes for sale.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Snkrs Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NiceKicks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-10-21T00:29:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-16T04:41:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/files\/2016\/10\/asnkrsdaya-logo-959-400.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"959\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ian Stonebrook\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@snkrsday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@snkrsday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ian Stonebrook\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"WebPage\",\"ItemPage\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/\",\"name\":\"Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes | Snkrs Day\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-21T00:29:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-16T04:41:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"Where to buy Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes shoes. Snkrs Day has release dates, prices, and where to find Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes for sale.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Features\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/\",\"name\":\"Snkrs Day\",\"description\":\"Sneakers News. Culture. Community.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Snkrs Day\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/files\/2020\/10\/nice-box-400-225.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/files\/2020\/10\/nice-box-400-225.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":225,\"caption\":\"Snkrs Day\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NiceKicks\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/nicekicks\",\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nicekicks\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/asnkrsdaya\",\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@snkrsday\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/nicekicks\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes | Snkrs Day","description":"Where to buy Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes shoes. Snkrs Day has release dates, prices, and where to find Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes for sale.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/","next":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes","og_description":"Where to buy Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes shoes. Snkrs Day has release dates, prices, and where to find Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes for sale.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/","og_site_name":"Snkrs Day","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snkrsday","article_published_time":"2010-10-21T00:29:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-16T04:41:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":959,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/files\/2016\/10\/asnkrsdaya-logo-959-400.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ian Stonebrook","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@snkrsday","twitter_site":"@snkrsday","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ian Stonebrook","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["WebPage","ItemPage"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/","url":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/","name":"Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes | Snkrs Day","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-10-21T00:29:41+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-16T04:41:13+00:00","description":"Where to buy Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes shoes. Snkrs Day has release dates, prices, and where to find Jump Offs: A History of Performance Enhancing Basketball Shoes for sale.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jump-offs-a-history-of-performance-enhancing-basketball-shoes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Features"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/","name":"Snkrs Day","description":"Sneakers News. Culture. Community.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#organization","name":"Snkrs Day","url":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/files\/2020\/10\/nice-box-400-225.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/files\/2020\/10\/nice-box-400-225.png","width":400,"height":225,"caption":"Snkrs Day"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snkrsday","https:\/\/x.com\/snkrsday","http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/snkrsday","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/asnkrsdaya","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@snkrsday","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/snkrsday"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125966"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2415"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125966"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1120238,"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125966\/revisions\/1120238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125966"},{"taxonomy":"cultivate_rss","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cultivate_rss?post=125966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}