We Played Basketball in Self Lacing Nikes - Nike Adapt BB - Review

**Exploring the Nike Adapt BB’s: A Glimpse into Futuristic Basketball Footwear**

**Introduction**

Riley from Digital Trends introduces us to the latest innovation in basketball footwear—the Nike Adapt BB's, a self-tying shoe making waves across courts and streets. These shoes have garnered attention due to their association with NBA stars like Jason Tatum and Kyle Kuzma, setting a new standard in performance and style.

**Historical Context**

The journey of self-tying shoes began with a sci-fi concept from the movie *Back to the Future*. Nike took this idea and transformed it into reality. The first iteration, the Nike MAGs, hit the scene in 2016 as a special release. By 2017,Nike introduced their first functional self-tying shoe, paving the way for the Adapt BB's launched in early 2019.

**Technology and Design**

The name "Earl" is an acronym for Electric Adaptive Reaction Lacing (E.A.R.L.), symbolizing its advanced technology. The shoes feature a durable quad fit mesh on top, while beneath lies a motorized system with accelerometers, gyroscopes, heat sensors, weight sensors, and Bluetooth capabilities—essentially turning the sole into a tech hub.

**Charging and Functionality**

The Adapt BB's are charged wirelessly, requiring up to four hours for a full charge. Nike advises against overnight charging to preserve battery life. Once charged, they offer about two weeks of daily use, making them convenient for both casual wear and sports.

**Wearing Experience**

While the shoes look futuristic, their comfort is another story. The author shares mixed experiences—wearing them in 30 pickup games was challenging, finding them too stiff initially. However, around the office, they were comfortable and stylish, drawing plenty of attention.

**Fit and Functionality**

The fit proved tricky. Unlike traditional lacing, the Adapt BB's tighten around the entire foot, offering support but sometimes causing discomfort when too tight. This wrapping mechanism, while innovative, felt unfamiliar and occasionally uncomfortable during play.

**Light-Up Feature and Price Point**

A standout feature requested by enthusiasts is lights that activate with each step, reminiscent of childhood shoes. Despite this wish, the current price tag of $350 remains a barrier. The shoes are often sold out, pushing their resale value higher, making them less accessible to the masses.

**Conclusion**

The Nike Adapt BB’s are more than just shoes; they're a statement on futuristic fashion. While not yet surpassing traditional basketball shoes in functionality, they hint at exciting developments ahead. Whether you'll invest in a pair depends on your priorities—style over performance or vice versa. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Until next time, this is Riley Wynn with Digital Trends, excited to see where Nike's innovation leads us!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enoh hey I didn't see you there Riley went here with Digital Trends we've got the nike earl bb's their Nikes newest form of the self-tying basketball shoes since their basketball shoes we're gonna be playing in them today you may have seen the Nike adapt earl bb's on players in the NBA like Jason Tatum Luke Adan chick Kyle Kuzma and some others Nike debuted the adapt BBS early in 2019 the idea of self tying shoes may sound like science fiction because well it is the idea was originally conceptualized by Nike for the blockbuster movie Back to the Future well Nike took that self-tying concept to the drawing board and started working on an actual functional pair in 2016 they did a special release of the Nike MAG that's the shoe that's featured in the movie and in 2017 they released their first self-titled EP grest became more durable lighter they started to think about sport applications and that's what we have here today now you may be asking why did they name the shoe Earl well it's not about a person it's not about Earl the Pearl Monroe that played for the New York Knicks in the 1970s it's actually an acronym and it stands for electric adaptive reaction lacing it's really just a fancy way of saying self tying shoe on the top we've got the nike mesh right here it's called quad fit one of their more durable meshes it's still really light though and it's still really conforming underneath this is where the actual lacing is done so right here just like any normal shoe you have your laces except these laces are tied to a motor and that motor is held in the bottom of the shoe right here in the sole we have accelerometers gyroscopes heat sensors weight sensors Bluetooth capabilities there's a whole bunch of tech in here this is where everything happens this is where all the magic happens in the Nike adapt bb's now you see these two buttons right here this is how you manually tighten the shoe Nike has an app iOS and Android you can go in within the app tighten them up loosen them up you can change the different colors of the lights on the shoes you can go in and you can calibrate your fit there's a whole bunch you can do within the app obviously since there's a lot of electronic components in here you definitely have to charge them there's a really neat way to charge them though and it's called the wireless charging pattern all you do is take the shoes plop them on wait till the lights turn on and recognize the charger and just let them sit there it takes up to four hours for a full charge nike recommends though that you don't leave them on overnight or for 24 hours once fully charged the shoe should last for about two weeks of daily use even more if you're not playing basketball for the last few weeks i've been wearing the nike adapt bb's around the office and when playing basketball after work I've worn them for about 30 pick up games and I can say wearing these did not make me play like Jason Tatum's factory battery screen last we left I was excited to play in them see if they felt as futuristic as they looked on the court their major head turner everyone asks you about them everyone wants to see them tighten loosen I'm a decent player but to wear these and not look like an insufferable douchebag or Richie Rich you better be the best player on the court you have to have a lot of drip to be able to pull these off everyone has them you would think that with all the tech UNAM they'd be heavier than a normal basketball shoe and they're really not that much heavier my normal pair of basketball shoes are the Nike LeBron 15s and they weigh two point two five pounds together the nike adapt bb's are two point two eight pounds not much of a difference there no one really would be able to tell unless you're wearing these for you know maybe eighty two games a season and then some playoff games like the NBA players first day I wore them I was not a fan I had a really tough time with them they were super stiff kind of expected with the new shoe but I could really never find the right fit I was either way too tight on the shoe or too loose the one thing I really didn't like about the shoes though is that they tighten around you're an entire foot well with the normal basketball shoe you have the laces on the tongue of the shoe and then you have the walls that get sucked in by tightening the laces with the Nike adapt bb's it really cups around your foot not only does it tighten on the top of your foot but it tightens on the side so if you are too tight you can really feel it digging it into the side of your foot and also on top it's really uncomfortable but it might also be weird because it's a feeling that we're not used to having with basketball shoes we're not used to having them tighten all the way around your foot just on the top the nike adapts just really didn't fit my foot too well now when it came to wearing them around the office I love them they're super comfortable with slip ons and they really do look cool and even at the office people ask about them are those the self tank solutions naturally the shoes draw a lot of attention the one thing that I wish these shoes did do is every time you took a step the lights lit up just like those shoes that you had when you were a kid are the Nike adapt babies cool hell yeah are they worth showing out three and fifty dollars for your Maine basketball shoes not yet at that price they're still really expensive and since they've been sold out since their debut the resale market on these has almost doubled that they need to become more affordable and comfortable for the masses to buy in as of right now the Nike adapt is more futuristic than functional but Nikes really on to something here so we're excited to see where they take it as for this shoe it won't make you play basketball any better but it will make you look cooler what do you think about the Nike adapt bb's would you buy a pair let us know in the comments below until next time i'm riley Wynn with Digital Trends and thanks for watchingoh hey I didn't see you there Riley went here with Digital Trends we've got the nike earl bb's their Nikes newest form of the self-tying basketball shoes since their basketball shoes we're gonna be playing in them today you may have seen the Nike adapt earl bb's on players in the NBA like Jason Tatum Luke Adan chick Kyle Kuzma and some others Nike debuted the adapt BBS early in 2019 the idea of self tying shoes may sound like science fiction because well it is the idea was originally conceptualized by Nike for the blockbuster movie Back to the Future well Nike took that self-tying concept to the drawing board and started working on an actual functional pair in 2016 they did a special release of the Nike MAG that's the shoe that's featured in the movie and in 2017 they released their first self-titled EP grest became more durable lighter they started to think about sport applications and that's what we have here today now you may be asking why did they name the shoe Earl well it's not about a person it's not about Earl the Pearl Monroe that played for the New York Knicks in the 1970s it's actually an acronym and it stands for electric adaptive reaction lacing it's really just a fancy way of saying self tying shoe on the top we've got the nike mesh right here it's called quad fit one of their more durable meshes it's still really light though and it's still really conforming underneath this is where the actual lacing is done so right here just like any normal shoe you have your laces except these laces are tied to a motor and that motor is held in the bottom of the shoe right here in the sole we have accelerometers gyroscopes heat sensors weight sensors Bluetooth capabilities there's a whole bunch of tech in here this is where everything happens this is where all the magic happens in the Nike adapt bb's now you see these two buttons right here this is how you manually tighten the shoe Nike has an app iOS and Android you can go in within the app tighten them up loosen them up you can change the different colors of the lights on the shoes you can go in and you can calibrate your fit there's a whole bunch you can do within the app obviously since there's a lot of electronic components in here you definitely have to charge them there's a really neat way to charge them though and it's called the wireless charging pattern all you do is take the shoes plop them on wait till the lights turn on and recognize the charger and just let them sit there it takes up to four hours for a full charge nike recommends though that you don't leave them on overnight or for 24 hours once fully charged the shoe should last for about two weeks of daily use even more if you're not playing basketball for the last few weeks i've been wearing the nike adapt bb's around the office and when playing basketball after work I've worn them for about 30 pick up games and I can say wearing these did not make me play like Jason Tatum's factory battery screen last we left I was excited to play in them see if they felt as futuristic as they looked on the court their major head turner everyone asks you about them everyone wants to see them tighten loosen I'm a decent player but to wear these and not look like an insufferable douchebag or Richie Rich you better be the best player on the court you have to have a lot of drip to be able to pull these off everyone has them you would think that with all the tech UNAM they'd be heavier than a normal basketball shoe and they're really not that much heavier my normal pair of basketball shoes are the Nike LeBron 15s and they weigh two point two five pounds together the nike adapt bb's are two point two eight pounds not much of a difference there no one really would be able to tell unless you're wearing these for you know maybe eighty two games a season and then some playoff games like the NBA players first day I wore them I was not a fan I had a really tough time with them they were super stiff kind of expected with the new shoe but I could really never find the right fit I was either way too tight on the shoe or too loose the one thing I really didn't like about the shoes though is that they tighten around you're an entire foot well with the normal basketball shoe you have the laces on the tongue of the shoe and then you have the walls that get sucked in by tightening the laces with the Nike adapt bb's it really cups around your foot not only does it tighten on the top of your foot but it tightens on the side so if you are too tight you can really feel it digging it into the side of your foot and also on top it's really uncomfortable but it might also be weird because it's a feeling that we're not used to having with basketball shoes we're not used to having them tighten all the way around your foot just on the top the nike adapts just really didn't fit my foot too well now when it came to wearing them around the office I love them they're super comfortable with slip ons and they really do look cool and even at the office people ask about them are those the self tank solutions naturally the shoes draw a lot of attention the one thing that I wish these shoes did do is every time you took a step the lights lit up just like those shoes that you had when you were a kid are the Nike adapt babies cool hell yeah are they worth showing out three and fifty dollars for your Maine basketball shoes not yet at that price they're still really expensive and since they've been sold out since their debut the resale market on these has almost doubled that they need to become more affordable and comfortable for the masses to buy in as of right now the Nike adapt is more futuristic than functional but Nikes really on to something here so we're excited to see where they take it as for this shoe it won't make you play basketball any better but it will make you look cooler what do you think about the Nike adapt bb's would you buy a pair let us know in the comments below until next time i'm riley Wynn with Digital Trends and thanks for watching\n"