If you’re a fan of basketball, there’s a pretty good chance you’re a fan of basketball shoes. You might even be a collector with a closet full of rare and hard to get kicks.
Basketball shoes come in an almost endless amount of varieties with different brands and signature player styles being released constantly. This leads to a huge amount of options to choose from but also can drive up the cost significantly.
I have spent more than 20 years playing basketball. In that time I’ve used a wide range of different shoes. Whether you want a hard-to-find pair for your own collection or are just looking for shoes that will hold up well on the court, basketball shoes can be expensive.
The good thing is, expensive basketball shoes usually look really good, are great to play basketball in, and will have friends and strangers asking, “where’d you get those?!”
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Who Should Get This
Expensive basketball shoes come in many options and the ones listed here are either great to play in, make great collector’s items, or both. If you consider yourself a serious player, then you will want to invest some money into getting shoes that will last, perform well, and hold up to the constant abuse that intense basketball can have.
If you are a shoe collector, and a basketball shoe collector in particular, some varieties of shoes can easily run into the hundreds, and even thousands of dollars range. If you have the cash and are looking for a specific pair, the collectors market is really strong and worth exploring.
Top Picks of The Most Expensive Basketball Shoes 2022
The Nike Kobe IX Elite are some of my personal favorite basketball shoes of all time. They also come with a pretty high price tag and they did even when they were first released. The high top version is great for a player looking for extra ankle support and the unique colorways make them sought after collector’s items. Some of the coolest colors are now hard to find and I had to get my first pair from a private party in Poland…
You are not going to find these shoes listed for sale any time soon unless you are super rich and can find the owner. These Converse shoes that Jordan wore during his college days at North Carolina are said to have been the most expensive shoes ever when they sold for nearly $190,000! Crazy, right?! No links to where you can find them but worth putting on the list.
3. Air Jordan 3
The Air Jordan 3’s were an instant hit when they first came out and they generated a lot of buzz. They looked cool, performed well on the court, and who wouldn’t want the shoes that Michael Jordan was wearing? You can get your hands on a new pair of these for a couple hundred dollars but old pairs are collector’s items that can easily cost you a couple of thousand.
You can still pretty easily find the Adidas KB8 in a variety of colors today. The expensive version of these shoes is the Lakers purple and gold-colored version that Kobe was supposed to wear in the 1998 Dunk Contest. He didn’t end up wearing these shoes but that added value somehow and now they can cost quite a bit.
The Nike Air Max Hyperposite is an expensive shoe due more to their on-court performance than their collectors’ value. You can get your hands on some of the common colors pretty easily, but if you want a unique style, you’re going to have to open up your wallet and pay for it. These are great shoes to play ball in and are very durable.
6. Nike KD VII
Kevin Durant will probably end up being considered one of the best basketball players of all-time and his signature shoes will continue to gain value because of it. The Nike KD VII’s are awesome basketball shoes that are also really expensive. These shoes come in a wide variety of colors and each has a different and unique pattern style as well. They are great if you’re a collector.
Lebron James is another player whose shoes will continue to gain value as he finishes up his legendary career. The Nike Lebron X, specifically Pure Platinum colorway, are cool and expensive basketball shoes. I like the color of these shoes a lot and would buy them just because of how they look but they also are great to play in.
The Reebok Question is a legendary pair of basketball shoes that were the signature series shoe of one of the games’ most iconic legends, Allen Iverson. You can still get your hands on these shoes pretty easily but when they were first released, Reebok made a version that had real diamonds on the laces and cost a whopping $65,000! I don’t think you’d ever play ball in those, but they should hold their value.
Useful Tips and Resources
As you can see, brand new basketball shoes can be really expensive but the collector’s items that really cost a lot are the shoes that have a story behind them. There are some game-worn basketball shoes that can cost a fortune because of the person who wore them and the game they were worn in. Check out this cool list of legendary basketball shoes and what they cost, it’s pretty wild!
If you end up buying a pair of really expensive shoes, you are going to want to take really good care of them regardless of if you actually play basketball in them or they just sit in your closet. Here is a video to show you how to wash your shoes if they get really dirty while still keeping them in great condition.
Final Thoughts
Basketball shoes have gained such popularity over the years that it has driven their demand which then drives up their price. Luckily, even though these shoes are expensive, they are worth it due to how they can help you play the game and their value on the collectors market. Who knows, your favorite pair might someday be worth a fortune so hang on to them and keep them in good condition.
What’s the most expensive pair of basketball shoes you’ve ever had? Would you spend $65,000 on the Diamond Questions if you had the cash?
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