On August 15, 2014, the Sacramento Kings made history by signing the NBA’s first Indian professional basketball player. At 7’5” and 360 pounds, Sim Bhullar exemplified a truly gigantic athlete.
Shortly after, the Kings decided to part ways with the former New Mexico State center, waiving Bhullar after two uneventful preseason contests. Fortunately, fans had an NBA offseason wherein the young center was given chances to showcase his talent. Watching Bhullar play forced a certain empathy out of me, my breath involuntarily syncing with his own struggling efforts as a desperate mix of veterans and unknowns whizzed by. I didn’t understand how someone of his size was supposed to keep up in a league that was just getting faster and faster. Then, a more pressing question came to mind.
How in the world do you make basketball shoes for a guy that huge?
“It all boils down to pure anatomy and physics,” says Aaron Nelson, Head Athletic Trainer of the Phoenix Suns. “Taller individuals have longer levers. This typically includes the femur, tibia, fibula and foot.” Essentially, these gigantic athletes are granted both blessing and burden in the form of extended ranges of motion. Add on the fact that you’re pushing 300 pounds, and you’ve got an inevitable dilemma.
“My approach,” says sneaker designer Brett Golliff, “would be to create a shoe that has a very stable upper, something that is constructed in layers and fused together in key support areas.” Two of those key support areas, according to Golliff, would be the lateral forefoot and the medial midfoot. “A player that large is going to put some serious torsion on his feet as he moves,” he adds. Another feature Golliff would stress may come across as a no-brainer: sufficient number of lace eyelets. “It may seem like an obvious statement, but it really needs to be a feature that is designed into the shoe because [Sim’s] area of support is much greater and spans further.”
a basketball sneaker “can see up to 10x body weight during play.”
Bhullar, as the NBA’s first player of Indian descent to sign an NBA contract, is just one of the largest athletes in NBA history. Yao Ming saw his NBA career cut short by a packed history of injuries, two of the most serious of which involved stress fractures to his left foot and ankle. Though it has since been largely agreed upon that the treatment of those injuries contributed heavily to their recurrence, it doesn’t disqualify the amount of stress a 7’6”, 311-pound frame can put on joints.
“The differences in making shoes for very large athletes often come down to the forces that will be exerted while performing in the shoes,” says Ambrose Hayes, Team Leader of Footwear Development at Reebok, adding that a basketball sneaker “can see up to 10x body weight during play.” Along with accounting for the actual use of the shoe, Hayes, like designers and developers throughout the industry, has other considerations to make. “Some examples of this would be previous surgery on their feet or [a history of] diabetes.”
How can you put together a shoe to help preserve joint health and possibly prevent injuries to these giant athletes? At one point, Reebok seemed to have perhaps the best answer when it introduced the Pump Omni Hexride. Debuting in 2008, the Pump Omni Hexride graced the giant feet of Yao Ming as he represented his country in Beijing’s Summer Olympics. The outsole was Reebok’s answer to the massive needs of such weight: Hex Ride technology. Something of a forward step from the brand’s Hexalite cushioning, Hex Ride, was originally doled out as the key element in Reebok’s Hexride running shoes. Marking an advance in that technology, the Pump Omni Hexride was its application on the hardwood. It used hexagonal shaped cushions, an engineering staple in weight distribution, to provide a combination of support and lightweight performance. Reebok decided to stay with the caged side panelling of the Pump Omni Lite, predecessor to the Omni Hexride. The result was something of a daring experiment in performance footwear.
Despite Yao’s injury history, Reebok’s attempt represented a creative, and theoretically competent approach to cushion a giant who was expected to play one of the world’s fastest sports. Yao was, to put it mildly, very well known both within and outside of basketball circles. He’s an easy example to go to when discussing the shoe-related concerns of giant athletes.
There are less famous (and younger) players in today’s league who possibly represents a future twist to the age old dilemma. Standing all of seven feet tall and weighing in at 240 pounds is Charlotte Hornets big man Cody Zeller. Selected fourth overall by Charlotte in the 2013 NBA draft, Zeller has generated little buzz since his college days. In the few bright performances he did have, the former Indiana Hoosier showed flashes of rare ability. With his towering height and still growing frame, Zeller isn’t just a post player. In fact, he seems more comfortable deferring to the perimeter game, mixing fine-tuned handles with pump fakes and plenty of bounce to get to the basket.
Being that he’s a Charlotte Bobcat, Zeller will be sporting Jordans whenever he plays an NBA game. He didn’t seem to have a problem playing in much lighter shoes while at Indiana. We’re talking about a 22-year-old seven-footer who, regardless of ability, will very likely be asked to bulk up beyond his current 240 pounds. His ability away from the rim is likely to be something coaches will want him to stick to.
What that means is more joint-testing, ankle-jerking moves and drives to the basket, long levers and all. Having dealt with a client list that includes Allan Houston and T-Pain, Concept Kicks Lab’s Omar Bailey knows a thing or two about meeting individual needs. Much like other designers in the industry, Bailey stresses the actual fit of the shoe, noting that it must be custom-made for the athlete. As such, his process involves putting together a last to make sure the shoe’s overall form would fit perfectly. “This way we know the shoe will fit their foot perfectly and comfortably and will allow them to perform to their max,” he said.
"Considering the evolving nature of the seven-footer’s role in basketball, it’s easy to imagine that putting together a suitable performance sneaker is getting harder."
Like Zeller, these giant athletes are playing in a mobile sport and are expected to at least look like they’re keeping up. As such, Bailey shares Golliff’s emphasis on the construction of the midsole, noting “[the midsole would] feature a sidewall that is a bit higher than your typical hoops shoe for additional foot security and to reduce additional movement inside the shoe.”
Once again, a designer must take prior injury history into account. Bailey is no exception to that rule. “Depending on the player’s foot history, perhaps I would add an ankle brace technology⎯similar to a brand like Ektio⎯which would provide support [without] restricting movement.” Considering the evolving nature of the seven-footer’s role in basketball, it’s easy to imagine that putting together a suitable performance sneaker is getting harder. Brands have taken innovative attempts via new materials, support systems, and more. But, ask Bailey the same question and you’ll get an even simpler answer: customization.
“Overall, I think the idea with a shoe like this would be not to go overboard from a design and development standpoint, but to give the player exactly what they needed.”
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