Li-Ning Way of Wade 3

Traction – They fixed the hell out of the traction. The Way of Wade 1 had okay traction, Way of

 Wade 2 had okay traction… but the Way of Wade 3… awesome traction. Half of me wants to 

 credit the traditional herringbone pattern to the great traction, but the other half of me wants to credit the rubber compound. It’s probably both that attributed to the increased traction, so maybe my 50/50 thing is pretty spot on. Whether I was at the disgusting 24 Hour Fitness court or the pristine High School courts, I was pretty much covered. I was unable to play in these outdoors because of the weather, so I apologize about that. Just based on an assumption, the rubber feels strong enough to last outdoors, but I can’t tell you if they gripped the blacktop well.

 Cushion – Li-Ning utilized a 4 layered cushion system. The rubber outsole, The Cloud midsole, Carbon Fiber plate and the Phylon midsole with Bounse & Cushion in the heel and forefoot. As for how they felt or played… meh…

I’m not a fan of Li-Ning’s Cloud cushion. It feels nice in hand, but there is no rebound or bounce to it. It just feels lackluster and firm. I do like their Bounse and Cushion systems, but they were super thin due to the 4 layered construction. If they would have layered both midsoles together in a normal midsole height, I’d have gained about an inch or two in height… which I wouldn’t have minded too much, but it would have caused some instability.

 Materials – No real surprise here, the materials are fantastic. Poor execution when it comes to overall design, but the craftsmanship and material quality are top notch.

Fit – The fit was excruciating… every time. Some areas broke-in, but other areas did not. Pinky toes… I’m so, so, sorry. Arches… I know you hate me right now… but I promise, I’ll never put you through that again… at least not in this particular shoe.

Seriously though… what the hell?!? Did anyone wear-test these things before they went into production? I highly doubt it. The lacing system made for a very sloppy fit, and the midsole/ Carbon Fiber peaks really killed my feet. I don’t know how Wade is wearing these things comfortably on-court. Maybe from a linear standpoint, they were decent, but moving laterally at all was a not so fun experience.

Support – There are your typical support features in place. The outrigger & the Carbon Fiber plate worked as they are supposed to, but the fit is what will allow it all to work together. You can’t have pieces like this and not have them work in tandem. The greatest thing about support features on footwear is when you don’t ever notice them. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case here.

Overall – I was initially excited, then quickly disappointed… then in a lot of pain. The fit was really bad, and they hurt like hell. Traction was a definite upgrade while the cushion was a downgrade. Materials are great, as they usually are, but that won’t save these from being a poor performer. I haven’t played in a shoe that I would consider a truly bad performance model since the Reebok ZigTech… until now.