Which Basketball Shoes Have The Best Grip? - 2024

Which basketball shoes have the best grip?

The age-old question every basketball player asks when they're getting ready for the season!

No matter what level you play at, one thing is consistent, the court is probably slippery.

From High School and Middle School gyms to AAU tournaments played on the plastic drop-down courts, none of them are properly taken care of and cleaned!

You'll see players try a lot of different things to help enhance the grip of their basketball shoes. Wipe them with their hand, spit on the ground, the list goes on and on. 

Some of these quick fixes work better than others, but some are actually causing more harm than good. These are important to note first because even if you buy the basketball shoes with the best grip, you can quickly turn them slippery!

Water, Spit, or Sweat

Of all the options, this is probably the best because it will not damage your basketball shoes at all. It's free, it's readily available in any gym, and it's quick. The downside of course is that it doesn't last very long. On an average basketball court, you'll be set for a few possessions. If the court is overly dusty, it really won't do much after a few seconds, unfortunately. Lastly, if you want to stick with water as opposed to the "more gross" options (I know basketball moms hate this), you have to hope for a lot of opportunities to reapply on the bench, which isn't likely.

Hand Sanitizer

This has become very popular, unfortunately. A very highly touted high school recruit mentioned that he puts hand sanitizer on the soles of his basketball shoes and it really improves the traction on dusty courts. He unfortunately forgot to mention a couple of things.

First, the alcohol in hand sanitizer is incredibly harmful to rubber and will pretty quickly dry out, deteriorate, and ruin the soles of the shoes.

Here is a quick note from ADIDAS with a bit more information on how players are frequently damaging their basketball shoes:

Second, being such a highly recruited high school athlete, he's playing in the largest tournaments on the biggest stages, which tend to be played on much higher-quality basketball courts than your local AAU tournament that is played in the back gym of a fieldhouse.

Finally, these sneaker circuits that many of the top high school players play on are providing the players with multiple pairs of basketball shoes for their season. Exposing the rubber soles to alcohol and ruining them isn't as big of a deal when the shoes are both free and abundant.

So please, do not do this.

Sticky Pads

Every basketball player has used one of these. Coaches set them next to the bench, you step on it, and the adhesive sticky sheets remove the dust from your basketball shoes.

The downside is you have to rely on your coach to provide one for the team and they're pretty expensive, especially to continually buy more replacement sticky sheets.

They last longer than spit, water, and sweat but since the sticky pads don't stop your basketball shoes from picking up more dust, you do need to reapply every time you go into the game.

Now, which basketball shoes have the best grip?

Every basketball shoe is different and some definitely have better traction on dusty courts.

We are constantly seeing messages and comments and talking with basketball players at events. Shoes like the GT Cuts, MB1s, Curry Flows, and Lebron 20s get such polar responses. Players either love them or hate them!

Overall, Luka 1s, KD 15s, Harden Volume 7s, and most Kobe's provide really solid traction on most courts.

However, if you want to wear whatever basketball shoe you want and ensure you always have perfect grip, even on dusty courts, try this!

Players with all types of shoes rave about it!

Grip Spritz stops your basketball shoes from being slippery all game long, even if the court is dusty. You don't have to worry about reapplying over and over and needing to sub out to get more.

It has no harmful chemicals for you or your basketball shoes. It's designed to elongate the overall life of your basketball shoes because they are so expensive.

You don't need to rely on your coach to get something for the entire team. A bottle of Grip Spritz is enough for an entire basketball season of games and practices and it fits in your backpack. Take it wherever you play next.