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15. Nike Kobe VII Elite
The Good: With an upped price came some upgraded performance cues on the first Kobe model to feature an Elite edition. There was the full-length Zoom Air embedded into the drop-in sockliner, the carbon fiber heel counter and mifoot shank, Kevlar-infused laces and the nubbed no-slip insole footbed.
The Bad: While all of those upgrades sound great on paper, the shoe also featured a fully rubberized upper that hardly flexed with the foot and took quite a while to break in. If the initial VII felt stiff to some, the Elite was that much worse from a flexibility and comfort standpoint. The $200 price wasn’t winning anyone over either.
