Facts

Top: High
Signature: Kevin Durant
Lockdown: Lace-Up
Price: €190
Weight: 439g
Colorways: Multi
Size
Small True to size Large
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Expert Reviews

Experts are basketball players, who post reviews at youtube, directly at RunRepeat or at their own websites. Each expert is categorized from level 1 to level 5 based on expertise. See stats on expert reviews and how we calculate scores here.

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89 / 100 based on 9 expert reviews

  • 95 / 100 | RicheeKim | | Level 5 expert

    For $150, I would definitely say this is worth it. It's honestly the best performer this year in my opinion.

  • 93 / 100 | MARKCHES | | Level 5 expert

    Do I recommend the KD 12s? Hell yeah! Especially the new experience that you'll be feeling on the full-length Zoom without the strobel board. You should try it. You should play with it. I had fun playing with these, and I'll be playing with these even more coz it's one of my favorites right now.

  • 90 / 100 | Schwollo | Level 5 expert

    As many of you know the Zoom BB1 is one of my favorite shoes of all time due it’s all around performance but it’s cloth strobel full length Zoom really made the Zoom stand out; putting on the KD12 gave me flashbacks to the Zoom BB thanks to the cushioning set up because it feels just that good. By switching back to a directly underfoot Zoom set up, the shoe just feels fun and exciting with even more Zoom in the heel. Of course, cushioning isn’t the end all for me and thankfully, the KD 12 does everything well from A-Z. It is a bit understated looks wise and draws some serious inspiration from the Hyperrev line

  • 85 / 100 | BasketballDiagnostics | | Level 5 expert

    From heel to toe, from upper to the very last rubber bit of the outsole – the KD 12 is just simply great and ready to be a reliable on-court companion for any type of player out there.

  • 80 / 100 | Hoop And Life | | Level 5 expert

    I would say this is one of top performance hoop shoes in the market.

  • 94 / 100 | SneakerGearz | | Level 3 expert

    Overall, really good shoe guys. This puts it in a very rare company of having max cushion but being lightweight. And, there's not many shoes like that.

Become an expert

Kevin Durant is like an assassin on the court. He is reserved yet explosive. He is difficult to guard and nearly impossible to stop. Because of this, he needs a basketball shoe that can provide the perfect balance of comfort and responsiveness.

The KD 12 is Nike’s most advanced basketball shoe to date. It features broken-in comfort, lightweight flexibility, on-demand lockdown, and ultra-responsive cushioning.

Cushion. The highlight of the Nike 12 is its ultra-responsive cushioning. For the first time in a signature model, Nike ditched the conventional strobel board and stitched the articulated Zoom Air unit directly to the upper.

According to Nike Basketball Senior Creative Director Leo Chang, “It’s one of the unsung heroes in footwear. The strobel isn’t approached differently other than how it’s been done over the last few decades. And yet it’s literally what separates your foot from the cushioning.”

Because of this change, there is one Air Unit for every size of the KD 12. This is the most specific Air-Sole size scale The Swoosh has ever designed for a basketball sneaker. “There’s a personal fit dialed in for every size person who wears the KD12,” Chang continues.

The articulated full-length Zoom Air unit follows the shape of the foot, delivering a better heel-to-toe transition. Stacked at the heel is an additional Zoom Air unit that provides extra bounce on the court.

The full-length Zoom is encased in a perforated foam midsole for increased flexibility. The perforated midsole is also designed to reduce the shoe’s overall weight and to gain visibility of the cushioning technology that lies within.

Traction. The twelfth Nike KD features a translucent rubber outsole with a fingerprint-like traction pattern. The rubber outsole is designed to deliver increased traction on the hardwood.

Length and Width. Although a little narrow at the forefoot, most owners are happy to report that the Nike KD 12 fits true to size and are somewhat wide-feet friendly. They suggest ordering your actual size when grabbing a pair of these innovative Kevin Durant sneakers.

Lockdown. These Kevin Durant sneakers provide on-demand lockdown and multi-directional containment with its 4-way directional Flywire cables.

For targeted stability, the Quad Axial Flywire cables relax when you are resting and activate when you start crossing up defenders on the court.

The KD 12 also features a mid-to-high-top cut. According to Chang, “He loved lows but he has had problems popping out of his shoes a lot. He wants to be locked in and we wanted to make sure he stays in the shoe. The sneaker is a little bit higher than normal.”

Kevin Durant loves low-tops however he wanted to change things up with the Nike KD 12. “He is not like Kobe, who wanted to be consistent with his shoes,” Chang explains. “He wanted to push us to change and create a new aesthetic to switch it up.”

Other details include a large Swoosh on the lateral side while KD branding is found on the heel and tongue tab.

The Nike KD 12 is available in the following hues:

  • Black/White/Pure Platinum ‘The Day One’
  • Black/White-Wolf Grey ‘Black Cement’
  • Multi-Color/White ‘90s Kid’
  • Red Orbit/Blue Glaze-Orange Pulse ‘EYBL’
  • University Red/Black-White ‘University Red’
  • White/Black-Wolf Grey ‘Wolf Grey’
  • White/Game Royal-White-Amarillo ‘Warriors Home’

Nike KD 12 ‘90s Kid’

As a millennial, Kevin Durant respects and loves the ‘90s era. Dubbed the ‘90s Kid,’ the first colorway of the KD 12 is inspired by Nike’s ‘90s era which experimented with colors such as neon and volt.

“We wanted to showcase everything from that era, from basketball, shoes, and music,” Chang said. “We wanted the shoe to revolve around the principles from some of the Nike products from the '90s. We put a mix on the products and put a modern twist on it.”

Comparison