- Inside of this Nike bag are a pair of shoes from 2009
that are super rare and so unique,
the NBA has banned them from players being able to use them.
They are supposed to give you such a competitive advantage
that the NBA said, "absolutely not."
Lincoln is going to try 'em out.
He's coming to basketball practice today.
So, these are the shoes by Athletic Propulsion Labs.
They are from 2009.
These are the Concept 1's, size 10 for Lincoln.
They are green on green.
Open 'em up, let's see these bad boys.
We've got this nice bag.
- Whoa, very green!
Oh, very, very, very green!
(laughs loudly)
- The greenest shoes you've ever seen.
Here's the story behind these.
The Boston Celtics wanted to wear these
in the 2009 playoffs,
and in order to get a shoe approved,
you have to go to the NBA.
The NBA took two weeks and they came back and said,
"No, this gives them a competitive advantage."
When they tested these on average people,
the basketball players on average were able to increase
their vertical by three inches.
These are men that are not in the greatest of shape.
Three inches of increase in their vertical.
We're gonna see what it's like on Lincoln.
Let us know in the comments if you've heard of these things:
shoes that are banned by the NBA.
(electronic dance music)
You better be dunking today.
That's all I'm gonna say.
Okay, go get it.
Go get it, little guy.
(electronic dance music)
(bouncing springs)
Can't really tell that he's jumping any higher.
I dunno how good of a test this is with his vertical.
He's only 12 years old, but I will say,
out of all of the 50 kids that are here right now,
I can spot him quicker than any other kid.
(electronic dance music)
Thoughts on the shoes?
- They just feel like normal, uncomfortable,
20-dollar basketball shoes.
- 20-dollar!
Let me just say they were not $20.
So, these are your shoes,
and if you look on the bottom of them, they say,
"Load 'N Launch".
So, this is the section right here
where all of the technology is
that makes you jump higher.
It's been like eight years
since the Celtics wanted to use these,
and I haven't seen anybody else
come out with shoes like this.
They used the ban by the NBA to drive sales
and to make these a hot commodity on the market.
So, this is the shirt that comes with it in the box.
Puttin' this on right now.
- Bam! - Banned by the NBA.
We are banned, that's how cool these shoes are.
- So, I'm doing a school project on these shoes
and when I was Googling for some more information,
today I saw all of the information for the Kanye West shoes.
I was like, "did that just happen?"
- Kanye West has some Yeezy's
that he made for basketball season
and they haven't had it reviewed by the NBA yet,
but the word is that an NBA official has said
if they come up for review, it's going to be rejected,
and the reason why is because right along this area
there's a really shiny part, that if light shines on it,
it could get in people's eyes
and could be really distracting.
(screaming)
- Are you okay?
- No looking, keep your eyes shut!
- Because of that, they're banning it.
Where with this one, I think what happened is
the NBA only had a few weeks to make a decision.
The Celtics came to them near the end of the season
before the playoffs, and it was just kind of too late.
Athletic Propulsions Lab just was like,
"Boom, banned by the NBA, press, everything is great."
So...
(retracts knife) Should we start here?
- No.
- Should we
just cut out the circle? - Just cut around the circle.
- We'll cut around it.
Watch it like, explode with air.
Launch 'n Load, baby.
Okay, that shoe's gone.
(upbeat swing music)
Here we go, here we go.
(blade snaps)
- Seems like we're so close!
It wants to come out, it's kind of pushing.
(blade snaps)
- We might need to go in from a different direction.
- Like what?
- From right here.
(fabric scraping)
- You know, you could've just taken the shoe lace out
like, nice and carefully.
- What? Oh, my gosh.
I can't believe I didn't do that.
Here's the inside of the shoe.
Wrah, here's the sole of it.
- Pew!
- So, here's the top, completely opened up.
Here's the actual sole
and then it's pink. - Oh, it's pink!
- That's cool.
- This is the brightest colored shoe you will ever see.
- Green and pink.
How can I get into here?
Let me in, Let me in, APL, Apple.
I definitely feel something underneath.
Just need to be able to get this foam off.
- Oh, I might be able to pull that out.
(shoe smacks blades)
Nice.
- We are in.
We are in the section where the thing is: it's a square.
I could tell when I'm just cutting around that circle.
I could tell that it was like, a square type thing,
and that's why I kinda gave up on the bottom,
cuz I'm like, "I think there's more
than just a circle."
What's that?
A square.
So, there's the soft plastic.
This is like the foam that goes throughout it.
This is much harder plastic right here.
This is where the Launch 'n Load technology is.
This is quite the process.
If you look from this side,
you can see it looks like there are eight holes.
- Oh. You made it through the cable, I think.
(tears off plastic)
- Oh, look at the circle! - Yes!
It's out of the shoe!
What is it?
What is the technology
that makes you jump higher?
It's this, has this hard plastic.
Okay, so...
interesting.
So, it sits in your shoe
and then right here, it's really interesting,
it's like a hinge on a door.
See that?
- Whoa, it's like a nail.
- Now let's see if I can cut open the plastic
just through the foam, just a little bit.
(swing music into orchestral chord)
Oh! Are you kidding me?
- Springs, springs, springs.
- There are real, actual springs in here.
(laughs)
Wow, whoa, wow!
Look at that!
We confirmed springs in your shoes.
(applause)
Oh, man.
- Springs inside of these shoes
that I wore playing basket ball.
- That is pretty dang funny.
They don't go very far.
It's hard to believe that this
would provide you with enough lift.
Let me open up the rest of it here and I'll show you.
Look at all those you have,
the six, big springs,
and then you have the two mini springs.
The foam in there that's like a...
way softer foam, like a bouncier foam.
This is the contraption that
they put a lot of thought into this.
Whether it works or not, you gotta applaud them
for trying to think outside the box and say,
"How can we improve the performance of shoes?"
Also, from a weight perspective,
shoes are getting much lighter these days.
- This one, when I was playing basketball,
it felt pretty heavy. - Yeah.
- Felt a lot heavier than like, these Curry's.
They're super light. - And it makes sense,
because you've got this plastic hinge in here,
and you've got a bunch of metal
inside of the sole of your shoe.
So, would you wear shoes that have springs inside of them
and do you agree that NBA should ban something like this?
- I think that they should.
- There are many reasons why the NBA would ban shoes.
Performance is one of them,
or with the Kanye West Yeezy's for this year,
it's the aesthetics.
It's a distraction from the court, so...
- I wanna go see those Yeezy's.
- I know, we're gonna go take a look at those Yeezy's
and see what they look like,
and maybe if they actually make them
and we can get our hands on some,
let us know if you want us
to cut 'em open and see what's inside of them.
Send this video to somebody that loves basketball
and if you haven't, subscribe to our channel
for more awesome What's Inside content.
See ya.
- Bye!
(electronic dance music)
I've got the magic.
Rise!
(shoe falls)
(smacks paper)
- Way to go.
Good job, Lincoln.
- Do it!