Damian Lillard had some great moments this past season, he scored 55 points in the playoffs, but lost again in the playoffs. Adidas hasn’t released the Dame 8 when Lillard attended the playoffs and Olympic games, but released the improved Dame 7 extply. So Dame 7 should be reliable for Damian Lillard. Although I haven’t purchased the Dame 7 extply, but I have the normal version Dame 7. The difference between them is the vamp design and the Dame 7 extply uses the environmental protecting material. Except the fitting, Dame 7 extply and Dame 7 are almost the same.
- Comfort level
The shape of Dame 7 is similar with Dame 6. The vamp of Dame 7 is thicker than Dame 6. As the padding of Dame 7 on the ankle position is thick and it has wide outrigger design on the forefoot sole, so Dame 7 looks big. The vamp and shoe tongue of Dame 7 is made of knitted mesh fabric. Even if on the hot Summer, it still can keep the feet dry and comfortable. It adds leather lines on both sides of vamp. The insole of Dame 7 uses Lightstrike.
I chose the standard size when trying, but I felt that the forefoot sole is a little empty, so I choose half size smaller. It’s a little tight, but it improve the fitting. The ankle is surrounded by the thick padding. The shoe heel uses thick Lightstrike, although it’s not so comfortable as Boost, but I can feel the cushioning feedback from the Lightstrike when jumping or running. The Lightstrik on the forefoot sole is thinner. So the height of forefoot sole is lower than the shoe heel. It needs time to break-in.
- Protection
The vamp of Dame 7 is mainly made of ventilated mesh fabric. The resilience of mesh fabric is good, but it’s not so stable, so Dame 7 adds the leather on both sides of vamp. The leather not only can reinforce the vamp, but also hides the rope belt. As the ankle position is filled with thick padding, after fastening the shoelaces, it can lock the ankle position well. But the shoelaces can’t adjust the forefoot position.
The forefoot sole is a little wide, so it effect the problem of fitting. The forefoot sole has outrigger design, and the shoe heel has stabilizing plate, so the stability is good.
- Durability
The depth of outsole pattern is deep. The outboard outsole is the pattern of 7, and the middle pattern is lightning shape. The traction performance of Dame 7 is great, and the sole is not easy to absorb the dust. It can be used on both outdoor and indoor court. After playing a few basketball games, it doesn’t have obvious abrasion on the middle part of the outsole. But the outboard ‘7’ pattern has the abrasion.
Overall:
I’m surprised at the stability of Dame 7. It’s also comfortable. But the shape is big and it’s heavy, it affect the flexibility of the shoes. It also needs time to break-in the low forefoot sole and high shoe heel. For the size, it’s better to try it before purchasing online.
