Prose: Jake Sittler (@jtsittler)
Got a surprise email from Max this afternoon with a few snapshots of the upcoming Zoom LeBron Soldier 8. The hallmarks of the popular team line of LeBron’s signature have been a durable upper with some sort of integrated (and typically very useful) strap and a fully cushioned Zoom unit underfoot. For the money, the Soldier models are typically some of the best shoes on the entire market.
The 8 looks to fall right in line with other Soldiers, featuring a strap wrapping from the medial to lateral side, a Hyperfuse/Flywire upper, an aggressive outsole (a little DT 96-ish, no?) wrapping up around the lateral forefoot, and most likely a quality Zoom unit inside.
One interesting design element is a zipper on the medial side of the ankle collar, perhaps to allow ease of access when putting the shoe on. You can also see that the strap is attached basically by two shoestring-like strands. We don’t have current release info for the Soldier 8 yet and there isn’t a ton known about the shoe at the moment, but be on the lookout for a TGRR report when they do drop.
The pair is a sample size 9, but doesn’t have a sample tag so we’re likely looking at the production version. Check out Max’s pics below.
The Gym Rat Review 
I am still looking for Soldier 6, my dream shoes.
The traction on these 8 doesn’t look like it’ll be durable outdoors, doesn’t it?
The Soldier line are typically very durable shoes, so I’d think the 8 will be no different. Can’t really tell without playing in the shoes, but if it’s a harder rubber compound it should be good outdoors.
The Soldier 6 is a great shoe, I played it for a long time back when I had em and I loved em.
Actually it seemed pretty soft. I didnt get to look at them long but the outsole didnt seem to be as durable as the 6’s. Nike went with a softer rubber on the 7 and these seem to follow suit.