Prose: Jake Sittler (@jtsittler)
Steve Nash is without a doubt one of the greatest point guards of all-time and perhaps the greatest pure point since John Stockton. He’s a maestro running the pick and roll, has preternatural court vision and anticipation and is a master at keeping his dribble alive. Nash is also criminally underrated as a shooter: for his career, he’s shot 49% from the field, 42% from three, and 90% from the line. Only three times in his career did he shoot under 40% from behind the arc and he’s shot over 50% from the field eight out of his last nine seasons.
Nash’s shoe game has been criminally underrated as well. He rocked the Nike Jet Flight back in his Dallas days – perhaps the best performing shoe of all-time – but it has been slept-on by many current sneakerheads. He’s worn an eclectic mix since then, including the Zoom BB II, Zoom MVP, Cradle Rock Low, and Nash has favorited the Lunar Hypergamer Low for the 2012-2013 season. The Zoom Go Low was another shoe of choice for Nash back in the 2010-2011 season, and also one that I happened to snag off eBay a few months back.
The design is simplistic and there’s nothing flashy at all about the shoe, but that’s kind of why I like it so much. Everything about the shoe is built for performance, starting with the midsole and outsole. The midsole is full-length Cushlon with a forefoot Zoom bag that’s plenty soft. The step in comfort and transition are excellent. The outsole is fairly thick and solid but boasts flex grooves working in tandem with the podular design to provide an easy heel-toe strike. The traction is a modified, full-length herringbone pattern and the entire outsole design is almost identical to the setup found on the Huarache 08; I had several teammates and friends that hooped in that Huarache for a long time and raved about the comfort and traction. (Check the spec sheet here.)
The upper is a mix of full-grain and synthetic leather, with the midfoot overlay providing very good lockdown when laced tightly. The toebox is reinforced with a full-grain overlay as well, and features the same hardened plastic reinforcement along the midfoot/heel as the Huarache 08. This piece gives the foot excellent lateral support. All in all it’s built pretty much exactly like the 08 from the ground up, but Nike did an excellent job of giving it a low-cut without sacrificing any stability or security.
The white/grey/purple/orange PE colorway is simple and a nice hookup for the then-Phoenix Sun. Personally, my favorite aspect is the “SN” logo on the heel -it’s always a plus to get an obscure PE logo on your kicks. And as a point guard, I felt like I needed the kicks of one of the greatest to play the position.
The shoe was available in two Nash PE colorways (the white-based model pictured here and a black-based colorway), several Team Bank colorways, and two “Trash Talk” colorways constructed of recycled materials. It wasn’t a major release in the states, and I can’t recall any major chain carrying the shoe. Thus, the Zoom Go Low is relatively hard to find on eBay and the prices, for whatever reason, tend to run high. Many eBay sellers offering the shoe were from Canada, so perhaps (and for good reason) the shoe was just more popular in the land to the north.
Regardless, if you can find a pair under $100 on eBay, don’t hesitate to pull the trigger. It’s a solid shoe for both hooping and casual wear, and mine will return to the rotation once this crappy Indiana winter is over.
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