Chet Holmgren Injured Foot in Nike Zoom Freak 3 Shoes

Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren was wearing Giannis Antetokounmpo's signature Nike shoes when he injured his foot.

By now, most basketball fans have already heard the disheartening news involving Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren. The No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA draft suffered a Lisfranc injury in his right foot during a Pro-Am game in Seattle, Washington, last weekend.

Oklahoma City Thunder 7-footer Chet Holmgren will miss the 2022-2023 season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot. Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, suffered the injury in a Pro-Am game in Seattle on Saturday.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 25, 2022

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Holmgren will miss the entire 2022-23 NBA season. While most fans, players, and media took to social media to wish a speedy recovery to the big man, some immediately started pointing fingers.

The freak injury occurred early during the exhibition game at NBA legend Jamal Crawford's The CrawsOver League. Holmgren went up to contest Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James on a fastbreak and simply came down on his right foot in the wrong way.

The exhibition game was canceled in the second quarter after condensation rendered the court unsafe for play. But Holmgren did not slip on the play. 

Additionally, his size cannot be blamed for landing the wrong way. Also, the shoes he was wearing had nothing to do with the injury. We will dive into why that is the case below.

Nike Zoom Freak 3 

Nike Zoom Freak 3 'Uno' / Nike

Holmgren had worn Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant's new shoes earlier this summer. Durant shouted out Holmgren on Twitter for wearing the new Nike KD 15 shoes during NBA Summer League.

However, Holmgren was actually wearing Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo's signature shoes - the Nike Zoom Freak 3 in the 'Uno' colorway on Saturday night.

Some fans and players are quick to blame shoes for lower body injuries. We all remember Charles Barkley blaming FILA shoes for Grant Hill's injury history. But blaming the unfortunate accident on some sort of technical default with the shoes does not hold up. Nike designed the Zoom Freak 3 for 6'11", 243-pound Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

According to the product description on Nike's website, the Zoom Freak 3 features a lightweight, molded midsole under the forefoot, where two Zoom Air units are positioned. This allows the Zoom units to compress under the weight, then expand and help return energy.

The foot stays locked in position thanks to a molded hook-and-loop strap made from flexible, durable TPU. It wraps over the lower laces to help reduce internal foot movement by harnessing you over the cushioning.

If that is not enough, extra stability is added with an external piece of lightweight, durable TPU built into the outer-side midsole. It helps keep the foot stable over the footbed when making quick side-to-side directional changes.

Sneakerheads everywhere cringe when they hear shoes getting blamed for lower body injuries. Some people might blame the court, Holmgren's size, or the shoes for the injury, but this was just a reminder that sports are not safe. Unfortunately, injuries are a part of basketball. FanNation Kicks wishes a speedy recovery for Holmgren.

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