In a league where footwear changes nightly – new colorways, new signatures, new promo pushe – Jarrett Allen has built a reputation for doing the exact opposite. The Cavaliers center has been remarkably loyal to the Nike Kyrie 3 model, sticking with it dating back to his rookie season in 2017.
One important clarification, because the internet loves to turn a fun fact into mythology: Allen hasn’t literally played in one single, identical pair since 2017. In a recent interview, he explained he’s gone through multiple pairs over the years:
“probably about seven,” by his own count…
while still essentially refusing to move on from the same shoe. That tracks with sneaker-tracking databases that show the Kyrie 3 as his overwhelmingly most-worn model across seasons.
DID YOU KNOW?
Jarrett Allen’s been playing in the same pair of Nike Kyrie 3s since his rookie season in 2017 😳 pic.twitter.com/SEknFa1olB
— B/R Kicks (@brkicks) February 5, 2026
And that’s what makes this such a perfect Jarrett Allen story. It’s not about hype; it’s about comfort, familiarity, and the kind of low-maintenance consistency that also shows up in his game. Guards chase the newest edge, bigs often default to bulky tanks, and Allen just… keeps showing up in a silhouette that came out when a lot of today’s rookies were still in high school.
Trade-deadline chaos scrambles rosters. Load management scrambles rotations. The NBA is a constant state of update. Jarrett Allen’s feet, apparently, did not get the memo.
