Why the Adidas Harden Vol. 9 Is Radical as Much for What It Does as What It Doesn’t
Internally, Adidas has taken to calling the look that defines the new direction of its Basketball line “radical simplicity.”
The aesthetic can essentially be distilled to a rule of two. Two colors form the backbone of nearly every colorway, and if there’s a third it’s used quite sparingly. The simplicity of this arrangement then makes it easy to highlight the two distinct elements of a given shoe.
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In 2023, this idea of “radical simplicity” was first tested on the market for the Harden Vol. 7. But where it’s really taken off has been on the Anthony Edwards 1, known for a brief time as the AE 1, and the Harden Vol. 8.
Those two shoes put the world on notice in 2024 that Adidas Basketball is once again a force to be reckoned with, maybe even the force to be reckoned with in the sport. And now that James Harden’s signature line has moved on to the next model, the Harden Vol. 9 is proving that the philosophy is here to stay — and with the results to match.
Since the shoe launched in December with a Lunar New Year-themed colorway exclusive to China and then in January globally in “Cyber Metallic,” the Harden Vol. 9 has been widely praised for its peculiar and futuristic look. The latter edition especially highlights the forward-thinking appearance, as silver synthetic leather has come to represent a sort-of “The Jetsons” style imagination of the future as part of a wider trend in sneakers.
Jalal Enayah, Senior Footwear Designer at Adidas and steward of the Harden line for the last three models, spoke with Footwear News in late January at the brand’s 2025 showcase event. He said him and his team were initially a little hesitant to take a “less is more” approach to Harden’s sneakers.
“In a world of overstimulation, you wonder if people will find it boring,” Enayah said. “The challenge now is how do you evolve that radical simplicity and still be true to the story and who Adidas is. That’s the fun challenge.”
The defining feature of the Harden Vol. 9 is plain to see. It’s that sleek but consuming synthetic overlay that sweeps across the sneaker and features cut-outs for three stripes that look like drops swept across a windshield. These grid-mesh slots are also where the shoe is allowed to breathe, addressing feedback that the Harden Vol. 8 could get too hot.
From a more tangible perspective, the through line for the past three Harden volumes is what Enayah calls the “Harden line,” the concave edge at the top of each shoe. The designer looked to an industrial-like hubcap from a performance car for inspiration, as it allowed air to cool the brakes at high speeds in a straightforward way.
“We were looking at [ventilation] as something that must function at a really simple level because we can’t make it heavy” Enayah said. “It has to do exactly what it has to do and that’s it. So there was something to the idea of, like, back to radical simplicity, if it’s gonna be ventilation, it should just be ventilation. That’s the look.”
Having settled that approach, it became natural to have the ventilation windows take heed from the Harden topline shape. On the lighter colorways, you can even see the straps that help lockdown the foot within the mesh.
Just as radical as the Harden Vol. 9’s new look is what has remained the same. While the industry norm is to completely remake one signature shoe after the other, Enayah and the Adidas team didn’t want to make changes merely for the sake of making changes.
Harden loves the inner-bootie system, so that stays. The outsole configuration caters perfectly to the player’s game, which emphasizes stopping the way others may utilize explosive motions, so it’s changed only nominally since the Harden Vol. 7.
Although the Harden Vol. 9 was designed to be lighter than its predecessor, the intent wasn’t to make it as light as possible. Enayah describes the sneaker as the “right weight” rather than “lightweight.”
“[Lightweight] is almost a sexy term in basketball because everybody thinks lighter is better, but it’s really not the case, especially in such an aggressive sport,” Enayah said.
Aiding in the development process for each sneaker is the mindset of Harden, who’s been known for his “out-there” sense of fashion for most of his 16 seasons in the NBA. Enayah insists that when he says Harden is the favorite athlete he’s worked with, he isn’t doing so offhand. The bearded veteran is open-minded, loves challenging convention and trusts both the instincts and expertise of the designers at Adidas.
In a press release for the sneaker’s global launch in January, Harden said: “You can put on a fit with them and look fly at dinner or rock them on the court and drop 40.”
He’s lived by that mentality, too, having worn the shoe in the pre-game tunnel and on the court on the night of the Harden Vol. 9’s official public debut. When Harden sat out a single game in late-January, the shoe was once again on his feet to go along with his street clothes.
Despite the prevalence of retro basketball models in sneaker culture, such crossover appeal has been sorely missing in most of the sports’ shoes for at least the past decade. Even though the Harden Vol. 9 was never expressly intended to look good off the court, Enayah sees it as an inevitable side effect of designing with Harden’s taste in mind.
Sneakerheads long for the golden age of basketball sneakers, and nostalgia of the same ilk tends to creep at some point for most anyone who’s a fan of most anything. But with at least three sneakers that have reinvigorated the category (the Anthony Edwards 1 and Hardens Vol. 8 and 9) as well as a few that could be argued as sleepers (the Dame 9 and Trae 3), there’s now enough evidence to proclaim the renaissance is upon us for Adidas Basketball.
About the Author:
Ian Servantes is a Senior News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. He’s previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that “ball is life” and doesn’t fuss over his kicks getting dirty.
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