Nike Sabrina 2 review

We believe you'll love the Sabrina 2 if:

• You're a quick guard who's looking for a fast, pliable and solid performer to match your quick footwork.
• You're a small forward who relies on explosive cuts a lot and you need top-notch traction.
• You want something comfortable off the bat with a marvelous cushioning setup.
• You're done with having to choose between either durability or breathability.
• Kobesque aesthetics are your thing.

We don't really have a lot of negative things to say about Ionescu's latest hooper! In fact, if it wasn't for its average outsole durability, we'd even recommend it to play streetball. If that's exactly what you had in mind, then we believe you should have a look at this section of our catalog, as we have reviewed fairly durable hoopers that can withstand the abrasion of outdoor courts.

After all our testing (inside and outside our lab), we believe the Sabrina 2 is more suitable for quick guards and small forwards. These players tend to be smaller overall and, many times, also quicker. If you're a big guy, a center or a power forward, we believe these basketball shoes should suit your playstyle and build better.

As expected from a shoe that focuses on letting you feel the court under your feet, the Sabrina 2 has a 24.6 mm heel stack, which is lower than average. But we never felt like this hooper lacked cushioning, it was more of a "we understand what Nike is trying to do" feel.

But at 17.3 mm, the stack height of this shoe gets even lower at the forefoot! In fact, it managed to break our "lowest toe area" record again, surpassing its previous iteration and coming second to only the Zion 3 (which scored only 15.5 mm on our caliper).

After doing our math, we discovered that this Nike's drop is average, at 7.3 mm. This is neither good nor bad, as the drop is all about personal preferences! If you want to know more about this, here is our guide on the topic.

If you look at this picture closely, you'll actually see how low the forefoot is. But don't worry: much like the Sabrina 1, the 2 also features a snappy Zoom Air unit at the ball of the foot that provides enough cushioning. Right next to it, sitting at the top of the midfoot, we have a thick shank that combined its wonderful support with the responsive pop of the previous technology, creating a really fast ride.

This hooper features two types of foam: a firmer carrier Cushlon foam, and the plush Cushlon 3.0 (which is the brand's newest cushioning). When we pressed our durometer against the latter, it returned 22.1 HA, which confirms the soft feel we enjoyed during our wear tests.

Despite being on the plush side, the Zoom technology and the shank we mentioned before didn't let the foam bottom out. In fact, we felt this shoe's comfort and underfoot support in every game we played. Still, considering its design, you shouldn't expect anything crazy cushioned.

The minimalist feel of the Sabrina 2 comes with a 3.5 mm thick insole. There's not much for us to say about it, it's just thinner than average and it doesn't offer much support or comfort.

Even though just by looking at this hooper you'll most likely think it's not a very spacious shoe, during our wear tests we enjoyed a fantastic fit. Honestly, the Sabrina 2 melted with our feet and made us completely forget about it! To put this feeling into numbers, we took the shoe to our lab and poured our gel all over its toebox.

Once it froze and we could put our caliper around it, the tool returned 92.3 mm when we measured the toebox width at the widest part, which is pretty much average.

When we moved it all the way up to the big toe, our caliper returned 70.4 mm. This is good news to us and our standard-sized feet, because even though we didn't have a lot of space to move our toes around, it means that this Nike hooper doesn't taper like crazy. Which is unusual for the shoes of this brand!

We could put our toes up easily thanks to the extra space the Sabrina 2 has on its toebox. The vertical volume on this area goes all the way up to 24.9 mm according to our caliper, surpassing the average. We didn't feel any pressure or discomfort during our wear tests, which is something greatly appreciated by any hooper.

Even though this shoe is built to be fast, we're really happy to say Nike didn't forget about its stability. As you can see in the video below, the Sabrina 2 stays low to the ground and keeps your feet in place. We can't say it's built like an armor, just like some of the LeBron hoopers (which, by the way, share a similar Kobesque aesthetic up until the last iteration), but it does its job properly.

We didn't have to deal with a break-in period with the Sabrina 2. This shoe hugged our feet comfortably from the very first minute we put it on, which is something we greatly appreciated. When we took it to our lab and tried to twist it, it didn't make our fingers get massive cramps like many other hoopers. As it was fairly easy to do so, we decided to give it a 3/5 on our torsional rigidity test.

Even though it features a more pliable structure overall, this Nike's heel counter decided not to follow the vibe. The rearfoot containment and support is just wonderful, yet the heel counter was not as rigid as to give us blisters or uncomfortable rubbing. Consequently, we decided to give it a solid 4/5 on our stiffness test. Oh, and also, no heel slippage whatsoever!

The stability of the Sabrina 2 doesn't only come from its shank, which offers great support, but also from its wider midsole at the forefoot. Our caliper returned 115.7 mm, which is thanks to this shoe's sole flare.

Even though we believe this hooper is better for quick guards, it still has enough support and stability for those willing to fight in the paint from time to time.

The heel follows pretty much the same logic, and our caliper reading is just average. At 90.1 mm, our standard-sized feet had enough space to land comfortably and, at the same time, enjoy the fantastic containment of the Sabrina 2.

As expected from such a nimble and quick shoe, it wasn't hard for our force gauge to bend it all the way up to 90 degrees. We only needed 25.4N of force, which is way less than average! This is just another proof of why this hooper is ideal for faster players who like to dribble past their defenders or go for explosive layups.

This is one of the aspects we love the most about the Sabrina 2. Even before taking it to our lab, its whole design told us it was a fast shoe. We verified it during our wear tests, as running up and down the court felt effortless. To put this experience into numbers, we put this Nike on the scale, and it marked 11.96 oz/339g.

As all of us already expected, this score is lower than average. And it isn't just the weight, but also the whole fit and pliability of this hooper what makes it feel that fast. 

We still can remember how the Sabrina 1 felt like a couple of toasters for our feet, but when we played ball wearing this newest iteration... our feet could magically breathe! Well, maybe not so magically, as right after our light test we knew the brand had taken matters into its own hands.

Can you see the LED shining through the material when we move our fingers around? Well, our smoke machine tells a very similar story, as the air could get in and out of this Nike pair easily. Unlike the LeBron 22, the Sabrina 2 offered us wonderful breathability, so we decided to give it a 4/5 on this test.

As you can see in our microscope close-up, the material of this shoe's toebox looks tight and solid. But... appearances are deceptive. That's why it's so important to conduct multiple tests before giving a final score regarding ventilation!

We were left in awe by the resilience of this shoe. Even though the Dremel went all in at 5K RPM and with 2N of force, the Sabrina 2 fought back like a champ and ended up with a mere scratch. It owned a well-deserved 5/5 on our durability test, which is an incredible score for such a breathable pair!

With another 5/5 on durability, the heel padding of the Sabrina 2 fought back the Dremel fearlessly. As you can see in the video below, the damage didn't jeopardize this shoe's integrity at all, proving that one doesn't need extra rigid materials to be sturdy!

When we pressed our durometer against this shoe's outsole, it returned 71.9 HC. This score is way lower than average, which usually means the rubber used for the Sabrina 2's outsole focuses more on grip than on durability.

Our hypothesis regarding traction and durability came true when the Dremel devoured 1.1 mm of this shoe's outsole. At 10K RPM and with 2N of force, it's never easy to fight this tool back when it attacks for a whole 18 seconds. Even though the depth of the dent is average, we believe the Sabrina 2 is not the best option to play streetball.

Nike is giving us one more reason why this pair is suited for indoor courts. Our caliper marked 3.8 mm when we measured its outsole thickness, which is nothing spectacular. Therefore, it's not like the Sabrina 2 features a crazy chunky piece of rubber to make its outsole last longer.

The performance of this so very Kobe-like pair made us completely fall in love. Its playability is just crazy, and one of the key points that we liked the most during our wear tests was its traction.

The oldie-but-goldie herringbone pattern never disappoints, providing multidirectional grip and biting the floor like a hungry pup. As the colorway we got doesn't feature translucent rubber, we can't say much about that, but the solid one was outstanding regarding traction. So much so that if it wasn't for its average durability, we'd totally recommend the Sabrina 2 to play streetball!

You are getting a real lot for just $130. This Nike hooper doesn't need a thousand technologies (even though it does feature a couple of them) to be a top performer. If you love basketball as much as we do, you'll probably know the Sabrina 1 became a fan's favourite just pretty much after its release. And we sure expect its younger sibling to follow its same bouncy footsteps!

You're the one that's gonna shine wearing this hooper, not the Sabrina 2!

We were protected from any lace bite thanks to the 8.1 mm of padding this Nike basketball shoe has on its tongue.

In fact, after looking at how padded the overall structure of the Sabrina 2 is, we were pretty surprised (positively, of course) about its wonderful score on breathability.

The wonderful lock-in feel this hooper offers comes, partly, from its fully gusseted tongue. It's designed to hug your feet comfortably and not let go, and that's exactly what we felt during our wear tests!

The fully gusseted tongue plus its stiff and extra thick heel counter make putting on the Sabrina 2 a whole minigame. Nike, you could have added a finger loop to give us a hand! But anyway, don't worry, as long as you untie properly, you'll be fine.

We're happy to say the Sabrina 2 features a removable insole that you can always change if you need or want to.