With its New Traction Pattern, the Air Zoom G.T. Cut 2 is Created for the World’s Quickest Players

What to Know

• The Air Zoom G.T. Cut 2 was created with a new, advanced traction pattern that helps players make sharp, quick cuts on the court.
• The Greater Than Series in Nike Basketball serves the next generation of athletes by providing the best innovations Nike has to offer, allowing players at every level to level up their game.
• The Greater Than Series helps progress Nike’s culture of Innovation by using digital tools to experiment and ultimately create the world’s most advanced performance footwear.

The Greater Than (G.T.) Series was introduced in 2021 as the newest testing ground for Nike Basketball. Its purpose was to design for the next generation of hoopers by using every possible tool in Nike’s arsenal to make the most advanced footwear in the market. 

“Our world-class testing resources at the Nike Sport Research Lab give us the ability to discover new insights into the game and identify the smallest of nuances tied to athlete performance,” says Ross Klein, Sr. Creative Director, Nike Performance Footwear. “This helps us push footwear at Nike to always be greater than ever, whether that’s in basketball or in any other sport. The G.T. Series is an invitation to dream and to push the boundaries of human potential.”

The redesigned Air Zoom G.T. Cut 2 is created for players who create and close space in an instant to keep defenders off balance. 

Key to the shoe is an all-new, advanced traction design. It features a rubber compound arranged in an intense wiper-blade pattern with deep tread grooves. When the player applies force with each step, the grooves separate and then snap back upon release, helping the player dig into the court to cut with quickness. A second zone of nubbed traction is spread up the forefoot. 

“The G.T. Series is completely untethered from traditional ways of thinking,” says Klein. “The traction pattern is one of those elements that was generated at a micro-level insight from the NSRL after studying the relationship between court and shoe. The teams were able to drive a new innovation that gives the athletes the right amount of friction on court so they can cut faster, rotate quicker and adjust their footwork with enhanced precision.”

Other updates to the Air Zoom G.T. Cut 2 include a refined heel shape for a more secure fit, a carved out midsole to reduce the rubber content and the overall weight of the shoe, and a heel Zoom Air unit which was added based on player feedback. Returning to the shoe from the first G.T. Cut silhouette is a full-length articulated Zoom Air strobel and a drop-in React foam sockliner. 

The Air Zoom G.T. Cut 2 releases in the Bred colorway on September 16 for Nike Members and September 20 across North America. The Sabrina Ionescu colorway releases October 13 on Nike.com and the Nike App.