If your ultimate goal is to become a better athlete then by all means you can wear the vibrams when playing basketball or tennis. By performing activities out of the normal sagittal plane (forward and backward) and incorporate lateral frontal plane movement you will begin to stress the lower extremity musculature in a different way. This stress will then cause optimal adaptations. By crosstraining and participating in sports other than just running, you will also aid in the acquisition of your "pose" ball of foot strike. Good luck

I did well and felt good playing basketball in my Vibram KSOs, but they really take a beating. Now the things are practically falling apart (seams busting, toes exposed) after just six or seven hours of full court basketball. It was an expensive habit.

I've moved onto a pair of old wrestling shoes I found in my garage - totally flat, no heel, no artificial ankle support (none needed) unless you lace 'em up all the way. Mine look like this:

I only lace up the bottom part and let the ankle portion flap around loose. It works well.

If you can't find wrestling shoes, I'd recommend a barefoot alternative running shoe with no heel drop. Both Merrell and New Balance are coming out with new lines of minimalist trail runners that should work well. You'll be low to the ground and stable, and the shoe will stand up to the lateral movement better than Vibrams.

I'm cautious with any sport where you cut and spin often. Tennis and basketball are prime examples. A hard surface will destroy your foot barefoot, even with callouses.

I wear a wide toebox zero heel shoe, whether it's Keen or Earth or Vibrams, my feet aren't rocks yet, and we didn't evolve for tennis despite how fun it is.

As a competitive tennis player, I would not recommend playing either barefoot or in vibrams. I would be very concerned about injuries. Ankle injuries are very common even when wearing supportive shoes. Also, you can't move quickly and change direction as well. Of course, if you're just playing for fun then that won't be so much of a problem, but injuries would still be a real threat.

I think Vibrams would fine for tennis...IF they would make one with strategically placed rubber to cover the toes and sides better. Lots of people (including me) drag when serving and groundstroking and the current offering of vibram shoes would have holes in the fabric after one game! I played D1 college tennis and I personally think I would LOVE playing tennis in vibrams. I think I would be MUCH quicker and agile. But at $100 a pair, there is NO WAY I'm gonna test mine out on the court!

I don't think I would wear them at all, but I definitely wouldn't play basketball in vibrams unless everyone else was wearing them, too.

Not so much a philosophical position as an inordinate fondness for my toes.

Playing tennis and basketball barefoot or in minimalist footwear is a terrible idea. I've tried it, and it tore my feet up. The side to side movement, and quick stopping on hard surfaces is pretty rough on the feet, I had terrible blisters.

Sorry this is long, but I have a lot to say and I think it will be worth the read for those really looking into a minimalist basketball shoe.

I played basketball twice a week in VFF for a year and a half. I struggled with blisters on the ball of my foot and big toe the entire time even when using toe socks with the VFFs. You'd think that would have stopped me, but I loved the liberating feeling and using them has cured my chronically bad ankle. My ankle was so bad in fact that even with an ankle brace and high top shoes I would actually dislocate it and have to pop it back into place at least once a month while playing. Doctors all suggested surgery. No way. After switching to vibrams and using Dick Hartzell "Don't ice that Ankle Sprain" approach to preventing sprained ankles, I haven't rolled my ankle since. Needless to say, I firmly believe now that the modern basketball shoe and the R.I.C.E. treatment cause and worsen ankle injuries.

Anyway, when you walk onto a court wearing vibrams, everyone feels a need to comment and give you advice not to wear them. The most common comments are that: 1) you'll roll your ankle. 2) you'll destroy your arches. 3) you'll break your toes if someone lands on your foot. 4) you'll get stress fractures on you heel and shins due to the pounding.

I've already spoken to the first comment about ankles. The second comment is disproved by all the barefoot marathon runners. The third is partially a real concern. I've had my foot landed on many times and it does hurt more than if you were wearing a traditional shoe and I did get a bruise on my foot once, but I never had anything broken. The bigger issue is that you instinctively pull your foot out from under the other person's foot which yanks all your toes out of their places and making it very hard to continue playing without having to sit down and reposition your toes. This of course gives everyone plenty of opportunity to make smart remarks about your shoes. The final comment is also partially a real concern. You'll need to build up your foot strength and learn to run and land cat quiet. I did happen to have a couple bad landings and come down hard on my heel a couple times. It hurts, but you learn quickly how to land like a cat.

VFFs don't stand up to basketball very well so, eventually the VFF shoes lost all grip and fell apart and so I went on an extensive search for a replacement. I found the Merrell Bare Access shoe. They are much better than the VFF shoe for basketball and here's why:

-The bottom of the shoe has a basketball shoe like tread giving it much more traction than the VFF.

-It doesn't have the individual toes, which makes you look less ridiculous on the court and eliciting fewer comments. It also prevents the toe repositioning mentioned earlier. At the same time the toe box is very wide and provides ample room for the toes to splay.

-The traditional shoe laces allow a much better fit and have prevented the blisters.

-The shoe has a slight bit more cushion which saves the foot if you land wrong from a jump.

So for anyone looking for a minimalist basketball shoe, I'd suggest the Merrell Bare Access as the way to go.

no one has addressed one of the LARGEST causes of ankle sprains in basketball and that is landing on people's feet. It does not always happen, but it does occur and when it does theres nothing to correct it, no matter how well your brain communicates to your foot. Supportive basketball shoes are necessary for basketball.