YouTube Investigators Dissect APL's Banned Basketball Sneaker

Long before Yeezy BSKTBL sneaker was , another footwear brand's star on-court model was in hot water for an even bigger reason. In 2010, Athletic Propulsion Labs' Concept 1 design was banned from the league for providing an 'unfair advantage' — the first sneaker to do so in the entire history!

The reason was due to the shoe's signature ‘Load ‘N Launch’ technology, which promised to increase vertical leap by as much as 3.5 inches. In an effort to better understand the tech and figure out just how it worked to provide such a substantial advantage over the competition, the team over at  got their hands on a pair of the rare kicks and did what they do best: cut them to pieces in the name of science!

After much slicing and dicing, the WI? crew managed to bust open the ‘Load ‘N Launch’ and, with the contents revealed in full, it's easy to see why they were banned by the NBA.

Watch the full video above for the dissection and, in case you missed it, be sure to check out our  feature '' for more information on these and other footwear that push the limits of acceptable advantage.