Ranking the D.O.N. Issue #1 Colorways

Mitchell sports one of several designs of his signature shoe at a game in Los Angeles. (Adam Pantozzi via utahjazz.com)

Donovan Mitchell announced on Instagram that Issue #2 of his signature shoe is coming out this summer. Last offseason, Adidas and Mitchell issued his first version of D.O.N. Issue #1, leading to 12 different colorway schemes. Mitchell named his shoe after himself with each letter standing for what he believes in: Determination Over Negativity. All the shoes in his Issue #1 have cool and different things that set them apart but here is our attempt at ranking them, starting with the best shoe and ending with the least favorable.

The original D.O.N. Issue #1 colorway

The Original: The first shoe’s color scheme (blue and red) stayed true to the comic book character who shares Mitchell’s nickname. Most things that come with sequels never live up to the original and it’s true with the first pair of D.O.N.s. They are the classic. This pair is so close to the Spiderman look that Marvel and Adidas teamed up to released Mitchell’s first shoe with the movie Spiderman: Far From Home around the same time. They even made a commercial together featuring Mitchell, Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal. 

An homage to the past

The Mailman: Nostalgia is brought back for all Jazz fans who grew up during the 90s with this shoe. The color scheme coincides with the Jazz colors during their back-to-back finals run. It was also issued around the same time the Jazz released this year’s retro Mountain Jersey. The best part of the shoe is that instead of the standard patch saying Issue #1, there is a patch with a mailbox paying tribute to the greatest Jazz man of all-time, Karl “the Mailman” Malone, with Mitchell’s number 45 above it.

The bold-looking symbiote colorway

The Symbiote Spider-Man: This pair of shoes is very unique, with black and white color scheme, paying tribute to Peter Parker’s Symbiote suit. Adidas also added in a splash of pink with speckled gradient on the sole. The Symbiote are also the only shoe with a leather top instead of mesh. This colorway scheme looks great and definitely one of the best shoes in this series.

Why so serious?

The Joker: This villain-ish shoe brings a great color scheme of purple, black and grey that honors one of the greatest comic book evil doers ever. The only issue is that the Joker isn’t a Spiderman villain or in the Marvel Universe, but we will let this pass because the shoes look sweet.

Be humble, says D.O.N.

Be Humble: The last release in this collection features a nice mix of colors that bring gold, green and navy together. Each of these colors have all been part of the Jazz’s logo history. The coolest part of this shoe is that the issue #1 has been replaced by a “be humble” patch, reminding the wearer to have humility in all they do.

The rainbow colorway

The Rainbow: This is a black shoe with a really unique rainbow prominently displayed on the side. One aspect that elevates this shoe on the list is the white that underlines black mesh on top. The best part is the tongue design, which features a white web and a rainbow colored Spida-Mitchell symbol over it.

Iron Spider was one of the earliest editions

The Iron Spider: This shoe is bright red with hints of gold. It is pretty simplistic yet bold, giving the shoe a stand-out look. The Iron Spider also gives a nod to the suit designed and built by Tony Stark for Peter Parker.

May the Force be with you

The Star Wars: Adidas released a Star Wars series shoe with all of their basketball players right before The Rise of Skywalker premiered. Mitchell’s shoe is black and electric hi-res aqua blue, which is the standard color for Jedi lightsabers. Something that makes this shoe stand out isn’t even the outside but the inside, which features Stars Wars word graphics. The other exclusive part is the silver plate over the laces engraved with “Star Wars.” Of all the shoes in Adidas’ Star Wars collection, the force is the strongest with the D.O.N. 1.

Feeling stealthy?

The Stealth Spider: The Stealth is a mostly black shoe with hints of green and silver. The sole of the shoe may be the best of the series, sporting solar green and black colors mixed up in camo style. The shoe laces, which are black with the solar green meshed in, completes this look.

Color me shocked

The Shock Yellow: The Shock Yellow is an accurate description of this neon-colored shoe. It’s bright highlighter yellow with black trim and a nice streak of red on the side. The unique part of this shoe is the tongue doesn’t have the Spida-Mitchell logo on it but instead has “Engine 45,” drawing association with Union Pacific Freight Trains. With 45 being Mitchell’s number, he is the engine the helps make the Jazz go.

This shoe is bound for glory

The Glory Blue: The Blues are a fine-looking shoe, but there isn’t much making it stand out from the others. The best part of the shoe is the black mesh top underlined with blue and yellow. The Glory Blues are one of the last shoes released for the issue #1.

Trick or treat

The Halloween: Adidas decided to celebrate Halloween in February with this release, but that isn’t why it’s last on the list. Black and orange usually go very well together although in this shoe it just doesn’t work, too much orange and not enough black. The saving grace of this shoe is the Spida-Mitchell logo, which looks really good in those iconic Halloween colors.

Mitchell also wore different designs of his shoe that were never released for purchasing. There are at least five different ones to add to the series: Louisville, 45, USA, PE and Tiger. Mitchell delivered a debut set of shoes that are not only look great but most impressively he made them affordable. Not one pair costs more than $100 dollars, giving more kids (and adults) a chance to be Spida-Mitchell in their driveway and on the court. With the NBA season in jeopardy for returning, Mitchell’s Issue #2 that comes out this summer gives us something to look forward to.