Buyer's Guide: Nike Kobe Shoes

Nike Kobe shoes truly paved the way for many innovative sneakers, mainly due to the impactful player Kobe Bryant was. The late Kobe Bryant was an incredible basketball player who amazed the world with his historical accolades that touched sports, media, and pop culture. His everlasting legacy continues to live on in his extremely successful partnership with Nike. Since 2003, Kobe and Nike brought new tech to the hardwood through their collaborative sneakers. The sneakers are filled with history from some of Kobe’s achievements, lore within sneaker culture, and, of course, snake-inspired designs. We dive into Kobe Bryant and the shoes that helped pave the way for basketball sneakers and the Swoosh. 

Source: NSS Magazine

When Did Kobe Bryant sign with Nike?

Kobe signed with Nike back in 2003. But his joining the Swoosh wasn’t as simple as just signing a deal. 

Kobe entered the NBA at 17 in 1996, forgoing college to pursue his chances at disrupting the league. While transitioning into the NBA, adidas was behind Kobe, supporting his choices of entering the league early and later grooming him into signing with The Three Stripes. Throughout his early career in the NBA, Kobe brought attention to adidas as he won a Slam Dunk competition just a year into the league, three championship titles, and made four All-Star Game appearances. 

Source: Nice Kicks

Despite Kobe’s success while wearing adidas, he was known to be unhappy with the sneaker’s look and feel. He had five models of adidas sneakers, but it was the last one, the Kobe 2, that was the icing on the divorce cake. The Kobe 2 was considered by many to be one of the most bizarre, unorthodox, and unappealing basketball sneakers ever made, with Kobe in 2018 on The Corp podcast stating that the Kobe 2 “taught [him] that [he] needs to lead the design charge.” 

With the lack of admiration and success for the Kobe 2, Bryant parted ways with adidas in 2002, and even went out of his way to buy himself out of his contract, spending $8 million just to do so. Even though his time with adidas was over, he couldn’t just sign on to another brand due to a stipulation in his adidas contract: he couldn’t sign with another brand for an entire year. This year of noncommittal brand allegiance led to Kobe’s most exploratory sneaker phase and brought more awareness to some of the flaws with sneaker contracts for a generation of players.  

What was the Kobe Sneaker Free Agency?

Kobe Bryant was unable to sign to another sneaker brand for an entire year because of a clause that came with leaving his adidas deal early in 2002. That meant that Kobe was free to explore and wear any basketball sneakers he saw fit from any brand without holding any ties. This led to one of Kobe Bryant’s most iconic footwear phases while in the league, as the player wore various sneakers and brands throughout the 2002-2003 NBA season. 

Source: Sneaker History

For that entire season, Kobe Bryant is pictured performing his usual amazing basketball stunts while wearing sneakers from Nike, AND1, adidas, Jordan, Reebok, and Converse. Some were Player Exclusives while others were just run-of-the-mill general releases. Ultimately, at the end of that season, Kobe signed with Nike in 2003 and began his now legendary Mamba sneaker empire.

Nike Kobe Protro 1 Black Maize, a retro of the iconic Kobe 1 Zoom from 2003

During his lifetime, Kobe and Nike released 11 various sneaker models. Each pair provides a hybrid look to traditional basketball sneakers, making them seamlessly interchangeable between the court and the streets.   

Does Nike still sell Kobe shoes?

Despite Kobe’s unfortunate passing, Nike continues to sell Kobe shoes. All of Kobe’s shoes are considered grails and are highly coveted when they are released. His wife, Vanessa Bryant, struck a deal with Nike in 2022 to continue Kobe’s legacy of sneakers with new colorways of retroed silhouettes dropping.  

Source: NPR

What Kobes are dropping in 2024?

So far in 2024, a few notable Kobe shoes have been released, with the Kobe 8 seeming to be making a comeback. Here is a list of what has dropped and what’s expected to drop this year.

Nike Kobe 8 Protro Venice Beach (2024)

Nike Kobe 6 Protro Italian Camo (2024)

Nike Kobe 4 Protro Philly (2024)

Nike Kobe 8 Protro Radiant Emerald

Nike Kobe 8 Protro Court Purple