Nike and Kobe Bryant: The Shoes and Moments That Defined the Deal

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The most storied sneaker in footwear history for the longest time was the Nike Mag. The sneaker, which debuted in Back to the Future Part II in 1989 on the feet of Michael J. Fox, was simply a movie prop until its releases in 2011 and 2016. But in 2008, for a Nike Mag-themed release of the newly designed Hyperdunk (which Kobe would wear to win gold at the Beijing Olympics) Kobe pulled up to the event in a DeLorean car just like in the film. The release, which took place at Undefeated, became a thing of sneaker lore, only building the hype around the Hyperdunk and Kobe’s organic connection to the footwear world. He popped out of the gullwing doors of the DeLorean with the high-top sneakers on foot. The shoes themselves were super limited and you don’t see many pairs floating around these days, but you’ll still see the classic image of Kobe and the DeLorean every now and then online. — Matt Welty

During the summer of 2008, all eyes were on the United States Men’s Basketball Team. Four years earlier, a team filled with the NBA’s brightest young stars, the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony fell short of their gold medal goals, taking home the bronze in Athens. In ‘08, the Redeem Team—led by team captain Kobe Bryant—was not going to let that happen again. Of course, Nike knew how many people would be watching, and the influence that Kobe had around the world, especially playing in Beijing. Tactically, the Swoosh laced Kobe up in its brand-new Hyperdunk sneaker, a true lightweight performance model that most notably marked the debut of Flywire in basketball. Kobe wasn’t the only athlete in Hyperdunks during those Olympic Games, in fact every Nike athlete from every country had them on, but he is certainly the face that we all remember when it comes to legitimizing one of the brand’s longest-running basketball lines. With the US protecting a slim two-point lead over Spain in the final eight minutes of the Gold Medal Game, Kobe completely took over, scoring 10 points in the final minutes, and leading the US to gold. He did it all in the Nike Hyperdunk, which went on to become a perennial favorite of Nike’s performance basketball shoes. — Ben Felderstein

Kobe’s love of the beautiful game ended up changing up hoops shoes as we know them. It was his interest in soccer—specifically the way players maneuver in cleats with their ankles exposed—that caused him and designer Eric Avar to experiment with low-top cuts on basketball footwear. Until Avar and Kobe came along with the Nike Kobe 4 in 2008, basketball sneakers were traditionally high or mid-tops due to the belief that those cuts better protected and supported the ankles. While that may be ideal for some players, Kobe helped popularize a different mindset, one that allowed his on-court shoes to be lighter, quicker, and less restrictive. The Kobe 4 would go on to become one of the most revered performance sneakers, and low-top models became commonplace not only in Kobe’s signature line, but in all basketball footwear. Today, nearly half of Nike Basketball’s sneakers are considered low-tops. — Riley Jones

Kobe’s colorway legacy is one of Nike’s finest. 3-D. Big Stage. Bruce Lee. Carpe Diem. Chaos. Dark Knight. The numerous player exclusive and Prelude pairs. The Fade to Black (officially called “Black Mamba”) retirement collection. But the Mamba’s most memorable makeup is arguably the Grinch Kobe 6. The recently re-released shoe’s storyline dates back to 2010, when Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers took the court for a Christmas Day showdown against LeBron James and the Miami Heat. As for the game itself, the Lakers took the L, but no one is still talking about the shoes LeBron wore that day. Released as part of a Nike Basketball Christmas pack alongside a red LeBron 8 V2 and a yellow KD 3, the neon green Grinch Kobe 6 was the clear standout. The apple green upper and crimson red laces popped on the TV screen, flew off of shelves, and remained a grail amongst Kobe heads for over a decade. — Riley Jones

Kobe’s Nike line was never known for keeping things conventional. The biggest way it changed things in basketball sneakers was through the shift from high and mid to low-tops, which allowed designers to shed weight from the uppers and make the sleek pairs quicker than their bulky counterparts. The Kobe series was also an early adopter of Flywire, a key feature of the Nike Kobe 4, Kobe 5, Kobe 6, and Kobe 7. By the time the ultra-high-top Kobe 9 hit, Flyknit had taken over, and the line would continue to improve upon the material, even after Kobe’s playing days with shoes like the 360-degree-knitted Kobe AD 360 NXT. Zoom Air and Lunarlon were staple cushioning setups of the Mamba’s signatures, and his shoes would often combine the two in new ways for improved underfoot feel. There was also the Kobe 7 System, which put the choice in the wearer’s hands with interchangeable cushioning and ankle height options. The Kobe line would sometimes debut new Nike innovation that would later find its way to other shoes. — Riley Jones