When the phrase “signature shoe” was associated with Michael Jordan more than 20 years ago, Adidas signed a quartet of fresh phenoms in an effort to kick-start its budding basketball line. When Kobe Bryant joined the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent, he was a celebrity in the making, thanks to his fresh-faced zeal in promoting himself.
For the remainder of the 2002-03 season, Bryant was without an official shoe sponsorship. That is until he signed with Nike, where he felt at home from the start.
This is the origin story of all the phenomenal Kobe Bryant nike shoes we see today. Keep on reading for our full breakdown of the most essential of all Kobe Bryant basketball shoes.
The First Kobe Bryant Nike Shoes: Nike Zoom Kobe 1 ’81 Points (2007)
For his debut Nike-branded shoe, Kobe scored 81 points in a single game against the Toronto Raptors in 2006 while wearing the Zoom Kobe 1. The following year, Nike released a Player Exclusive white/black/purple colorway based on Kobe’s shoe design from that night in order to commemorate it.
Basketball enthusiasts and players alike will finally be able to get their hands on a pair of Nike’s Kobe 11 Retros after a full retail release is scheduled for 2019. Kobe 1 is a bit of an outlier in the Kobe trademark collection because of its hefty leather construction.
Hyperdunks Go Global With Kobe Bryant in 2008
Everyone was watching the US Men’s Basketball Team throughout the summer of 2008. During the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, a squad captained by NBA talents LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony came up short in their quest for the gold medal.
The Redeem Team, headed by Kobe Bryant as captain, was determined not to let this happen again in 2008. Knowing how many people would tune in and the sway Kobe has throughout the globe, Nike made no secret of his appearance in Beijing. From a tactical standpoint, the Swoosh put Kobe in the Hyperdunk, a brand-new lightweight performance model that heralded the introduction of Flywire to the world of basketball.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, every single Nike participant from every nation wore Hyperdunks. But it was Kobe’s visage that helped legitimize one of Nike’s longest-running basketball lines.
In the last eight minutes of the Gold Medal Game, Kobe fully took control, scoring 10 points in the closing minutes and leading the United States to victory against Spain by two points. As a result of his exploits, the Nike Hyperdunk became a fan favorite among basketball players.
The 2009 Air Zoom Kobe 4 Chaos Joker
In addition to his illustrious career as a basketball player, Kobe Bryant has a wide range of hobbies. For evidence of this, look no further than how many of his shoe colors were based on characters from television and movies.
One such colorway is the Chaos Joker from 2009. The sneaker’s name is in honor of Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. This shoe has a Flywire foundation and Lunar Foam midsole with glittering hues of silver.
There is no way that it resembles the Joker, and that is a good thing, in my opinion.
Nike Zoom Kobe 5 Bruce Lee in 2010
Bruce Lee, another great in his industry, had a major influence on Kobe. As a nod to Bruce Lee’s iconic Enter the Dragon costume, the 2010 Kobe/Nike collaboration featured a colorway based on that look.
Over a bright yellow and black color scheme, the Kobe 5 Bruce Lee utilized Nike’s new Flywire technology for a lightweight design, as well as Zoom Air and a silver-lined Swoosh.
Nike Kobe Bryant Shoes: The Grinch 2010
As one of Kobe’s most recognizable trademark sneakers, the 2010 Grinch is still highly sought after by sneaker collectors. In 2020, a new version of the shoe was launched, and it sold out almost immediately.
Getting your hands on a pair of Grinches is no easy feat. But for the lucky few, it was a fulfillment of one of their wildest sneakerhead fantasies. You can also explore the Kobe Bryant collection and much more on kickscrew.com.
What The Kobe 2013
Wow, what a Kobe. Without Kobe, what would Kyrie Irving’s sneakers look like?
The top of this shoe is a blend of more than 30 prior Kobe 8 System releases, thus it’s designed to be a celebration of the Kobe 8 System silhouette for the holidays of 2013. Volt and Electric Orange Swooshes adorned the kaleidoscopic upper, which had an Electric Orange foundation on the right shoe and a Deep Night base on the left.
At the time of its introduction, the shoe was the lightest in the Kobe line’s distinctive snakeskin-textured uppers. It was a trend that continued with this release.
The Nike Kobe 9 Elite Low: Moonwalker
In addition to Bruce Lee and the Joker (we assume), Kobe also paid homage to Michael Jackson in 2014. When it comes to these celebrity-inspired hues, I can tell you that Kobe was just wired differently from the others.
Low-top Kobe 9 featured a Hyper Grape upper with a metallic silver Swoosh, a transparent outsole, and lunar images on the footbed in tribute to Jackson’s career-defining moonwalk.
Nike Kobe 10 Elite Premium HTM Race Car
The Kobe 10 Elite Premium HTM Race Car features reflective accents over a translucent Swoosh and a flexible and supportive Flyknit upper in an asymmetrical black, green, and red colorway.
The shoe was designed by a legendary collective of Nike footwear designers including Hiroshi Fujiwara, Tinker Hatfield, and Mark Parker, collectively known as “HTM”.
An Alternate Bruce Lee for 2020: Nike Zoom Kobe 5 Protro
The Kobe 5 Protro Alternate Bruce Lee was published with a new version of the original Bruce Lee 5 last year as a Christmas release.
The OG’s structure and design are carried over to the Alternate. However, the color palette is changed to black and white.
My preference is for the Alternate version over the original. It doesn’t have the same cultural cache as the classic colorway it was based on, but it’s still a superior design.
Exploring All Kobe Bryant Shoes
No self-respecting sneakerhead counts themselves as one without intimate knowledge of all the Kobe Bryant Nike shoes. We hope that our breakdown has given you a solid overview of the beautiful world of Kobe Bryant custom shoes.
Next, you’ll want to check out our fashion section for more inspiration on how to wear your sneakers as a statement piece.