BRIEF: Nike Debuts The Kobe 9 Elite

by Sandy Dover for BMF of Complex Media

The amazing aspect of Nike’s Kobe signature series is its evolution. From being somewhat conventional as a mid-cut basketball sneaker to getting higher to becoming something of a soccer shoe as a low-top to a something like a car with modifiable parts, the former Zoom Kobe series has become everything that innovation is canonized by in the signature Kobe models. Now, there is more to see and new ground that’s breaking.

Kobe Bryant is coming back with a high-top sneaker and the most divergent footwear seen from his shoes since the Zoom Kobe IV — the Nike Kobe 9 Elite.

On the heels of the Nike Kobe Prelude Pack, the Kobe 9 Elite is, at its simplest measures, a yarn-knit slipper fashioned and equipped as a performance basketball shoe, specifically made to enhance the strength and responsive abilities of the human foot — namely Kobe’s own feet. It’s everything the Nike Huarache series has aimed to be, everything that the Hyperdunk was working toward, and beyond what most people could believe is possible for a basketball shoe — footwear that has to absorbed thousands of pounds of force from running and jumping on the basketball court. …

BRIEF: Nike Introduces The Kobe Prelude Pack

by Sandy Dover for BMF of Complex Media

It’s hard to believe that future Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Kobe Bryant is coming up on his ninth name signature shoe with Nike. He’s going 18 years into his career in the NBA, and having played in some of the most iconic shoes that anyone could ever thinking of seeing and wearing, Nike is releasing the previous eight name signature shoes leading up to his Nike Kobe 9 being released in February.

(I say “name signature shoes”, because Kobe has worn two shoes before his Kobe signature series that were technically his shoes, but didn’t have his name attached to them in the Nike Air Zoom Huarache 2K4 and Air Zoom Huarache 2K5, but which were designed specifically for Kobe.)

To commemorate the occasion, the first eight Kobe sneakers, The Kobe Prelude Pack, will feature distinct designs that call back to Kobe’s accomplishments and achievements throughout the course of the history of those shoes. …