Kobe Bryant estate, Nike end business relationship, iconic sneaker line
In the weeks and months following the death of Kobe Bryant, one of the most common tributes from the NBA players and coaches struck by grief was to wear a pair of his Nike signature shoes.
Now the future of the Black Mamba’s commercial brands are uncertain after the sports apparel company and Vanessa Bryant acknowledged that the partnership has ended after 18 years. With Kobe Bryant’s estate owning the rights to the Mamba logo and other key pieces of his commercial brand, ESPN was the first to report that Vanessa Bryant might look to competing outfitters to license new products.
Vanessa Bryant posted on Instagram that the five-year, post-retirement endorsement extension of her late husband’s deal with Nike lapsed on April 13, and she reflected fondly on their past that dates to 2003.
“Kobe and Nike have made some of the most beautiful basketball shoes of all time, worn and adored by fans and athletes in all sports across the globe,” she wrote. “It seems fitting that more NBA players wear my husband’s product than any other shoe.”
ESPN reported that Bryant and the estate were frustrated by the limited availability of Kobe products, especially his signature shoes which were only available for limited release in the months following his Jan. 26, 2020 death in a helicopter crash. In recent months, Bryant had attempted to release some Nike-created Kobe apparel herself through assorted outfitters.
The split between the Bryant estate and Nike can be partly explained by smaller disconnects. The logistics of sports apparel are difficult to manipulate: Manufacturing and shipping schedules for products such as shoes are set well in advance, making it difficult to speed up the availability of specific product lines in short order.
Nike also quickly removed many Kobe-themed products from its storefronts immediately after Bryant died, in part out of sensitivity to the notion that they would profit from the Laker star’s death. The industry is also reckoning with middlemen distributors, who can hoard in-demand products such as Kobe shoes in mass drawings then mark up prices, making it difficult for common fans to get access.
In the year since he died, Nike offered tributes and promoted the week of Aug. 23 (Bryant’s birthday) and Aug. 24 (a combination of his two jersey numbers) as “Mamba Week,” devoted on multiple platforms to sharing workouts and athlete accounts to “be better than yesterday,” as Bryant once laid out in his book, Mamba Mentality.
Nike said in a statement that Kobe Bryant “remains a deeply loved member of the Nike family.” ESPN reported it is likely that the manufacturing of his products will end.
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Vanessa Bryant said she “was hoping to forge a lifelong partnership with Nike that reflects my husband’s legacy,” the past tense seeming to close the door on a return to the table.
As is true throughout the NBA, Kobe’s sneakers remain a popular selection in the Lakers’ locker room for Nike-sponsored players, most prominently Anthony Davis. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said he thought Nike and Bryant’s partnership dissolving was unthinkable.
“The reaction that I had was, I was shocked,” he said. “I didn’t think that would happen.”
Whatever the future might be for Bryant’s brand, current NBA players seem more fixated on how they’ll be able to continue playing in the Nike-brand Kobes. Talen Horton-Tucker said he had no plans to stop playing in those shoes after wearing them for the entire season so far.
“I’m putting a call out to everybody right now,” he said. “Whoever can get me any Kobes, I need them.”
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