Kobe 4

A basketball revolution

When Kobe Bryant signed with Nike in the early 2000s, high-top basketball sneakers were the most popular style amongst NBA players. This trend continued throughout the decade, including on Kobe’s own signature line with Nike, the first three of his shoes having a high-cut collar that matched the expectations of the time. However, with his fourth basketball trainer, Kobe was determined to break that mould and so demanded a high-performance low-top that could rival its high-collared counterparts. The result was the Nike Zoom Kobe 4 – a revolutionary silhouette that shifted the entire landscape of both basketball and sneaker culture.

A disappointing finish

The 2007-2008 NBA season had been successful but ultimately heart-breaking for Kobe and the LA Lakers. Despite an excellent regular season in which they had topped the Western Conference with a 57-25 record and a strong playoff run during which they had seen off the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs, they finished as runners up to the Boston Celtics in the team’s first NBA Finals since Shaquille O’Neal had left the side in 2004. They suffered a particularly chastening 131-92 defeat in the final game of the series, showing that, while the team had made big improvements, they weren’t quite at their peak yet. During this time, Kobe had been suffering from an injury to the little finger on his shooting hand, but didn’t want to disrupt his season or that summer’s Olympics, so opted not to have surgery on it. Despite this, he top-scored in the Playoffs with 633 points and could reflect on an incredible year as he was named league MVP for the first and only time in his career.

The winds of change begin to blow

While all of these personal achievements were great, Kobe was focused on winning the NBA and turned to Nike to help him gain an edge over the competition for the 2008-2009 season. The brand was in the process of designing his fourth signature basketball shoe, and Kobe wanted something radically different this time around. He appealed to footwear designer Eric Avar to create the lowest and most lightweight basketball shoe possible so that he could move around the court with more speed and agility than his opponents. This flew in the face of the conventional wisdom of the time, which stated that low-top basketball trainers would not provide enough ankle protection and support for professional players to cut back and forth quickly during high-intensity games without risking serious injury. As a result, most NBA games were dominated by high-tops and mid-tops. That’s not to say that no one wore low-tops – Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas had been sporting his low-cut signature shoe, the Gil Zero, for several years – but the overwhelming majority favoured the high ankle, and it didn’t look like this would be changing anytime soon; that is until Kobe Bryant came along.

A childhood inspiration

Kobe’s decision to switch to a low-top basketball trainer was not a random one; it was the result of his childhood and his interest in football that stemmed from it. His father, Joe Bryant, had also been a basketball player and, after 8 seasons in the NBA, moved the family to Italy so that he could continue to play professionally. Kobe was just six at the time, so many of his formative years took place there, during which time he began to support A.C. Milan football team. Alongside developing his basketball skills, he learnt to play soccer before returning to the United States at the age of 13. Almost two decades later, Kobe still followed the sport and was struck by the fact that, although it involved tremendous bursts of speed, sudden stops and sharp twists and turns, all the players wore low-profile shoes optimised for lightweight support. This gave him the belief that basketball players could also benefit from a low-top design as, if built the right way, it would increase their freedom of movement and speed while also providing the cushioning and court feel required to play at the highest level of the sport.

Advanced technologies

Avar needed very little convincing to go ahead with Kobe’s plan. He knew how progressive the player was and trusted his desire to push the boundaries of performance design. In fact, he relished the challenge of creating a successful basketball low-top, and, perhaps more importantly, he knew exactly how to do it. Avar had already been with Nike for many years at this point, and so had a number of previous models to draw inspiration from. For the Kobe 4, he didn’t need to look back very far as, earlier in 2008, he had completed his work on the Nike Hyperdunk – a technologically advanced basketball shoe worn by Kobe and the other members of Team USA as they won the gold medal at that year’s Olympics in Beijing. The Hyperdunk’s most innovative features were the Lunarlon foam in its sole and the Flywire thread that bolstered its upper. Lunarlon was Nike’s newest cushioning material at the time and is both ultra-lightweight and responsive, while Flywire is a thread made from tough vectran or nylon fibres, some of which have a tensile strength many times stronger than steel, that was woven through the upper in key areas to support the foot just like the cables on a suspension bridge. This removed the need for extra layers of material, thus making the shoe more lightweight and flexible without compromising on strength.

A high-performance design

Alongside these groundbreaking pieces of technology, Avar, who was assisted in the design process by skilled Innovation Kitchen designer Tom Luedecke, put a pocket of Zoom Air into the heel of the midsole and Phylon foam below the midfoot. While the former provided incredible responsiveness and bounce, the latter brought even more stability and shock absorption while facilitating increased flexibility by allowing the shoe to bend and flex with the natural movements of the foot. A specially crafted heel counter then delivered sturdiness around the back of the shoe, and perforations of varying sizes in the forefoot made it highly breathable as well.

Trying out the technology

Kobe received his new signature model towards the end of 2008, when he was at the peak of his game, and the Lakers were in the midst of an astounding run of form. Resolute after their disappointing Finals loss suffered just a few months prior, the team won the first 7 games of their ‘08-’09 campaign and equaled the franchise’s best start to a season by reaching 17-2 in early December. Throughout this time, Kobe wore the Hyperdunk, continuing to show off the performance qualities of Lunarlon foam and Flywire cables. At one point, Avar even added a prototype sole unit for the upcoming signature sneaker to the Hyperdunk so that Kobe could see how it compared to other designs.

A special shoe

By December 19th, the LA Lakers were top of the Western Conference and second overall in the NBA with a record of 21-3 as they travelled to Miami to face the Heat. In his kit bag, Kobe carried something special – the new Zoom Kobe 4. The colourway was purple and black with golden yellow highlights to match his team’s away kit. Kobe’s signature appeared on the lateral heel counter and his Sheath logo was displayed on the tongue, while faux snakeskin elements on the forefoot and heel referenced his Black Mamba nickname, and the outsole featured omnidirectional herringbone grip lines for all-round traction. 

An agonising debut

During the game, Kobe put in a great performance, top-scoring for the Lakers with 28 points. Unfortunately, though, his team came up against an improving Miami Heat squad led by Kobe’s Olympic-winning teammate, Dwyane Wade. After playing out a tied first half, Wade was unstoppable in the third quarter, scoring 12 points to take the Heat to a lead of 75-63 going into the final period. Despite some hard work from Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers could only draw themselves back to within two points as Kobe’s final shot rattled around inside the net before bouncing out on the buzzer to consign his team to a rare loss. Moments later, the commentator summed up just how agonising Kobe’s attempt to take the game to overtime was: “That one was as close to going in as you can get; it just popped out.”

Silencing the doubters

It was a disappointing start for the Kobe 4, but the defeat largely came down to the inspired Wade, who top-scored with 35 points and went on to earn the NBA Scoring Champion award for the season. Most importantly for Kobe, though, he had played well in his new low-top basketball trainer and showed the doubters, including one commentator who remarked: “He won’t get his ankle taped despite how low the shoe is”, that he could complete a game in it without incurring an ankle injury.

Get the Kobe 4 or get ankle insurance

As the Zoom Kobe 4 went on general release, Nike cleverly played on the misconception over injuries in some tongue-in-cheek adverts that helped promote the shoe. These TV commercials featured Kobe himself as President and salesman for Ankle Insurance Co. In one advert, over the course of just a couple of minutes, he managed to flip the popular narrative that low-top basketball shoes will lead to broken ankles in a series of humorous moments. The first shows a group of friends playing basketball on an outdoor court. One of them is wearing a white, black and purple Kobe 4, while the others are playing in an “ordinary generic plain uninteresting tennis shoe”. The player with the Kobe 4 performs a sharp cut, causing his opponent to fall and break his ankle. Kobe’s salesman character then explains that “broken ankles can strike anywhere at any time, they can happen to anyone” before demonstrating this by dribbling around a dummy and making its ankles explode. Next, the advert depicts people who have failed to get ankle insurance and suffered as a result, including a young player who has to settle for being the Team Manager as he can no longer play and another whose ankles “can’t sleep at night” for the lack of insurance. Moving images of the Kobe 4 then appear alongside the words “So Low, So Light, So Quick”, thus highlighting the shoe’s key attributes. At the same time, the voiceover explains that, according to stats, those wearing the Zoom Kobe 4 will break the ankles of those not wearing it and to avoid this, players should “get these low-cut unorthodox shoes” or “get ankle insurance.” It then cuts to Kobe in an opulently decorated office, who states “The bottom line is having protection. If you or someone you love has ankles and plays basketball, do something about it.” He finishes with the words “Broken ankles will happen… but not to you”, all said with a knowing smile on his face. Kobe played the same character in a second Ankle Insurance Co. advert, this time consulting a “Claims Adjuster”, whose assessment reveals only two options: “Get ankle insurance” or “Get the Zoom Kobe 4”. Kobe then follows up by suggesting that “There’s only one thing that can keep these types of incidents from ever happening again: quickness. And only the Zoom Kobe 4 can give you the quickness you need. Minimum coverage, maximum quickness. Don’t say I didn’t tell you so.” 

Promoting the Mamba Mentality

Nike continued to play on this idea in future commercials, including one made to promote the brand’s NikeiD service, which allowed fans to customise their own version of the Kobe 4. In it, stand-up comedian Mike Epps and DJ AM are approached by Kobe on an outdoor basketball court. Walking up holding a vibrant yellow pair of the Kobe 4, he says “If you’re gonna play me, you’re gonna need some ankle insurance” while handing out his Ankle Insurance Co. business card. Meanwhile, another TV commercial known as “If you really want it” switched to a more serious tone, focusing on Kobe’s renowned grit and determination to promote the shoe. Images and clips of the great player from key moments of his career appear one after the other as Kobe himself reads a voiceover stating: “If you really want it, you will push past pain, use it, control it” and “live your dreams, learn from defeat, learn how to win.” All of these phrases encapsulated the powerful Mamba Mentality that led Kobe to so much career success, providing persuasive encouragement for people to buy his new signature shoe. The advert ends with the words “You can do anything you want to if you really want it.” 

A remarkable performance

This bold marketing campaign boosted the popularity of the Nike Kobe 4 on its release, but it was Kobe Bryant’s remarkable achievements in the shoe that eventually made it one of the most sought after Kobe silhouettes. Despite losing against the Miami Heat, the Lakers had a great regular season, leading the Western Conference from 9th November onwards and finishing with a record of 65-17, which was second in the whole NBA to the Cleveland Cavaliers (66-16). As well as leading his team to the Playoffs, Bryant put in many memorable personal performances, including a career-defining one against the New York Knicks on February 2nd, 2009. Having won the Western Conference Player of the Month award for both December and January, he showed up to Madison Square Garden in fine form, scoring 61 points while wearing a black, white and yellow version of the Zoom Kobe 4 known as the Del Sol colourway. During the game, even some of the Knicks fans cheered “MVP” each time Kobe put the ball through the hoop. In the fourth quarter, he surpassed Michael Jordan’s top away-player score of 55 by hitting three free throws with less than four minutes to play, before going beyond Bernard King’s 60-point record from 1984 by making another two with just 2 minutes and 33 seconds left on the clock. In setting a new record for the Knicks stadium, he ended up with almost half of his team’s 126 points as the Lakers continued their wonderful season.

An added incentive

Immediately after this game, Kobe went to record the voiceover for a Spike Lee documentary entitled “Kobe Doin’ Work”. Filmed over the course of a single match against the San Antonio Spurs during the ‘07-’08 season, it followed Kobe pre- and post-game, providing unprecedented access to the Lakers’ locker room, as well as showing the crucial tie, which would determine whether or not they topped the Western Conference. Lee later described how excited he was to have Kobe himself doing the voiceover directly after playing at Madison Square Garden, but he could not have expected such an almighty performance. From Kobe’s perspective, he knew that the commentary would have gone differently if he had lost the game, particularly because Lee is an ardent Knicks fan, which gave him the added incentive to go all out for the win.

The All-Star colourway

Just two weeks later, on February 15th, 2009, Kobe was involved in the All-Star Game, receiving the most votes of any Western Conference player and starting on court for Team West for the 11th season in a row. Guided by the legendary Lakers coach, Phil Jackson, the West defeated the East by 146-119 as Kobe shared the MVP award with former teammate Shaquille O’Neal after outplaying Eastern Conference stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to top score with 27 points. During the game, Kobe wore a striking red version of his signature low-top that later went on general release as the All-Star colourway. 

An impressive playoff run

At the end of the regular season, Bryant was named in the All-NBA First Team and the All-Defensive First Team and finished second in the MVP voting behind the much younger LeBron James. Kobe was well-known for using adversity and failure as fuel, so narrowly missing out on the MVP award and coming so close to winning the NBA title the season before drove him on to one of the most impressive playoff runs of his entire career. In the first round, the Lakers came up against the Utah Jazz, who they defeated in 5 games thanks to 137 points from Kobe. Next, they faced off against the Houston Rockets in an extremely challenging Western Conference Semifinals that saw both teams exchange wins to tie the series at 3-3 and send it to a final-game decider. Kobe scored the most points in 5 of the first 6 games, but played a different role in the last match, showing his ability to support his teammates by making 5 assists and allowing Pau Gasol to top score with 21 as the Lakers moved through into the Western Conference Finals with a dominant 89-70 win. Here, they would play the Denver Nuggets in an exciting series which began with a very tight game. At the end of the first half, the Lakers led by a single point, but had fallen to 2 points behind by the end of the third period. It was then that Kobe took control, scoring 18 of his 40 points in the final quarter to lead his team to a 105-103 win. That night, ESPN aired the Spike Lee documentary Kobe had voiced earlier in the year – the perfect time to draw more attention to him as he performed at his best in the Nike Zoom Kobe 4. As the series progressed, the teams traded blows to reach 2-2 after four games as Kobe continued his prolific shot-making, with 41 points in Game 3 and 34 in Game 4, before the Lakers won game 5 to put them 1 win away from the NBA Finals. In game 6, they beat the Nuggets by a margin of 119-92 to complete the Conference Finals in style as Kobe made 35 points and 10 assists: the highest in both categories. His total points tally over the 6 games was 204, which took the Lakers over the 100-point mark in every match of the high-scoring series.

A historic NBA Finals performance

In the NBA Finals, the LA Lakers lined up against the Orlando Magic – a strong team featuring the popular Dwight Howard, who was also having a great season, leading the league on both blocks and rebounds. The Lakers had failed to beat the Magic in the regular season and Howard’s team had also defeated the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, so Kobe knew this would be a tough battle. With celebrities like Jack Nicholson watching on, he started well, making 40 points in a convincing Game 1 victory as commentators suggested that he was “trying to make a statement” with his dynamic performance. By Game 2, his steadfast desire to win was evident to everyone watching, as one commentator noted: “I don’t think we’ve ever seen him this hungry” and the other replied “Absolutely not! You can tell he’s trying to send a message to his team.” The game was close throughout, but Kobe had one of his famously decisive fourth quarters to clinch overtime, and the Lakers emerged victorious again. In Game 3, the teams travelled to Florida, and the Lakers lost despite a 31-point return from Kobe, before bringing it back in Game 4 to lead 3-1 going into the fifth match. Playing away from home is always difficult, but the Lakers were clearly determined not to let their lead slip as they powered across the line with a 99-86 victory that earned them a first title since 2002. Kobe was particularly tenacious on the night, leading on points (30), assists (5) and blocks (tied with Gasol on 4), and clinching not only the NBA championship, but also his first MVP Finals award – the last accolade missing from his exemplary résumé. His outstanding Playoffs total stood at 695 after the 162 he made in the Finals, taking him over 200 points clear of his nearest rival, LeBron James (494). He also led on steals, with 38, and his Finals averages were 32.4 points, 7.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds, making him the first winning player since Jordan to average over 30 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds in a Finals series. Not only was it an amazing individual performance, but it showed that he understood the need to maximise all areas of his game to support the team and inspire them to victory. It also capped off an exceptional decade in which he scored more than any other player during the regular season, with a magnificent 21,065 points.

A unique selection of colourways

During this unforgettable Playoffs, Kobe wore exclusive versions of the Zoom Kobe 4. Playing Game 1 in his team’s Staples Center stadium, he turned up in a white and purple Lakers home colourway with golden graphics detailing some of his achievements from that season printed over the forefoot and collar, including the 61-point game at Madison Square Garden. He then changed to another home pair as the Lakers hosted the Magic again in Game 2, this one largely white as well, but with more yellow areas on the forefoot and heel alongside just a few purple highlights. Game 3 saw him switch to a purple, black and gold away colourway for the third game, which took place in Orlando. The final two games were both played in the Magic’s stadium as well, so he wore another exclusive away design with a predominantly black upper and gold effects on the collar and forefoot that showed off yet more of his impressive stats.

A footwear revolution

The 2008-2009 NBA season ended up being one of the greatest of Kobe’s career. In turn, it boosted the success of the Kobe 4 both amongst his fans and his fellow NBA players. He proved definitively that his low-top shoe could perform across an entire season without leading to injury, and, beyond this, he showed that it could give the player wearing it the lightweight support required to perform at the top of their game. This caused an unprecedented evolution in basketball footwear design and the sport itself as more and more players switched to the low-top option. Before long, low-profile basketball trainers were more commonplace than high-tops in the NBA; a trend that continues to this day. 

Honouring an outstanding career

At the start of the ‘09-’10 season, Kobe continued to lace up his fourth signature sneaker on court up until the release of his fifth. In the meantime, Nike produced a collection of colourways referencing various parts of the great player’s career. The Lakers home and away editions he had worn throughout the regular season were joined by those he had donned in the 2009 Finals, while others included designs honouring his birth in Philadelphia, his high school years with the Lower Merion Aces, his 1996 draft selection by the Charlotte Hornets, his Olympic gold medal from 2008 and his MVP-winning performance from the 2009 All-Star Game.

A Protro update

After the release of the Zoom Kobe 5, sales of the 4 naturally dropped, but the shoe’s high-performance properties and the powerful legacy created by Kobe’s masterful season ensured that it was always a good option for both the casual wearer and the NBA professional. Ten years later, at the All-Star Weekend of February, 2019, the Kobe 4 became the second of his signature sneakers to receive the Protro moniker. In line with his endless push for improved performance, Kobe’s Protro designs are retro releases that can still serve pro players as they have been updated with the latest technology so that they are as technologically proficient as other modern-day shoes. For the Kobe 4, which was already an excellent basketball trainer, this meant making the Phylon foam in the midsole slightly lower density to give even better cushioning underfoot while also adjusting the shape of the toe and heel to be that bit more streamlined. Otherwise, it was exactly the same as the original model.

Continued success

Despite the fact that Kobe had been retired for several years and that it had a host of other popular basketball shoes to compete with, the Kobe 4, whether it be the OG version or the Protro, was worn by over 100 NBA players across the 2019-2020 season. Around the same time, it was also used in a popular collaboration with Undefeated that saw the release of the Fir and Black Mamba colourways. These sleek editions came in dark green and black respectively, with white swoosh outlines on the flanks alongside glossy and iridescent effects over the forefoot. The Nike Kobe 4 continued to be associated with the Lakers as well, with Anthony Davis beginning his first year with the franchise by wearing the Kobe 4 in every game. Maybe this inspired Davis to a Kobe-like season as he scored the most points in the 2020 Playoffs (582) to earn the Lakers their first NBA Championship without Kobe. Moving into the early 2020s, the shoe displayed its timeless qualities again and again as, between April 2021 and April 2022, the Kobe 4 was worn for a total of 16,076 minutes, with 7,386 points being scored in it. Top players continued to shower it with praise: All-Star DeMar DeRozan lauding its comfort, stability and lightweight properties, sneaker enthusiast and power forward PJ Tucker describing it as the “Best hoop shoe ever!” and talented Phoenix Suns All-Star Devin Booker declaring it to be one of his favourite Kobe silhouettes.

A tribute to Kobe’s legacy

The long-running success of the Nike Zoom Kobe 4 is something that can only be marvelled at. It completely changed the perceptions of low-top basketball trainers, showing that they could rival and even outperform their high-top counterparts, most importantly without the wearer suffering the broken ankles that everyone in the industry had worried about for so long. The shoe’s revolutionary design was the product of a unique set of people and circumstances. Years of research by Nike’s innovative footwear experts had just produced two game-changing technologies in Flywire and Lunarlon, while Eric Avar had the initiative and skill to work them into a stylish sneaker with a low-cut collar. However, none of this could have happened without the courageous Kobe Bryant, whose unstoppable passion for the game and tireless push to optimise performance drove Nike to make the bold move of going against a decades-long convention. This gave the model what Avar has since referred to as “a deeper purpose” and transformed the humble basketball shoe into a precision tool. Kobe’s incredible influence took his signature line in a brand new direction, setting a formula for future designs that perfectly combined the performance qualities he needed with the stylish aesthetic he deserved. That is why the Nike Kobe 4 has stood the test of time to become an icon of basketball culture and a shoe that pays tribute to the great Kobe Bryant as it continues to captivate sneaker enthusiasts around the world to this day.