Nike Kobe 6

Kobe 6

Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers entered the 2010-11 NBA on the back of two victorious seasons. Kobe had played a big part in both, notably winning Finals MVP in ‘09 and ‘10 while wearing his own signature low-tops. These shoes had changed the landscape of the NBA, encouraging more players to wear low-profile trainers. Kobe was keen to keep improving this design, so he worked with Nike to make the Zoom Kobe 6 an even better piece of performance equipment.

To achieve this, Eric Avar, who had designed Kobe’s other low-top basketball trainers, gave the Nike Kobe 6 updated versions of the features that had made the previous models so effective, while also adding some important new ones. One was the micro-mesh outer, which was covered in protective and visually striking scales, and the other was a dual-layered memory foam insole that was a direct result of Kobe’s personal input.

This blend of old and new technologies made the Kobe 6 fast, agile and extremely comfortable. Kobe set about proving its potent abilities in another excellent season which saw him break scoring records, win a fourth All-Star MVP award and lead his team back to the Playoffs.

In the first round, the Lakers put in a strong performance to beat the New Orleans Hornets, but their next opponent was the Dallas Mavericks, whose lineup included the 7ft European superstar Dirk Nowitzki. Kobe and the Lakers were overpowered by Nowitzki’s strength and the depth of the Mavericks’ bench, eventually losing the series in a clean sweep, and bringing to an end the hugely successful Phil Jackson era.

Despite the loss, the Kobe 6 remained popular both on and off the court, but many fans moved on to newer models in the years that followed. Then, in 2020, Nike marked the tenth anniversary of the iconic basketball shoe by upgrading it to a Protro model. This performance retro had improved Cushlon foam and a modern Zoom Air bag that created more bounce than ever before, and players flocked back to the design as the Kobe 6 Protro became one of the most common basketball trainers in the NBA.

The sad passing of Kobe and Gigi Bryant earlier that year made the Protro release even more poignant, and Nike launched a series of classic colourways, like the Grinch and the All-Star, alongside novel colourways, including the Reverse Grinch and an honorary design known as the Mamba Sweet Sixteen.

Even before the Protro, the Nike Kobe 6 was an excellent performance shoe. Along with its predecessors, it helped change the perception of low-top basketball trainers, altering the landscape of the sport forever. Its distinctive aesthetic also made it a beloved casual shoe, and more recently gave fans and players alike a way to honour the memory of the great player, whose legacy lives on in this exceptional sneaker.