“Make Black Mamba proud” NBA Fans react to DeMar DeRozan filling into Kobe Bryant’s enormous shoes
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Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant and Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan
NBA Legend Kobe Bryant left the mortal world in a horrific helicopter crash, which took his daughter Gianna’s life too. While the world is still missing Kobe in the real and commercial world Nike look to revive his legacy through their Kobe shoe line. Though it is not a new concept or product, in the last 2 years there has not been any update on the same. On Monday, Athletic’s Shams Charania shared the update that Nike has chosen DeMar DeRozan as the new face of the legendary shoe line. Few players in the NBA have worn more Kobe’s than DeRozan throughout his career, particularly in recent years.
While the Bulls star player had a great 2022 season, he would certainly be more pleased with the deal and the idea of being connected to Kobe’s name. The 32-year-old star has been a huge Black Mamba fan and DeRozan’s Kobe collection includes rare, custom, and unreleased versions of the late Laker great’s signature shoe.
While there is a very interesting story of DeRozan shifting to the Kobe’s, he certainly is very much loyal to the shoe line now.
Here is the history of the legendary Kobe Bryant shoe line that DeMar DeRozan would be representing henceforth.
Kobe Bryant has been playing basketball for the Lakers all his career, and he’s spent almost all of that time donning his line of signature sneakers. Though those were not Nike’s from the beginning, he spent nearly 10 seasons wearing his signature shoe line. After Rookie Kobe signed with Addidas, he spent 7 seasons wearing Addidas. He won his famous 3-peat in Addidas, and then in 2004 Bryant shifted to Nike.
Of course, Kobe hasn’t been wearing the same pair of shoes for his entire career—far from it. His sneakers have changed and evolved just as surely as his game has. And that’s saying something.
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Nike Air Zoom Huarache 2K4 was his first signature shoe line with the sneaker giants in 2004. Kobe left Adidas for Nike soon after the release of the KOBE TWO, thus beginning a new era in Mamba sneakerdom. But ongoing legal trouble prevented Bryant from being given his own signature shoe line, so he turned to a generic Nike shoe—the Huarache 2K4.
The very next year, Kobe donned yet another Huarache model, the 2K5. The 2K4 was about as successful as a shoe can be, prompting Nike to take an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach with the 2K5. The lighter and more flexible version remained a fan favorite over the year.
In 2006, Kobe finally got to put his name ahead on the shoe, and Kobe celebrated the same with his massive 81-point game against the Raptors. Nike Zoom Kobe I was awesome, and even great Kobe had the best statistical season of his career during the 2005-06 season, averaging 35 points per game to go along with nearly five assists and five rebounds.
After 3 successful series of Zoom, Nike came up with the HyperDunk Kobe series in 2008, before finally going back to the Zoom series in 2009. But the 2008 shoe line was also remarkable as the shoe is best known for being Kobe’s sneaker of choice during Team USA’s gold medal run in the 2008 Olympics.
Not many people remember now, but Team USA was on the verge of being beaten by Spain in the gold medal game. Spain started hitting shots, the USA started getting flustered and it started to look like an upset was in the works. Right up until Kobe put the team on his back.
After the Zoom success, Nike wrapped up the Zoom series to its 7th version in 2012. The shoes got lighter and lighter every year, but that’s been the primary form of evolution when it comes to the Kobe series.
While talking about his shoe line Kobe once said, “I’m always focused on improving my game, to perform at my best. I want my shoes to mimic the speed of my game. By shaving fractions off the height and weight, it allows me to play faster with more control so I can maneuver across the court – I want to feel like I’m moving at the speed of light.”
The Nike Kobe A.D. (a.k.a. Nike Kobe 12) was the first release for the line following Bryant’s retirement. While it is not officially counted in Bryant’s signature line, the Nike Kobe Mamba Fury debuted in 2020 as a lower-cost sneaker model.
Following his death, it was not clear if the iconic sneaker relationship would continue. However, it was announced on March 24, 2022, that Bryant’s estate had reached a long-term deal for the Kobe shoe line to stay with Nike. And now DeMar will be representing this legendary shoe line.
While Vanessa claims that it would be Kobe – who will remain the face of the famous shoe line, many fans are congratulating DeRozan for the deal. Here are fan’s reactions,
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)