Browsing the "Kobe Bryant" Tag
KOBE BRYANT
Kobe Bryant is a signature Nike Basketball athlete, currently on his seventh signature shoe. Kobe Bryant is considered to be one of the greatest players of the current generation and in the history of the NBA. He has played his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers, but was originally drafted by the Charlotte Hornets.
August 2nd, 2012 by John K.
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Just what goes on inside the minds of the greatest basketball players and coaches in the world? As we watch Team USA continue to maintain the Gold American standard, the members of the team sat down and providing some inside access and insight to training, preparation, and the footwear behind fueling the Team USA mission. Check out the great video of Team USA filling us in with their thoughts on the Olympic level of competition below and let us know if this 2012 team is indeed the best of all-time!
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August 1st, 2012 by John K.
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Once Nike officially added Kobe Bryant to its roster of signature athletes in 2003, you’d think a Kobe shoe would be produced immediately. In truth, it took Nike a while to put Kobe Bryant “out there” with his first official signature shoe in light of the scandal that surfaced in the Summer of 2003, but the Swoosh stuck by it’s superstar’s side and finally unveiled the Air Zoom Kobe 1 in February of 2006. While Kobe did rock the Huarache 2k4 and 2k5 with his bold new Shozoku logo, the Air Zoom Kobe 1 is the first official signature shoe for the Mamba and based on the quick sales of the inline Black/Yellow colorway, it was clear that the debut was long-awaited.
What we don’t see much from the earlier Kobe models are Player Exclusives, but we’ve stumbled upon a lot of not one, but three outstanding made-for-Kobe editions of the Air Zoom Kobe 1; the first features a white patent leather upper with ’24′ stitched on the heel, another remixes the Lakers colors with a purple nubuck upper and yellow Avar-signature outrigger, and the third introduces the ‘Kobe’ stitch-logo with a gradient on the Swoosh. A full shot of all three Player Exclusives are right ahead, so take a trip down memory lane to 2006 and the Air Zoom Kobe 1 by checking ‘em out below, and if you’re desperate to add these to your Zoom Kobe collection, click through to the listing from playerexclusiveinc on eBay.
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July 18th, 2012 by John K.
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The ’92 Dream Team vs. 2012 USAB debate was pretty much settled on Monday night when the 2012 squad, despite coming out victorious, was given a rather hard time by the Brazil squad (even trailing by 10 points at on junction in the game). But regardless of how prideful the 2012 team members feel, they still pay homage to the Great One because Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant, two of Nike’s three top athletes, arrived in London wearing Air Jordans (KD in the Olympics, Kobe in the Air Jordan 1 ‘Vegas’). Although this isn’t the slightest bit a betrayal to Nike, make that three-of-three of Nike Basketball’s Big Three putting their own signature shoes aside in favor of classic Air Jordans (Durant was seen wearing the White/Cement IV during his stop at Barry Farm last Friday). More of KD and Kobe in their Air Jordans below, so take a look and let us know if you think Nike’s signature athletes should be obligated to stick with their own brand (or even their own shoes). Photos: theybf
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July 17th, 2012 by John K.
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To cap off the 2012 Nike World Basketball Festival in Washington DC, Team USA Basketball hosted the Brazil National Team at the Verizon Center for a double-header showcase of exhibition match-ups as a warm-up to the upcoming Olympics Games. Starting the night off, Team USA Womens Basketball faced off against Brazil’s Womens Basketball squad and without surprise, USA pulled off a blow-out victory by 32 points led by point guard Lindsay Whalen. After the women’s match-up, the Men took the court, but Team USA Mens Basketball didn’t have the same fortune as their Womens counterpart did as they trailed by 10 at on point in the game. However, Team USA regrouped thanks to some clutch buckets by LeBron James and the defense by Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and Tyson Chandler, and Team USA eked out a victory by a considerably narrow margin.
One of the highlights of the night was the arrival of President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden; The First Couple were placed on the arena “Kiss Cam”, but embarrassingly enough, President Obama was left hanging. Redemption would be had as the President and the First Lady shared a kiss later when the “Kiss Cam” returned in the Fourth Quarter. All-in-all, it was a night of great basketball entertainment in the Nation’s Capitol, so check out the recap of the night’s game below and don’t forget to look through our thorough recap of the Nike World Basketball Festival! Photos: USA Basketball
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July 10th, 2012 by John K.
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Team USA Basketball is nearing the end of Training Camp in Las Vegas, as the final roster of 12 works out the last few kinks before moving forward to the World Basketball Festival later this week. Along with a practice session, the NBA stars took time to take some official Media Day photos, where LeBron James and Kobe Bryant stood proudly wearing the Team USA ‘Away’ uniforms. Some of Team USA members are teammates in real life, like the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in Tyson Chandler as well as the OKC Thunder trio of KD, Westbrook, and Harden. More of the official media day photos as well as a nice recap of their practice below, so take a look and keep in tune to Sneaker News for more Team USA coverage!
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July 9th, 2012 by John K.
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The Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James rivalry has been one of the most oft-discussed stories in sports over the last decade, and although both came into the league straight from High School and are undoubtedly the leaders of the NBA’s elite troupe, the two aren’t as tit-for-tat as the media has made them out to be. First off, Kobe has seven years on LeBron in terms of NBA experience, so while LeBron was dominating the prep-school basketball domain, Kobe was doing the same at the world’s highest level while winning three NBA titles in the process. Currently, LeBron is riding high at the peak of his prime and enjoying life as a first-time NBA Champion, but Kobe Bryant, who will turn 34 during the Olympics, is actually outperforming the expectations his age indicates, but chalk that up to an insane work ethic and a competitive nature as ferocious as MJ’s was. So are the two exactly buddies? It’s safe to say that Kobe doesn’t share a bromance with LeBron like Dwyane Wade does, but they’ll likely agree to call their friendship a ‘mutual respect’ for one another, which is essentially how Michael Jordan carried on his relationships with every other NBA star that targeted his neck.
As we speak, Kobe and LeBron are in the middle of Training Camp for Team USA, and already their teammates, like Tyson Chandler who himself won an NBA Title just one year ago, have noticed LeBron’s newfound ‘swagger’ and the emphatic confidence he exudes at every step, but Kobe Bryant plans to remind LeBron that not only does he have five rings, but that he’s won two since the last Olympics. Even though Kobe outnumbers LeBron five-to-one in ‘chips, the debate isn’t anywhere near a conclusion (there are plenty of battles to be fought before the war is officially over), but perhaps this image of Kobe Bryant, during Team USA events, autographing a pair of LeBrons for a little girl wearing a Kobe jersey accurately depicts the current state of ‘the Kobe vs. LeBron rivalry: A stalemate of sorts? Is it possible to love both players simultaneously? There’s no doubt that both LeBron and Kobe will be gunning for ‘top dog’ during the Olympics because if the ’92 Dream Team documentary is any indication, Team USA competes with itself as much as it does with the rest of the world. We’ll have to wait and see who steals the show this August.
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July 8th, 2012 by John K.
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The Olympic Games have served as a serviceable spotlight for athletic companies to show off their best products in each sport, and sometimes it can get quite ugly. Looking back to the ’92 Games when Nike and Reebok had their lengthy battle, it’s clear that companies were fighting for that medal podium spotlight. Here in 2012, Nike’s got the Olympics on lock, but that wasn’t the case before; along with Nike and Jordan, brands like adidas, Reebok, Converse (prior to the merger), and even Ewing joined the Olympic-inspired sneaker festivities, and a sneaker event out in Hong Kong called Kickoff Summer Fun showcased some of the best in history (bet you’ll be surprised at some of what’s found below). Enjoy this throwback gallery of red, white, and blue sneakers and let us know which is your personal favorite! Photos: kenlu
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June 13th, 2012 by John K.
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Remember when the Lakers lost out to the eventual Western Conference Champs the Oklahoma City Thunder a couple weeks back and Kobe insisted in the post-game press conference that he wasn’t “just going to fade to black”? Turns out he was right, as the man is instead fading to red, white, and blue in anticipation of some serious USAB dominance at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. The Nike Zoom Kobe VII release to go along with that will arrive a bit before the games themselves, with the colorway pictured here on deck for a release this weekend. Continue reading to check the sneaker out and let us know in the comments if you’re planning on picking up the Nike Zoom Kobe VII ‘USA’ on Saturday. Photos: Gallery2
Nike Zoom Kobe VII
White/Obsidian-University Red-Pure Platinum
488371-102
06/16/12
$140
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