Brendan Dunne 
The Kobe 9 made quite a stir in the early hours of this morning when Nike revealed that a Nike Kobe 9 Elite Low with the full Flyknit treatment was on the way. Let’s not forget though that there’s already a low style up for grabs: the Nike Kobe 9 EM Low. And not only are they at retail now, they’re also available on that ultimate footwear customization platform that is NIKEiD. So instead of worrying about super limited HTM releases, you can just create your own colorways that have an even higher level of exclusivity.
As is often the case when a new model arrives on NIKEiD, the temptation to recreate classics is certainly there. And the Nike Kobe line definitely has plenty of memorable colorways from the previous eight signature entries that deserve an homage on this year’s Engineered Mesh Kobe 9 Low. But why stop there? Why not reach out to the greater Swoosh catalog for inspiration on this EM silhouette. We did just that, and the results are gathered for you here. Continue reading to see each of them and then head to NIKEiD today if you think you could do better with your own custom Nike Kobe 9 EM creation.
NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM “Yeezy”
The Kobe x Air Yeezy 2 release never materialized, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your own Kobe Yeezys happen. This colorway riffs off the black/solar red version of the Air Yeezy 2 and even features the GITD sole.
NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM “Watermelon”
This time around the Nike Kobe 9 EM iD channels that “Watermelon” colorway of the Nike LeBron 10 Low. Summer might not have reached your part of the world just yet, but when it does this is the ultimate combo for the warmer days.
NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM “Infrared”
With Air Max Day still fresh in the minds of sneakerheads, it seems fitting to slap on some of the more memorable colorways from the long lineage of Air Max sneakers. And nothing fits that bill quite like the “Infrared”, which meets up with the Kobe 9 EM on this NIKEiD mock up.
NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM “Elite Home”
Back when Nike Basketball first trotted out their Elite series, the sneakers debuted via a set of clean black/gold and white/gold colorways (Hopefully you’ve been around the sneaker world long enough to remember that though). This pair imagines the Kobe 9 EM getting the same treatment with its clean regal look.
NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM “Chaos”
The “Chaos” DNA has actually already shown up for the Nike Kobe 9 – the Elite “Masterpiece” was meant as an evolution of that look. Getting a little bit more direct with the reference though is this Nike Kobe 9 EM iD “Chaos” creation made to look like the Kobe 5 of the same name.
NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM “Barcelona”
The “FC Barcelona” pack of Nike Zoom Kobe VIIs had Kobe’s sneakers wearing two separate soccer style palettes in what ended up as one of the most limited releases to go down for that sneaker. You can recreate them with NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM though.
NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM “Dunkman”
LeBron and Kobe meet up on this atomic flavor, which borrows the eye catching Volt theme from King James. Unfortunately you can’t port over the mini Dunkman silhouette as well, but we’d say the color combo conveys the theme well enough.
NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM “Neon”
The Nike Air Max 95 “Neon” is one of those instantly recognizable colorways from the annals of Swoosh history. Kobe is more of a Zoom than a Max guy, but this pair aligns him with that category with some choice black and neon hits.
NIKEiD Kobe 9 EM “Koston”
Koston x Kobe – it’s happened before, but will it ever happen again? You don’t have to wait thanks to this Superman style pair, which borrows the red/blue/gold equation from the Nike SB Dunk Low “Koston” that showed up before the man ever had his own sig line with Nike SB.
