Matt Varga With pairs like the Kobe 4 “Girl Dad,” the inspiration for Kobe Protro shoes has increasingly come from more diverse sources, pulling granular moments from Bryant’s iconic career for new narrative releases. This Halloween’s Kobe 5 “X-Ray” occupies unique territory even in that crowd, referencing some celebratory Nike merch released after he secured his fifth championship ring with the Lakers. With grey market prices for those original 2010 tees skyrocketing in the time since, fans who have coveted that drop have some welcome news coming their way: Nike will re-release those pieces for Holiday 2024.
A literal X-Ray of the Mamba’s digits is proudly displayed in graphic fashion, pointing out particular nicks and injuries. Of course, those medical diagnoses are juxtaposed to his five championship rings, a trade off and sacrifice Bryant would assuredly take 100 times out of 100 in hindsight.
Getting more granular on the story here, Bryant and his hands had very much seen better days by the time he grabbed the Larry O’Brien in 2010. In December of the previous year, the Mamba suffered two avulsion fractures in his pointer finger, an injury that would linger through the Lakers’ playoff run and eventually the Finals.
While official images of just one of the shirts have surfaced so far, we can confirm three colorways on tap: black, white & concord, the latter matching the outfit of the Kobe 5 Protro “X-Ray” on tap for October. Expect each of these tees to drop in close proximity to that shoe in that Holiday release window, all retailing at $50 USD.
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