Kobe Bryant wasn’t originally on board with retro’ing his classic Nike Zoom Kobe 1

11:21 AM 

Kobe Bryant’s career revival in the mid-2000s, at least partially, can be traced back to the arrival of his signature Nike Zoom Kobe 1s. The sneakers made their illustrious debut on Christmas 2005. The ’05-’06 season was quite the roller coaster for Bryant. Although the year would be his final of the controversial yet incredibly successful No. 8 era, and the season would end on an ugly note in Phoenix, Bryant rewrote the record books that season, averaging 35.4 points. The Zoom Kobe 1s first graced the stage only five days after Kobe’s electric 62 points in three quarters versus Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. And, yes, they were on his feet when his iconic 81-point onslaught took place a month later against the Toronto Raptors.

Now they’re back. Kobe teased the prospect of an upcoming retro line on Instagram last week. Toronto Raptors All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan donned the shoes recently in a big-time win over their divisional and conference rivals the Boston Celtics. The Compton native and self-admitted Bryant fanatic will don the sneakers again tonight when the Raptors host the now Kristaps Porzingis-less New York Knicks. While retro-ing classic sneakers seems like a foregone conclusion for most iconic lines (i.e. Jordan’s, LeBron’s), Bryant initially opposed the idea. “It just didn’t fit right with everything I stood for, with the Mamba Brand,” he said.

Needless to say, cooler heads prevailed and Kobe was won over with the Nike Zoom Kobe 1 Proto, in essence the shoe in which Kobe terrorized defenders over a decade ago but with updated technology. The shoes hit nike.com and select retailers on Feb. 17 — more popularly known in the sports world as Michael Jordan’s 55th birthday. Even in retirement, Kobe Bean Bryant remains a (strategic) savage.