Mamba Forever: Ranking Kobe Bryant’s 10 Best Nike Sneakers

August 24 will always mean something different in Los Angeles. The date — 8/24 — combines the two jersey numbers Kobe Bryant made famous during his legendary Lakers career, and the city officially designated August 24 as Kobe Bryant Day back in 2016. It also arrives one day after Bryant’s August 23 birthday, making the back-to-back dates an annual celebration of everything the Black Mamba left behind.

And there is plenty to celebrate. Across 20 seasons, all spent wearing purple and gold, Bryant built one of basketball’s greatest résumés: five NBA championships, two Finals MVPs, one league MVP, 18 All-Star selections and 33,643 career points. But the numbers only tell part of the story. His footwork, competitiveness, obsessive preparation and “Mamba Mentality” helped shape an entire generation of hoopers who grew up trying to fade over defenders, yell “Kobe!” while shooting something into a trash can and approach their craft with the same relentless mindset.

Bryant’s death on January 26, 2020, alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, made Kobe Day considerably more emotional. Yet more than six years later, his presence is still everywhere in basketball. Current NBA and WNBA players regularly pay tribute to him, his jerseys remain staples around Los Angeles, and perhaps nothing illustrates his continued influence better than what players are wearing on their feet.

Of course, Kobe’s sneaker story didn’t begin with Nike. Bryant entered the NBA with Adidas, signing with the company before the 1996 NBA Draft and eventually receiving signature shoes including the KB8 — later renamed the Crazy 8 — and the futuristic Kobe 1 and Kobe 2. After leaving Adidas, Bryant had one of the most memorable sneaker free-agency stretches ever, wearing everything from Jordans to Reeboks before signing with Nike in 2003. His first true Nike signature model, the Zoom Kobe 1, arrived during the 2005-06 season.

What came next changed basketball footwear. Kobe and Nike eventually helped normalize the idea that elite players could hoop in lightweight low-top sneakers, particularly with the arrival of the Kobe 4, and the line became known for combining performance technology with some of Nike Basketball’s wildest storytelling. Years later, Kobes remain some of the most frequently spotted sneakers across professional basketball, while Nike’s Protro program has introduced many of the classics to another generation.

So, with the disclaimer that ranking Kobe sneakers can start an argument almost as quickly as ranking Kobe among the NBA’s all-time greats, we tried anyway. Design, cultural impact, the story behind the colorway and how closely the sneaker is connected to Kobe himself all matter here.

10. Nike Zoom Kobe 4 “Del Sol”

The Kobe 4 is one of the most important basketball shoes ever made, and the black, white and Del Sol yellow colorway gave the groundbreaking low-top silhouette a clean Lakers-adjacent look without drowning it in purple and gold. More importantly, the Kobe 4 helped prove a low-cut shoe could perform at basketball’s highest level.