The sneaker world was hit with a bombshell last week as it was announced that Nike would not be extending the late Kobe Bryant’s contract amidst the deal ending earlier in the month. Vanessa Bryant had been growing increasingly frustrated with the brand and how they have been releasing her husband’s products over the past year plus. It not only seems, but is in fact nearly impossible, to get your hands on any Kobe Protro release these days. Vanessa wanted her husband’s sneaker line to be more accessible for the masses and to see the Nike Kobe line everywhere, both on adults and kids. No one can just walk into a Foot Locker anymore and buy a Kobe 4, 5, or 6 right off the shelf like they could back in 2009, 2010, 2011, etc. Nike has given all-time greats Michael Jordan and LeBron James lifetime contracts and that is something that Vanessa and the Kobe Bryant Estate also sought. For some reason Nike just didn’t extend that offer and that is when Vanessa Bryant figured the two parties would be better off if they parted ways. There has been numerous speculations that the Kobe Bryant Estate will go off and explore other ventures, including starting their own “Mamba” sports brand. One thing’s for sure, the basketball world without any Nike Kobe models in it just won’t be the same.

Similar to what we did last year with ranking LeBron’s 17 signature sneakers, we will now do with the Nike Kobe line and his 11 signature shoes with the brand. As everyone knows, Kobe’s NBA career first started out with being an Adidas endorser and he even had a few signature shoes with The Three Stripes. The Black Mamba signed with The Swoosh in the early/mid-2000’s and would get his own signature sneaker with the brand for the 2005-06 season. Kobe’s sneaker line would really pop off with the release of his Kobe 4’s for the 2008-09 campaign. It was the first Kobe shoe to feature flywire as well as a low top design. Although NBA players had been playing in low tops long before this model came out, it is this iteration that gets credit for the mass of players gravitating towards a lower cut on-court sneaker.

Our 11-sneaker list has a few criteria that went into it. Each sneaker on the list has to be a signature Kobe model that he himself wore on-court. In addition to that, each selection has to either be a GR colorway or at least released to the public in some form. If Kobe didn’t wear it on-court and if they didn’t at one point release to the public, then you won’t see it featured in this list. With that being said, here is the ranking of Kobe Bryant’s 11 signature sneakers with Nike.