Kobe Bryant
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Source: Courtesy Sotheby’s / Sotheby’s
At the end of July it was reported that Kobe Bryant’s personal locker from the Staples Center would be up for auction, with an estimated value hovering around $1.5 million.
Well, the auction has officially closed and according to Raw Story, the NBA legend’s personal locker sold for an impressive $2.9 million. Not a bad haul for a piece of history that was almost chucked away with the rest of the trash when the Staples Center underwent renovations in 2018. To be fair, Kobe Bryant (RIP) was still alive and well when his locker was about to get tossed, but still, someone saw the value in it and was smart enough to hold onto it knowing it would be priceless to the right person.
Per Raw Story:
A maintenance worker saved the locker from being discarded in 2018 during renovations of the Staples Center arena, according to Sotheby’s. An American collector later acquired the piece.
“Today’s price highlights not only Kobe’s enduring legacy but also the exceptional nature of this unique item,” said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectables of the sale price achieved after 19 bids.
The sale at Sotheby’s also featured memorabilia from sporting icons like Michael Jordan and Reggie Jackson, as well as items from contemporary stars such as Rafael Nadal and Stephen Curry.
No word on who ended up with the winning bid, but one has to wonder what they plan on doing with it. Will they build a Kobe shrine with it? Will they actually use it as their own personal home locker? Could the winner have been someone Kobe knew or even played in the NBA with? Was it Vanessa Bryant? We have questions that will probably never be answered.
Who do y’all think won Kobe Bryant’s locker? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Courtesy Sotheby’s / Sotheby’s
Since his untimely passing in 2020, Kobe Bryant-related memorabilia and attire has been a hot commodity amongst fans and collectors. Now, someone out there will have the chance to own something extremely rare as Kobe’s personal locker is now up for auction.
Source: Courtesy Sotheby’s / Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s has begun taking bids for Kobe Bryant’s Staples Center locker, which was actually discarded once the Staples Center underwent renovations back in 2018. Luckily, it was recovered and is now a coveted piece of Kobe Bryant history, which is sure to bring in millions of dollars. Can you believe they were actually willing to chuck this locker?
Sotheby’s Head of Modern Collectables, Brahm Wachter, knew this was something akin to a grail for hardcore sports fan and stated as much in a press release for the auction saying, “Kobe Bryant’s locker at the Staples Center is more than just a piece of memorabilia; it’s a sacred relic of his unparalleled journey. This locker was Kobe’s sanctuary amidst triumphs and challenges, a witness to the highs and lows of a storied career. Every achievement and hardship left its mark within these walls. Its appearance now at auction symbolizes a rare opportunity to own a unique piece of Kobe’s legacy.”
We couldn’t agree more.
The auction for Kobe Bryant’s personal locker will be live from Tuesday, July 23 until August 2 and carries an estimated value of $1-1.5 million. Who will end up with the winning bid and how much they’ll actually end up dropping is anyone’s guess, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it was someone who actually knew Kobe personally whether it be a fellow NBA player or a celebrity of some sort.
Would you drop a King Kong-sized grip to own a piece of Kobe Bryant history? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: @hypebeastkicks / Instagram
Just a few years ago NBA players were putting down top dollar to get their hands on pairs of Nike’s Kobe Bryant sneakers as it seemed like Kobe’s estate and Nike’s relationship had come to an end.
Luckily that wasn’t the case and the Kobe’s signature line at the Swoosh brand has flourished over the past few years with players all over the league and fans across the board rocking new colorways to a few Kobe Bryant silhouettes.
Now Hypebeast is reporting that we’re getting a new installment to the ever popular Kobe 8 Proto that commemorate’s the NBA legend’s reputation for hogging NBA championships as Nike will be dropping a new “Champagne Gold” colorway that’s sure to rival the popularity of the “Grinch” Kobe 6 Protro. With the Kobe 8’s getting multiple colorways over the past few months, the “Champagne Gold”‘s really stand out as the colorway is one of the slickest we’ve seen on the model to date.
Per Hypebeast:
Now a flagship basketball model, the Protro has been updated with modern technology, featuring a restructured tongue for added comfort. The shoe’s entire upper is constructed out of Engineered Mesh in the same champagne gold shade that hits the mudguard. Black accents the Black Mamba logo on the tongue as well as the Kobe signature on the heel and Swoosh on the lateral. It sits atop a white rubber midsole and outsole to round out the design.
Yeah, these are going to be a hard copp.
The Nike Kobe 8 Protro “Champagne Gold” is set to release some time in the Fall for a cool $190. Will you be trying to copp come release day? Check out pics of the kicks and let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Variety / Getty / Vanessa Bryant
Joe Budden’s interview with the Pan African Avenger Dr. Umar Johnson continues to be the gift that keeps giving. Johnson is now under fire for saying something very ridiculous about Vanessa Bryant.
Dr. Umar had the internet talking about his unnecessary sitdown with The Joe Budden Podcast for saying Eminem is not a Hip-Hop GOAT and for putting pressure on Budden’s co-host Ish for his relationship with a white woman.
When it comes to Johnson, you can always count on him to say some completely outrageous nonsense if he’s given enough time to talk, and that was the case when Vanessa Bryant’s name came up.
The wife of the late Kobe Bryant has seen nothing but support following the tragic deaths of her husband and daughter, Gigi, but that didn’t stop the hater swirling to come for her with some completely unfounded accusations.
In the clip that has gone viral on X, formerly Twitter, Johnson accused Vanessa Bryant, who is of Mexican descent, of not using her husband’s money to help the Black community.
Johnson claims she “inherited [Kobe Bryant’s] wealth, and guess what? Is Vanessa Bryant using any of that Black man’s money to do any good in the Black community? Absolutely f****** not.”
When challenged on his claim, he responded, “She’s a public figure… I do know, and I’m telling you now. Vanessa Bryant just started an initiative with three predominantly white colleges, some sort of a sports initiative with Kobe’s money and Kobe’s name.”
He continued, “Didn’t choose a single HBCU [historically Black colleges and universities] with a Black man’s money.”
Is Dr. Umar Correct?
Of course, he isn’t. Vanessa Bryant and her late husband founded the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Foundation in 2007, and one of its missions is to provide scholarships to minority college students and other youth globally.
It has since been changed to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation to honor Bryant and his daughter.
The JBP pushed back again on Johnson’s claims, adding there are notable Black celebrities who don’t give back to the Black community, and as expected, the man full of hot air had a response for that.
“There’s a difference, and you know what the difference is? If I marry a white woman, when I die, my wealth goes to the very people who robbed everything from my community.”
Yeah, sure.
Vanessa Bryant hasn’t responded to Johnson’s wild claims, but she doesn’t have to; social media is doing the job for her.
“Vanessa Bryant woke up one morning and never saw her husband and daughter again, and she is still (seemingly) functioning. If that woman puts all of Kobe’s money in a fuckin tissue box and wipes her tears with it every day, she deserves to do that,” one X user wrote.
Others point out how Johnson has failed to deliver to the school he’s been asking for donations for since 2014.
Welp.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: Variety / Getty
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Source: Nike Basketball / Nike Basketball
While sneakerheads are upset at how Kobe Day went down on the SNKRS app due to the paltry number of Kobe Bryant sneakers available (lots of people got their orders canceled too), we still have to respect the fact that Vanessa Bryant is out here doing good in honor of her late-great husband with the help of Nike.
Weeks after announcing that the University of Kentucky would be the first college program to implement the Mamba Program, Nice Kicks is reporting that Vanessa Bryant took to Instagram to announce that five other colleges have been chosen to follow suit and the Mamba Program will now be extended to include the UConn Huskies, Oregon Ducks, LSU Tigers, USC Trojans, and Duke Blue Devils.
Posting the colleges on her IG page, Mrs. Bryant wrote “We are grateful for the amazing support of these prestigious universities (in no particular order) towards the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation – to further the legacies of Kobe and Gigi! So excited to see their players wearing Kobe and Gigi’s NIKE”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw01McMS9aU/
Nice Kicks reports:
Nike will support all the division 1 student-athletes from the select schools with exclusive sneakers and apparel connected to the Nike Kobe brand, as well as the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.
Created in the loving memory of Kobe and Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting underserved athletes through funding and sports programming. The foundation upholds Kobe and Gigi’s vision of a world where young boys and girls have equal opportunity in sports and life.
All of the select universities have connections to Kobe and the Bryant family, exemplifying the Mamba ethos that basketball is deeper than the game.
Well, at least some heads out there will be rocking Kobe Bryant sneakers no thanks to the Nike SNKRS app. Yeah, we still salty about those drops.
Seriously though, this is hella cool and we know those kids will be excited to be draped down in Nike x Kobe x Gigi attire for the next few seasons. Congratulations, y’all.
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Source: JC Olivera / Getty
We’re still a week and change away from celebrating Kobe Day, but thanks to Nike, the legacy of one Kobe Bean Bryant is continuously finding new ways to live on. The University of Kentucky has been chosen to be the first school to implement the inaugural Mamba Program.
According to Hypebeast, Vanessa Bryant handpicked coach John Calipari’s program to initiate the Mamba Program. The program will have its players sporting Mamba-branded attire including apparel and sneakers such as the Kobe 11s, which will feature the UK branding on the insoles along with the Mamba logo on the tongue for the 2023/24 season.
Y’all know those Kentucky Wildcat players are going to be balling extra hard this season in those… if they don’t resell them anyway.
Hypebeast reports:
Prior to the official partnership, the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, a charitable foundation conceived in memory of Kobe and his daughter Gianna “GiGi” Bryant, presented the team with Mambacita Kobe 4s during Kentucky’s venture to Toronto’s GLOBL JAM. Coach Calipari also became the recipient of a personal gesture from the Bryant family, receiving a pair of Mambacitas, a Gigi Bryant jersey and Kobe’s book, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play.
Kentucky’s deep connection with the Bryant legacy was further exemplified when the state hosted the Mamba Skills Academy last year, an initiative offering free basketball training to underprivileged children. Kobe’s eldest daughter, Natalia Bryant, along with the foundation, was part of the program.
Touching on the inaugural Mamba Program, Kat Conlon, the executive director of the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, shared “This is the first partnership with any university,” adding “Coach Calipari and Kobe Bryant had a very special relationship, so anything we can do with the foundation that continues to tell the stories of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, we are all game for it with the foundation.”
Y’all know those exclusive UK Kobe kicks are going to be going for a stack on the secondary market. Just sayin’.
Check out this throwback video of Calipari getting some exclusive Kobe kicks below, and let us know your thoughts on Nike’s latest venture in the comments section below.
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Source: Nike Basketball / Nike Basketball
Is Nike going to be releasing a brand new Kobe Bryant sneaker for Kobe Day? It sure looks that way as the Swoosh brand took to social media yesterday to tease it’s latest Black Mamba silhouette, which is sure to become a must-have for Laker and Kobe fanatics alike.
This past June Nike confirmed that they’d be relaunching their Kobe Bryant line Aug. 24 in honor of the fallen NBA icon, and while we all figured they’d restock some of the classic Kobe kicks that we’ve become familiar with, we now know we’ll be getting a new sneaker from the Mamba line.
Keeping the colorway a secret with a black-and-white video teasing the release, Nike simply stated in the caption, “Mamba Forever. 🐍 The newest shoe in the iconic Kobe line is almost here. Tune into SNKRS ‘Live From the Archive’ (North America only) on August 10 for the unveiling and exclusive details on the upcoming release.”
The way Nike is hyping this one up, we’re sure it’s going to be a raffle release, hence, we’re probably not going to be getting a pair as sneakerbots will eat on Aug. 24. Though we don’t know if this will be an entirely new silhouette or a new colorway of the Kobe 8 (which the sneaker in the video actually looks like), we do know that these will be selling out as everything Kobe Bryant related tends to do.
Luckily, the sneakers will be unveiled during a Nike SNKRS Live From The Archive stream today (Aug. 10) at 5:00 p.m. EDT, so we’ll have a few weeks to build anticipation for the “L” we’re surely be carrying when it’s all said and done.
Check out Nike’s post below and let us know if you’ll be copping a pair of the new Kobe Bryant kicks in the comments section below.
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Source: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty
For a minute there it seemed like Nike’s relationship with the Kobe Bryant estate had come to an end and sneakerheads were gobbling up whatever Nike Kobe’s were available. But now we know the partnership will continue, and from the looks of things it’s going to be a fruitful one.
Nice Kicks is reporting that Nike CEO John Donahoe announced that the Swoosh brand will be relaunching the Nike Kobe brand in conjunction with Kobe Day Aug. 24 much to the delight of Kobe fans around the world. And to think, not too long ago NBA players were dropping big stacks to get their hands on Kobe Bryant kicks in their size as pairs were becoming scarce with each passing day.
Nice Kicks reports:
After Kobe Bryant’s untimely passing in 2020, it was unclear if Nike would continue to produce the Kobe line, but in March of 2022, Vanessa Bryant announced that the Nike Kobe line would continue to live on as the Kobe Bryant estate agreed on a contract extension.
Not long after the new deal, the partners celebrated the extension by honoring the life of Gigi Bryant with the Kobe 6 Protro”Mambacita Sweet 16.” Since then, a number of Nike Kobe sneakers have appeared online with release date rumors following close behind.
Fans are looking forward to future grails like the Nike Kobe VI Protro “Reverse Grinch,”classics like the Nike Kobe 8 Protro “Triple White,” and maybe even some new silhouettes.
Considered the most comfortable sneaker to ball in, the Nike Kobe has developed a cult following in recent years, so news of more product has been met with joy and elation as we thought this partnership was a wrap just last year.
No word on which silhouettes, colorways or merchandise we can expect Nike to release on Kobe Day, but y’all already know it’s going to be flying off the shelves as anything Kobe related is considered must-have merch out in these streets.
How do y’all feel about Nike relaunching the Kobe Bryant line? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Reebok / Reebok
Any true Kobe Bryant fan knows that the Black Mamba wasn’t always a Nike athlete and for a minute was actually sporting some spiffy Reeboks when he was dominating on the court.
Source: Reebok / Reebok
Now fans will be able to get their hands on those Reebok Question Mid’s in Lakers colors real soon as the kicks will be hitting the shelves this month. Sneakernews is reporting that the “Yellow Toe” version of the Allen Iverson sneaker line that Kobe rocked during 2002-2003 season and best believe these will fly off shelves as anything Kobe related is a hot commodity out in the wild. Worn when he was a sneaker free agent, the kicks will once again be hitting the shelves as fans just can’t get enough of anything that has to do with the Black Mamba.
Inspired by the Lakers’ seldom-worn alternate all-white uniforms from the 2000s, a dominant majority of the pair’s leather, mesh and rubber construction boast an illuminated wash of crisp white hues. Enlightening its nubuck-treated vamp and heel tab in a titular yellow outfit, the regal pairing of yellow/gold and purple combine across the lace loops and embroidered Reebok insignias affixed to the mid-foot and tongue tab. Finished by its iconic honeycomb sole unit indulging in the synonymous LA tones, the pair returns for the first time in two years since its’ last recurrence.
These actually go hard, b.
The Reebok Question Mid “Yellow Toe” is set to hit the streets this Friday (February 10) and will retail for a cool $160. Will you be picking up a pair? Let us know in the comments section below.
Source: Reebok / Reebok
Written By D.L. Chandler , Senior Editor Posted 35 mins ago @dlchandler123 D.L. Chandler is a veteran of the Washington D.C. metro writing scene, working as a journalist, reporter, and culture critic. Initially freelancing at iOne Digital in 2010, he officially joined the iOne team in 2017 where he currently works as a Senior Editor […]