Kobe Bryant is now two seasons removed from last stepping foot on the court for the Los Angeles Lakers, but Nike continues ahead with his signature shoe line. Within the past year, new models of the Nike Kobe A.D., Kobe Protro 1 and Nike Kobe AD NXT have all been released.
The Kobe A.D. was essentially a de facto 12th signature shoe for Bryant. Nike did away with the numerals to make note of Bryant entering a new phase of his life — retirement. Meanwhile, the Protro line is theirs and Bryant’s take on a retro sneaker.
Rather than simply bring back previous iterations from his signature line, Bryant wanted to outfit and upgrade them with technology that matches what’s available in contemporary shoes.