Kobe Bryant’s legacy will forever live in the world’s collective hearts and now on the world’s feet. His widow, Vanessa Bryant, ensured that after she and Nike recently teamed up to drop a Kobe shoe under her specific design.
Nike will release Kobe’s signature shoe line on Aug. 23, the late Lakers legend’s birthday. The Black Mamba would’ve turned 45, and to honor that date, Nike figured it would be ceremonious to release this shoe.
They are called the Kobe 8 ‘Halo,’ as announced via Vanessa Bryant on Instagram on Wednesday.
Gone Not Forgotten
“Kobe 8 Halo 8.23.23 This will be one of many Kobe 8 Halo styles coming soon,” Vanessa wrote as her caption on the Instagram post.
Nike and Vanessa Bryant also announced back in March 2022 that they would be continuing Kobe’s signature shoe line, which would come with many new products that include products dedicated to Vanessa and Kobe’s daughter Gianna Bryant, who also passed away alongside her father in a devastating helicopter crash.
Nike’s announcement of the launching of the signature shoe contained a caption stating that the release “marks the continuation of a storied legacy embodying the timeliness of an icon never forgotten.”
The Kobe 8 Halo, also known as the Protro 8, boasts “a herringbone traction pattern, Nike’s swoosh embroidery and the Mamba logo on the tongue will be available on Bryant’s birthday via the SNKRS app.” according to The New York Post. The price range will start from $80 (kid Sizes) to $180 (men’s sizes) and will also be available on Nike’s app on August 23rd.
But that’s not all for the Halo shoe. Nike and Vanessa also announced that the Kobe Halo shoe would be a recurring series that would release a Halo product annually to honor Kobe.
In a press release Thursday, Nike announced that the Halo series “will be an annual release that will honor and celebrate this special date.”
After Kobe died in 2020, his deal with Nike expired in 2021. While many wondered what would come of the signature shoe brand, they could relaunch the line the following year, which resulted in Vanessa Bryant returning to the Halo series, a play on the Kobe shoe released under his brand name in 2012.
There is no doubt that this shoe will sell fast, considering how influential Kobe Bryant was to not only the game of basketball but to the world of sports as a whole. He has plenty of fans who will jump at the opportunity to acquire and wear a piece of his legacy.
