Nike Kobe 5

Kobe 5

Following the massive success of Kobe Bryant’s first low-top basketball trainer, in which he won the 2009 NBA Championship, the legendary player was keen to continue the drive for more titles with an even more innovative shoe. While the Kobe 4 had banished any doubts about the viability of a low-top basketball model, he knew that the concept could be pushed even further, so he encouraged designer Eric Avar to make his next signature shoe, the Nike Kobe 5, even lighter than before. In short, he wanted it to have no unnecessary weight whatsoever so that he could perform at the very highest levels of speed and agility.

Avar teamed up with biomechanics researcher Matt Nurse, who helped develop a one-piece TPU upper that was half the thickness and half the weight of its predecessor. Its overlays were heat-bonded, removing the need for any stitches, and it had tough Flywire cables on the flanks, making it ultra-lightweight and durable. It also featured a new version of the supportive heel counter, which was key to the effectiveness of the low-top basketball trainer as it kept the foot locked securely in place during fast cuts and gravity defying leaps.

The Nike Kobe 5 was released at the very end of 2009, and served Kobe throughout the rest of the ‘09-’10 season. It proved to be another of his greatest as he became the LA Lakers’ all-time leading scorer while putting in a series of game-winning performances that took them to the top of the Western Conference, through the Playoffs and into another NBA Finals. With the Kobe 5 on his feet, the great player won his fifth and final championship ring after a tight series against the Boston Celtics.

For its part in this incredible story, the Nike Kobe 5 was broadly celebrated, and many NBA players chose to wear it on the court. Ten years later, Nike returned to the model, releasing the Protro version with upgraded Cushlon foam and Zoom Air cushioning in the midsole, thus making it an even better performance shoe. Sadly, this was the same year in which Kobe Bryant passed away, and players all across the league wore the classic silhouette to honor his inspirational contribution to basketball and the world. One such player was All-Star Anthony Davis, who donned the Kobe 5 as he took the LA Lakers to the NBA title for the first time since Kobe had done so a decade earlier. This further solidified its place in both sporting and sneaker history, and it remains one of the most high-performing and well-liked of all Kobe designs to this day.