With the extension of Kobe Bryant’s five-year post-retirement sponsorship deal with Nike to expire in April, Vanessa Bryant and Kobe Bryant Properties chose not to renew the partnership, the player’s widow confirmed in a statement sent Monday night on ESPN.
“Kobe’s contract with Nike expired on April 13, 2021. Kobe and Nike have made some of the most beautiful basketball sneakers in history, used and adored by fans and athletes of all sports in the world,” he said Vanessa on ESPN. “It seems more appropriate for more NBA players to use my husband’s product than any other tennis player.”
According to a source, Bryant and his real estate business were frustrated with the fact that Nike limited the availability of Kobe’s product during his retirement and after his death in January 2020 in a helicopter crash. There was also frustration with the lack of availability of Kobe footwear in child sizes, according to sources.
Nike had submitted a contract extension offer that was not in line with expectations of a similar “lifetime” structure with Nike Inc. contracts. signed by Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
“My hope will always be to allow Kobe fans to get and use their products,” Vanessa said. “I will continue to fight for it. Kobe products sell in seconds. That says it all.
“I was hoping to forge a lifelong partnership with Nike that reflects my husband’s legacy. We will always do whatever it takes to honor the legacies of Kobe and Gigi. That will never change,” she added.
It is believed that all future sales of shoes and clothing of the Kobe Bryant brand manufactured by Nike will be stopped. Kobe Bryant’s assets could enter into negotiations with outside brands to form a new partnership.
Vanessa Bryant also confirmed to ESPN that Kobe Bryant Properties is also hurting the rights to the “Mamba” logo and signature. The “Sheath” logo frequently featured on the Kobe tennis tongue is owned by both parties, according to the source.
After scoring 60 points in his last game in the NBA on April 13, 2016, a date called “Mamba Day” by Nike in an extravagant ad campaign, Bryant had a five-year contract extension ready that would continue with society after his retirement.
Before he died, Bryant had explored the notion of creating his own Mamba brand before the end of the existing deal with Nike, even by meeting in December 2019 with a creativity agency that could potentially help in design and run a future series of products.
After originally signing with Nike in 2003, Bryant created an impactful company with the brand that extended to the end of his career. He highlighted tennis by including the Zoom Huarache 2K4 and 2K5, the revolutionary Hyperdunk at the 2008 Olympics and 11 models under the Nike Kobe series.
With the release of the Kobe IVs during Bryant’s resurgence season in the 2008-09 championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, tennis design marked a new era of low tops around the NBA. Once worn by a handful of guards from the 30 teams, the low tops were then worn by players from all positions on all teams. About half of the league currently uses the tops.
Once he retired from the NBA, a series of retro tennis and new designs were sold over the next five years. Bryant used the term “Protro,” indicating that he wanted to enhance his past designs with modern constructions and technologies, a professionally updated retro edition of his previous tennis shoes.
Kobe 1, 4, 5 and 6 were relaunched through the Protro letas in recent years. During the resumption in the NBA bubble in the 2019-20 season, 102 players wore tennis with the Kobe brand, the highest total for single-player tennis.