During his heyday with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant was restricted to wearing team colorways of his signature sneakers (except on specific holidays). This outdated rule resulted in some amazing player-exclusives in Lakers colors.
Unfortunately, it also meant fans never got to see Bryant wear any Halloween-themed kicks early in the season. Nike and Vanessa Bryant are helping right that wrong with a brand new colorway of Bryant's fifth signature sneaker.
Per Vanessa's Instagram story and other reporting, it has been confirmed that the Nike Kobe 5 Protro is dressing up in an 'X-Ray' colorway for Halloween. Below is a detailed look and information on the release dates and sizing.
Nike Kobe 5 Protro 'X-Ray'
The Nike Kobe 5 Protro 'X-Ray' colorway will be released in October 2024 on the Nike SNKRS website and app. Per Sole Retriever, the basketball shoes will cost $190 in men's sizes, $120 in grade school sizes, and $95 in pre-school sizes.
According to the same reporting, the glow-in-the-dark design features a mix of Deep Royal Blue, Baltic Blue, and Glacier Blue. The skeleton design on the upper provides the finishing touches to the eerie colorway.
Astute fans of the Lakers legend were quick to point out the similarities in the design to Nike's "Broken Not Beaten" campaign from 2011. The marketing campaign showed an X-ray of Bryant's hand with annotations highlighting the various injuries (plus an NBA Championship ring on each of his five fingers).
We really need Nike to go back to that level of detail and storytelling, but then again, Bryant was a one-of-a-kind athlete. Stay locked into FanNationKicks.com for all your sneaker news, and follow me on social media (@Pat_Benson_Jr) if you want to discuss the "Black Mamba."
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