Kobe Bryant started his NBA career with Adidas, but he broke from the brand in 2002 and spent a year in “sneaker free agency,” wearing Converse, Reebok and Jordan. In June 2003, he signed a five-year, $45 million deal with Nike, and his Kobe line became one of the most influential in basketball.

The Nike Zoom Kobe 1, designed by Ken Link, arrived for the 2005-06 season, when Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. It borrowed from the Air Huarache, with Zoom Air in the forefoot and heel and a full-length carbon fiber plate. The Kobe 3 used a net-shaped upper for support over full-length Zoom Air. In 2008, the soccer-inspired Kobe 4 took the line low-cut and brought Flywire to a Kobe shoe for the first time. The Kobe 5 went even lower and lighter with a glass and carbon fiber midfoot plate, while the Kobe 6 added upgraded Flywire and a dual-layer memory foam sockliner. The Kobe 7 System offered swappable cushioning inserts, and the December 2012 Kobe 8 System was the first basketball shoe with engineered mesh, replacing Zoom Air with full-length Lunarlon. The 2014 Kobe 9 was the first basketball shoe to use Flyknit, the Kobe 10 combined Lunarlon, Flyknit and Zoom Air, and the Kobe 11, his final on-court shoe, had the first TPU-coated Flyknit upper.

In 2018, Nike launched the Protro line, short for “performance retro,” a name Bryant came up with himself. It started with the Zoom Kobe 1 Protro, which cut weight and added a smaller carbon fiber shank and updated Zoom Air cushioning.