Everyone should remember the Beijing Olympic games in 2008 when Team USA reclaimed supremacy in the basketball world by defeating a very talented Spain team who was led by Kobe’s primary running mate in LA, Pau Gasol. The Mamba had a hand in 15 USA points in crunch time including a clutch four-point play that came after he jab-stepped Rudy Fernandez and drained the money ball from beyond the arc.
Needless to say, failure to capture the gold medal would have been one of the worst flops in sports history for the ultra stacked team comprised of the NBA’s top elites.
In Beijing that year, Kobe was wearing a special PE colorway of the Nike Hyperdunk, but this year, Nike has decided to build a special ‘Team USA’ edition of the Nike Zoom Kobe V drenched in white, navy blue and sport red. With a white base upper, we can see navy blue decking out the external skin layer along the eyestay, the tip of the tongue, the heel cap, the laces, and the Swoosh. Sport red complements the scheme on the inner lining, the ankle collar and Swoosh border. The midsole is white, but the outsole is a mix of all three primary colors and as a final kicker, there are slight traces of silver on the Sheath logo and Kobe’s signature on the heel as well. This design however, seems to still be a work in progress so the finalized cut may have minor variations.
Unfortunately, having played an almost inhumane amount of basketball at the highest levels in the last three years with three straight trips to the NBA Finals and the 08′ Olympics, Kobe will most likely take this summer off from the 2010 World Basketball Championships and repair his ailing body.
We will probably not be seeing the Nike Zoom Kobe V ‘Team USA’ colorway being worn by the Mamba himself, but it will be interesting to see if any of Team USA’s players that participate in the World Championships will honor Kobe by dressing their feet in these kicks.
[Availability: September 2010]
JUMP: Nike Zoom Kobe V ‘Del Sol’
[phpbay]Nike Zoom Kobe V 5, 3, “”, “”[/phpbay]
