If you haven’t noticed by now, the Nike Zoom Kobe IV and Kobe V have crushed the competition within and outside of Nike. No current Nike baller, not even LeBron James, has come close to touching Mamba’s burgeoning sneaker legacy, much less any player outside of the company. Obviously, Jordan will always sit atop the basketball shoe summit, but in today’s world, Kobe is clearly king.
With Nike even releasing a statement earlier in the year praising the Kobe V as the most successful basketball shoe in their history, the pressure is squarely on the Innovation Kitchen crew to not only make sure that the Kobe VI surpasses its last two predecessors, but that it surely doesn’t compromise The Black Mamba’s current top spot.
While there’s obviously no way to tell how close Nike is to completing development of the Nike Zoom Kobe VI, this most recent sample photo op certainly gets my heart pumped. For the most part, the overall silhouette strikingly resembles that of the Kobe V, but not without a couple of obvious discrepancies. The upper is wrapped in a mock reptile skin with heavy scale protrusions. The midsole has undertaken some noticeable tweaks as well. The outrigger is much more pronounced and travels deeper towards the heel as it appears that a sizable chunk has been carved out in between.
If this is indeed a reliable indication of what we can expect in the coming months for the Kobe VI, then what’s clear is that Nike believes they’ve found the right formula to keep their biggest superstar’s feet happy as well as those of ballers around the world. For those who are still weary of low-top kicks for use on the court, perhaps a short audition couldn’t hurt.
*Updated NEW PICS!
What do ya’ll think???