Bryant ‘Kobe 9’ inspired by Manny

LOS ANGELES. – In a surprising revelation, Kobe Bryant said he was inspired by Manny Pacquiao to conceptualize an unconventional basketball shoe with the flexibility of a durable high-cut boxing boot and introduced the revolutionary footwear before a group of 70 invited media specialists, including 14 from Asia, at the Geffen Contemporary of the Museum of Contemporary Art here last Wednesday.

Bryant, 35, launched the ninth edition of his signature shoe series in an event called “Where Design Meets Art.” The much-awaited Kobe 9 Elite will hit stores globally on Feb. 8 next year. Leading up to the release, Nike is remixing and bringing back each of the eight previous shoes on a once-a-week basis. The eight-shoe series is dubbed the Kobe Prelude Pack and will be available in the market on a limited scale. The first shoe, which honors Bryant’s 81-point NBA game and has a snake-like look, hit the shelves the other day.

Bryant appeared in the event flanked by Nike CEO Mark Parker and creative director and vice president for innovation Eric Avar. Parker rarely shows up for shoe launch events so his presence was an indication of Nike’s strong support for Bryant who hadn’t played a game since tearing the Achilles tendon in his left foot in a game against Golden State last April and finally made his comeback yesterday (this morning, Manila). Bryant, Parker and Avar briefed the audience on the features of Kobe 9 Elite but took no questions from media. Later, they were situated in three spots in the Geffen exhibit hall and entertained one-on-one questions from media.

The new shoe is described as a “performance thoroughbred” that defies tradition in marrying the innovative Flyknit, Flywire and Lunarion technologies developed in what Bryant called “the Nike kitchen.” Flyknit was the key technology used to turn Nike’s running shoe into a light, skin-type foot cover last year. Kobe 9 Elite is the first basketball shoe with Flyknit technology where the upper is a one-piece engineered wrap of strands of strong yarn to create a “second skin.” Flywire employs cables that loosen and tighten with the natural motion of the foot with the midsole made of carbon fiber. Lunarion is a cushioning system that is responsive to foot movement and lateral forces, keeping the foot connected on the court.

Parker, a political science major and varsity runner at Penn State, said the Kobe 9 Elite is a major breakthrough. “Today’s technology allows us to deliver a product working at a fiber or pixel level, like high definition TV,” he said. “The Kobe 9 Elite is game-changing. Nike is obsessed with our relationship with athletes. We do everything we can to help them realize their potential. As the relationship deepens, we get inputs from athletes not only in terms of how to enhance their performance but also aesthetically and emotionally. The challenge of how to improve the performance of our athletes makes us better and keeps us performing at a high level. Athletes are now bigger, faster, more powerful, more demanding with higher expectations so we have to continue raising the bar in terms of performance of our product.”

The Kobe 9 Elite breaks a series of five previous mid-cut shoes. The last high-cut pair was the Kobe 3. While Kobe 8 was the lightest basketball shoe ever made, Bryant said the Kobe 9 Elite will be an ounce or two heavier because of the high tops but it won’t make a significant difference because of the lightweight Flyknit technology.

Avar said it took 2 1/2 years to develop and finally produce the Kobe 9 Elite, the most challenging and most rewarding shoe of all. He said the high-tops were conceptualized without Bryant’s injury in mind. “The injury had nothing to do in influencing the design of the shoe at all,” said Avar who has worked closely with Bryant in designing his signature shoes the last 11 years. However, he noted that it’s the right shoe for the right time, implying that the high-tops will provide additional protection and support for Bryant’s ankles and Achilles heels.

Avar said from the onset, Bryant suggested high-tops for his new shoe. “He wanted high-tops to play like low-tops and referenced Manny,” said Avar. 

Bryant confirmed it was Pacquiao who lit up the bulb in his head. He said he watched Pacquiao’s last fight against Brandon Rios and remarked that the Filipino boxing icon looked sharp.

“Manny was getting ready for the (Juan Manuel) Marquez fight two years ago and I stopped by his training camp,” said Bryant. “I watched him spar and train, watched him moving, looking at his footwork, trying to learn from him, how he uses his footwork. I asked myself I wonder if I could move like Manny in a basketball shoe that looks like his boxing boot. The basketball shoe had to be really light like Manny’s boxing boot. I wanted the high-tops to be responsive to the movement of the ankles.”