The Kobe Zoom IV: The Birth Of The Low-Cut Movement
I’m not going to lie; I’ve thought that the age of basketball kicks being popular has been over for quite some time. Well, I think this is the player-shoe combo that can bring basketball kicks back. Kobe Bryant unveiled his new Nike Kobe Zoom IV yesterday, and the big news is that it’s a low-cut shoe. Check it out:
I used to be a shoehead back during my playing days. I think my favorite ever was the Nike Fab Five Air Max. I liked the Nike Huaraches that C-Webb and then Zo rocked (those were crazy — had the high-ankle Velcro strap to give you great ankle support…felt like they were part of your foot), the Olympic Air Jordan VII and the Air Jordan III (or whatever old one they did a low cut of) and V. I also liked the “I am not a role model” Sir Charles Force. Or maybe it was the Godzilla one. Not sure. They were all black with a little bit of red and blue — Sixers colors. I never had any of the crazy Tim Hardaway Air Raids that came out around when all those Malcolm X hats did — a little too white to pull that off. Converse had some K.J. Run-N-Guns I really liked. I had a pair of Reebok Pumps (embarrassingly enough). And of course the Converse Weapons — Magic, not Bird (my team was the Springfield (MO) Lakers, baby!)
I love that this shoe is light (lightest Nike hoops shoe ever). I also like that they are experimenting with going low top (like Agent Zero and Nash have). I think that will help build a buzz that will sell the shoe, even if some hoopers will never go low (or their parents won’t let them). Hopefully, the Black Mamba won’t roll his ankle any time soon and ruin this shoe. The biggest thing I like, even though it’s not really my style, is that you can rock these with regular clothes. Especially the black road ones and the special Chinese Zodiac ones. If they came out with an ultra-low cut that looked right, I might even scoop a pair to wear with my Kobe jersey. One second thought, I’d probably just design my own Nike Dunk Low ID (like Black Mamba or Sunday Whites). Or some Lakers-inspired Vans.
Anyway, you can go to the webcast video featuring Kobe here. He sites Blacksuit Spider-Man, Tiger Woods and soccer as inspirations, and talks in depth about his new shoe. The dude is pretty into the tech side of things, too. The shoe drops in February here in the U.S., and I believe you can choose custom colors via Nike ID. Pretty cool stuff indeed.
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