Kobe Bryant entered the NBA back in 1996. The Charlotte Hornets selected him as the 13th overall pick. As most of you know, he would later be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Coming into the 1996 NBA draft, Kobe Bryant had a whole bunch of hype surrounding him. He was the top high school prospect at the time, which made him highly sought-after by college and NBA teams. He would eventually bypass college and go straight into the NBA. Since Kobe was such a hot commodity, upon his entrance into the NBA, Adidas decided to sign Kobe to an endorsement deal.
With his new endorsement deal with Adidas, Kobe would have his own line of clothing and basketball shoes that would be made by Adidas. Since Kobe would be signed to Adidas, he would not be able to wear any other athletic apparel or footwear made by any other company, other than Adidas. Kobe’s tenure at Adidas would last for 6 years. With the popularity that Kobe had garnered for those 6 years, many companies were out to sign Kobe.
During his time as an “unsigned” endorser of athletic footwear/apparel, the top shoe companies would send shoes to Kobe for a test run. During the 2002-2003 season, shoe companies such as Nike, And 1, Jordan Brand and Reebok would send shoes to Kobe. It was unprecedented for a player of Kobe’s caliber to not be signed by a specific shoe company. Most of the best players in the league all have endorsement deals with the bigger shoe companies in the industry today. A variety of footwear was at Kobe’s disposal. Every game would bring a brand-new shoe, from a different company, onto the court. Instead of being relegated to wearing one brand of shoes for a whole season, Kobe had a plethora to choose from. Kobe would eventually sign with Nike in June 2003. He would have his own signature line of shoes and apparel. His latest shoe, The Hyperdunk, was released this past July. In my opinion, Kobe made the right decision by choosing Nike.
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