PE Spotlight // Kobe Bryant's "Finals" adidas Kobe Two

words // Nick DePaula
images // Jotham Porzio

As published in the March iPad Issue of Sole Collector Magazine

To put it nicely, The Kobe Two wasn’t exactly anyone’s favorite shoe. The odd proportions and blocky build certainly weren’t helping the cause.

To make matters worse, Kobe himself was so unenthused about them that he switched back to The Kobe ten years ago for the Lakers’ 2002 Finals run during the NBA Playoffs. (A Finals that the shoulda-been West-representing Sacramento Kings would've crushed the Nets in, for the record.)

As a result of the model ditching, he never wore this player exclusive colorway of his Audi-designed signature adidas shoe. Take a detailed look at the ’til-now-unseen sample in anodized black with yellow trim and purple accents, made a decade ago in size 14 just for Bryant.

The Kobe Two ranked so poorly on Kobe’s radar that he, of course, infamously got out of his adidas contract for the very next season and left the brand entirely.

All these years later, was it the right move?