Mamba Week: Kobe Bryant’s Amazing 2002-03 NBA Season As A Sneaker Free Agent

It’s like he got the Sneaker Hall Pass. No repercussions for Mamba.

Prior to signing with Nike in 2003, Kobe Bryant took a year off. Despite being a three-time NBA champion and one of the league’s most popular players at that point, Bryant was a man without a shoe deal. His departure with adidas was not without controversy (some legit, some made up by the internet, some based on the awfulness of the KOBETWO), but that did not stop brands from chasing Mamba. Instead of jumping on board with another brand right away, Kobe spent the entire 2002-03 NBA season wearing whatever the hell he damn well pleased. And it was a glorious time.

Unlike other prominent sneaker free agents that have come after Kobe and those of lesser stature but with killer sneaker game, Mamba did not stick to one brand. He was the proverbial kid in the candy store who had to try everything and the candy store had no problem giving him everything. It didn’t matter if it was Nike or Brand Jordan (yeah, Brand Jordan) or Reebok or classics like Converse or upstarts like AND1, Bryant rocked them all and he rocked everything from customs to exclusives to obscure releases. If sneaker blogs were around during that time, it would have been a royal pain in the ass to get new pics after every game because those services just weren’t available, but damn if sneakerheads wouldn’t be tuning just to catch a glimpse of what Kobe was wearing every night.

Alas, the fun would only last for one season as Bryant would sign with Nike the following year alongside another big name in LeBron James. But since this is Mamba Week and it’ll be a while before we can do another proper NBA Kicks column with Mamba featured, here’s a look back at Kobe Bryant’s Amazing 2002-03 NBA Season As A Sneaker Free Agent. It’s fairly comprehensive but with draconian licensing issues getting in the way of finding every photo that was taken, it might not be every sneaker so we’ll update this as more comes to light.

Photos and info courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, USA Today, Sole Collector, hupu, AND1 Philippines, Kicks On Cards, Nice Kicks, The Shoe Game, Complex.

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