Should the Nike Kobe Line Continue After He Retires?

There is only one Michael Jordan. Jordan Brand will continue to thrive off that very fact.  There really hasn’t been another Kobe Bryant either.  In most people’s opinion he has gotten closer than anyone to being “Jordan like” and along away has built a similar legendary status and list of accolades.

Can a Kobe line continue to thrive without him playing? I think it can.

The continuation of a Nike signature line has come to be a three facetted undertaking. There is a retro line, a clothing line and of course new models. Jordan is the premiere example of a signature athlete line that has managed to continue to build momentum in all three categories post-career. However, Nike also has had a lot of success in the Penny, Barkley and recently Pippen lines. Sure, not overwhelming, culturally impactful success like Jordan – but success none-the-less.

So, lets look at each of those facets and try to imagine a retired Kobe Bryant‘s line continuing. For the sake of this conversation, let us assume there are no more MVPs or Championships in Kobe’s career. He is still a five time World Champion, three time Gold-Medal Olympian, NBA Dunk Contest champion, two time NBA Finals MVP, fifteen time All-Star, four time NBA All-Star MVP, a regular season MVP and two time League Scoring Champion. Not to mention countless records. I could write 600+ words on his career accomplishments alone. Did I mention he once scored 81 points in a single game?

My point? He has had a storied career and those kind of stories sell retros.

In fact Kobe has already sold retros. They Prelude pack that lead up to the release of the Nike Kobe 9 was collected enthusiastically. While, the argument could be made that their limited nature helped sales – there is no denying they reminded many of a true love for earlier Kobe models; namely the Kobe 1, Kobe 3 and Kobe 5.

In fact if the Kobe 5 were to be on sale today there is no doubt in my mind it would be one of the most common sneakers on basketball courts across the country,if not the world.

Which brings me to a secondary point, Kobe has real, tangible, world-wide recognition. That is key, Kobe as an identity, is saturated in cultures around the world.

Next, let’s talk about the idea of Kobe’s line continuing with clothing. This is a little more difficult to quantify. I think Kobe has a great looking logo, his assimilation with snakes, reptile prints etc has also made for some interesting clothing details. Let’s call this category a wash, I think it is safe to say that a Kobe clothing line would sell about as enthusiastically after his career as it has during his career.

Lastly, and perhaps most interestingly, let’s try an imagine new Kobe signature sneakers after his retirement. To me, and I have tweeted this before, I think Kobe would be a perfect fit to work at Nike after the NBA. He is very much of the same DNA; competitive, hard-working, innovative, and extremely passionate. I can’t imagine Nike Basketball not putting out the most cutting-edge, ground-breaking basketball sneakers possible with Kobe working in innovation with the same passion he has applied to his basketball career. Thats me dreaming though, pulling that back a ton, you still have Kobe’s input on a line carrying his name into the future. I would expect that it would continue to produce product that guards would continue to love.

The key, in my opinion, to the Kobe line continuing to be successful would be in it continuing to be a performance line.

To date, that has not been the case for most continuing lines outside of Jordan. They have all been relegated to some obscure Nike Sportswear limbo where you “could” play in them but Nike isn’t exactly saying you “should” play in them. Kobe’s line would continue to sell and sell well if it remained one of Nike Basketball’s signature sneakers that you should absolutely play in, year after year.

Anyway, that’s my two-cents. What do you guys think? Admittedly, Kobe has my favorite of the current signature lines – am I being biased? Do you agree? Hit the comments below, let me know!

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