Nike Is Dropping an All-Star Lineup of Kobe Sneakers for Lunar New Year

There’s no better way to ring in the Year of the Snake than with Kobe Bryant. The Mamba’s sneaker legacy has carried on well since his estate re-partnered with Nike back in 2022 to revive the late athlete’s iconic footwear line. In keeping with the spirit of Bryant’s ‘Protro’ revivals (retros refitted with updated tech, a favorite of players across the NBA), the Swoosh has actually been fairly averse to out-and-out revivals of iconic Kobe colorways. They don’t stray from the path entirely, but they’re far more prone to exciting new makeups tied to the Mamba legacy. Starting this week, the brand kicks off the Year of the Mamba in style with a quartet of beautiful new colorways tapping into the spirit of Lunar New Year—and harkening big things ahead.

The Year of the Mamba starts out with the Kobe 5 Protro in a special pair of colorways designed to commemorate the Lunar New Year. The wide release sees the silhouette wrapped in an eggplant purple upper with black midsole and translucent blue midsoles. What really makes it pop is the primary detailing, a gold snake wrapped around the entirety of the upper and finished in a textured snakeskin pattern. Purple and gold? Pretty good combo–somebody should deck out an NBA team in those colors. China is getting an exclusive play on this colorway, which preserves the snake detailing and switches things up with a black sole and a vibrant red upper (perfect for the holiday) to play off the gold snake.

A new Kobe apparel collection is launching alongside these, spanning the sort of athleticwear staples you’d expect (performance tees, sweatpants, and the like). The easy standout is a silk bomber jacket adorned with Bryant’s sheath logo on the back–albeit this time draped in the same gold snake featured on the kicks. It’s a bombastic start to what appears to be a bombastic year for the Kobe line. The brand is using Lunar New Year to kick off a yearlong celebration of Bryant and his legacy. It goes beyond sneakers and apparel, too. Weekly ‘Mamba Mentality’ workouts will be dropping on the Nike Training Club app, encouraging fans to push themselves in the spirit of one of the most infamous gym rats basketball has ever seen.

More shoes are on the way shortly after as well. The much-hyped Kobe 9 Protro comes back in the unique multicolored ‘Masterpiece’ colorway 11 years after its original debut. The date of the release stays the same as the original, though: February 8. A week later, on February 13, the lauded Kobe 6 Protro comes back in an all-white All-Star colorway to commemorate All-Star Weekend 2025. Famous for its snakeskin-patterned upper, this edition cleverly subs scales out for stars.

The Year of the Snake is here. The Mamba is rising. You can find all of the Year of the Mamba gear via Nike and select retailers (save for the China exclusive colorway). More colorways and silhouettes are soon to come