The shoe made for an instant sellout and paved the way for further homages over the years. While not an annual occurrence, Kobe later donned Bruce Lee-inspired colorways of the
target="_blank" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://stockx.com/kobe-9-em-low-bruce-lee"}" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Kobe 9 and 11 Elite Low. Both kept the original’s yellow and black colorway and found new ways to incorporate the Enter the Dragon slashes into the shoe’s design.
Anthony Davis breaks out his own Bruce Lees for a recent NBA Finals game.
Getty ImagesThe influence even reached beyond Kobe himself. In August 2017, then-Cav and current Brooklyn Net Kyrie Irving recalled in a since-deleted Instagram post donning a pair of the original Bruce Lee Kobe 5s for a tournament at age 17. “We won, and from that point on it was hands down my favorite shoe ever,” Irving explained. His love for the shoe, for Kobe, and for Lee ran deep enough that he asked Kobe’s permission to borrow the tribute idea for his own signature shoe. Kobe gave his blessing, and so Nike released a Kyrie 3 dubbed the “Mamba Mentality Bruce Lee.” That shoe carried over the traditional color blocking and red slashes from the original, but added a unique homage to Kobe in the upper: Chinese calligraphy on the outer side that fades into a snakeskin print on the inner, the transition between Dragon and Mamba seamless. Multiple sneakers drawing from the same classic colorway isn’t exactly uncommon, but rarely does a choice feel this deliberate, like a passing of the torch from one superstar to another.
After Kobe’s passing, Nike almost entirely halted distribution of new Kobe colorways until a celebratory “Mamba Week” held in August. But one shoe quietly made its way to shelves back in May: a version ofKobe’s budget-friendly sneaker, the Mamba Fury, in a Bruce Lee colorway. Whether it was a corporate slip-up or a sly tribute, it feels perhaps appropriate for this to have been one of the first new Kobe colorways since his death—one drawing inspiration from his hero, another legend gone long before his time.
It’s all (allegedly) coming full circle later this year. For months, it’s been rumored that Nike will be issuing a retro of the original colorway, dubbed the Kobe 5 Protro “Bruce Lee.” Vanessa Bryant has teased the silhouette via social media, and with it an alternate colorway swapping out the yellow of the original for white. There are two new Kyrie 6 Bruce Lee colorways rumored for release later this year as well. No official release info is currently available, but with Nike’s Kobe line back in full force these days, that could change any time.
The Kyrie 3's take on Kobe's famous colorway.
Courtesy of NikeKobe would be the first to tell you that there is no Mamba Mentality without Bruce Lee. There are few athletes or cultural figures who pair together so well, despite their different fields. Both changed their respective games despite overwhelming odds through a blinding work ethic, creating philosophies that would influence athletes for generations to come. That relentlessness gave way to a cult of personality so intense it lent itself to both homage and parody, be it in