The late Kobe Bryant started out an Adidas guy, sporting the German brand the first six years of his career with the Lakers. When his contract expired in 2002, he became a sneaker “free agent” for a year before signing with Nike in 2003. It wasn’t until the 2005-06 season that the Black Mamba settled on his first Nike signature model shoe, the Kobe 1 Protro. Featured here is the special “All-Star” version he debuted at the 2006 All-Star Weekend (February 17-19) in Houston. In fact, Kobe wore this pair during the Western Conference’s team practice before the All-Star Game. Our consignor, a former Knicks ball boy who knew Bryant personally, was in attendance for the festivities that weekend and received these as a gift with Kobe’s silver autograph in shiny 9-10/10 silver paint pen on the outside of each shoe.

According to JustFreshKicks.com [when the shoes were released in 2006], “the name Protro stands for ‘Performance Retro’ and is an extremely apt name…The insides have been completely gutted and replaced with the latest and greatest technology Nike has to offer, making them one of the best basketball shoes currently on the market…Starting with a white tumbled leather upper, the high-cut ankle collar will come in a beautiful blood red hue, matched by the stiff rubber outsole. Next, the Swoosh and medial paneling come in flat black to counter the main body, the midsole shanks finish the look in black as well.”

The shoes are white on the outer side with black tumbled leather on the inner side. Kobe’s iconic Sheath logo is on the outer tongues in blue. Stamped in white on the red insoles are the city names where Kobe played each of his first eight All-Star Games (from “Houston” in 2006 to “NYC” in 1998). The blue star lace holders and “ALL STAR 2006” in yellow underneath the tongue add to the festive theme. “Uptempo” in blue is stamped on the heel. The size 14 shoes are properly tagged on the interior with a “11-22-05” manufacturing date. Very light wear is evident and understandable considering Bryant wore them for one casual practice (a.k.a. shootaround) with his All-Star teammates – he wore a different blue colorway in the actual game on Sunday, Feb. 19. Extremely well-preserved, the pair includes a letter of provenance from the former Knicks ball boy (not posted online due to his privacy request, but rest assured the original will be provided). His collection is well-represented in this auction. Full LOAs from Beckett for each shoe (autographs).