Adidas ‘Kobe III’ Sample | Size 14

The adidas Kobe III was developed as the next chapter in Kobe Bryant’s signature line but was ultimately shelved in 2002 following Bryant’s departure from the brand. With production halted before its official release, the model remains one of the rarest in the Kobe-adidas archive, with only a handful of known samples in existence.

The design carried forward the space-age aesthetic of its predecessors, dressed in a molded synthetic upper and finished with an exaggerated lace shroud and integrated inner bootie. Notably, the midfoot construction appears to incorporate an early iteration of adidas’ HUG support system—technology later refined and featured in the TMAC 4.

A seldom-seen prototype, The Kobe III captures a transitional moment in both Kobe Bryant’s career and adidas' performance design language.

Sotheby’s received the following Letter of Provenance from the consignor, a former adidas executive, it states: 

To Whom It May Concern,

In 2000, I was working as an adidas executive at the adidas America HQ in Oregon.

I received these shoes at that time as I was heading up a group working directly on the Kobe Two (and Three) signature range of products. We typically worked with samples (as part of the production process) that either never made it to retail (Kobe Three) and/or were extremely limited.  

This is an authentic sample of a shoe that never made it to production/retail. This was a collaboration between Audi and adidas (similar to The Kobe and The Kobe Two), and I was a key member of the team that was bringing these to market. This shoe has been packed away and stored in climate-controlled environments since the 2000s. They are in perfect shape, have never been worn. They have rarely been shown. This pair is very unique, and I’m ready to pass it on to a passionate fan/collector.