Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers 2008 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Round 1 Game Worn and Dual Signed Sneakers | Game 4 | Series Clinching Game | MVP Season

These sneakers were worn by Kobe Bryant on April 28, 2008, when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets 107-101 in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, sweeping the series 4-0. Bryant finished with 31 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, scoring 14 of his 31 points in the final 5:31 minutes to close out the game. Both shoes have been signed by Bryant on the toe.

The sneakers are a Nike Zoom Kobe 3 in a black and gold colorway.

The sneakers have been photomatched by MeiGray. The sneakers are accompanied by a letter from James Spence regarding the signatures.

The sweep of the Nuggets marked a watershed moment for the 2007-08 Lakers. It was the franchise's first series victory since the 2004 season and its first sweep since the 2002 Finals, and it came against a Nuggets roster that featured Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, and J.R. Smith. Bryant led the series averaging 33.5 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per game. In the closeout game, with the score tied at 88 with under six minutes remaining, Bryant took over. "He is unbelievable," said Luke Walton afterward. "It's always so comforting knowing you have the best closer in basketball." Bryant himself offered a telling reflection in the locker room: "Derek and I kind of looked at each other and it was kind of like, 'OK, this smells familiar for us. This is where we belong.'"

The 2007-08 season was the finest of Bryant's career in the eyes of the league's voters. Playing in all 82 regular season games and averaging 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists, he was awarded the NBA's Most Valuable Player award, the only regular season MVP of his career. The Nike Zoom Kobe 3, the shoe he wore that season and through the playoffs, was designed by Eric Avar and debuted on December 20, 2007 against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Featuring a distinctive molded netting-like structure wrapping a one-piece mesh upper and a diamond-patterned outsole nodding to his daughter Natalia's middle name, Diamante, the Kobe 3 was the first model Avar and Bryant developed as true creative partners. Bryant would later nickname the Kobe 3 "Misery" in the 2013 Prelude Pack reissue, a reference to the psychological torment of losing that season's NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics. The pair therefore occupies a singular place in his legacy: worn during the apex of his individual excellence and the agony of falling short in the Finals that same year.

Going Deeper | Kobe Bryant

After three consecutive Laker championships from 2000-2002, the legendary tandem of Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal was disbanded when Shaq was dealt to the Miami Heat in 2004. With Kobe firmly in the driver's seat of the Lakers offense, he quickly established himself as one of the premier scorers the game has ever seen.

Between 2005 and the end of his career, Kobe put on a plethora of jaw-dropping scoring displays: 62 points against the Mavericks, 81 points against the Raptors (3rd all-time in NBA history), 55 here, 60 there. It seemed that any night could provide NBA fans with a dominant performance, a scoring clinic.

Kobe won back-to-back scoring titles in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 and achieved NBA League MVP honors in the 2007-2008 season, the only regular season MVP of his career. After being joined by Pau Gasol, Kobe led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances (2008, 2009, 2010) and two NBA championships (2009 and 2010), earning Finals MVP honors on both occasions.

Kobe ended his historic career with one last shining moment in 2016. In his final game in the NBA, a 37-year-old Bryant willed the Lakers to a come-from-behind victory, scoring 60 points and hitting the game-winning shot in the process. The performance was surreal, the perfect bow on the gift that was watching Kobe play. A nod to the basketball greats, a demonstration of a love for the game, deep-rooted and palpable.

In 2021, Kobe Bryant was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The Lakers organization retired both numbers he wore during his career, 24 and 8.