Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers 2014-2015 Preseason Game Worn Sneakers

Property from a Private Collection

These sneakers were worn by Kobe Bryant on October 19, 2014, when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz 98-91 in an NBA preseason game at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. Bryant registered 26 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds.

The sneakers are a Nike Kobe IX Elite Hi-Top in a white and purple colorway. Both shoes have been signed by Bryant.

The sneakers have been photomatched by MeiGray. The sneakers were reviewed by James Spence Authentication. The signatures were deemed to be clubhouse signatures.

The 2014-15 preseason carried a weight that extended well beyond the typical tune-up. The previous season had been defined by injury. Bryant missed the first 19 games of 2013-14 recovering from a torn Achilles suffered in April 2013, returned to the court in December, and then, just six games into his comeback, fractured the lateral tibial plateau in his left knee, ending his year entirely. Now, at 36 years old, he was healthy again. The October 19 preseason victory over the Utah Jazz represented something more than a warmup. It was proof of concept, evidence that the Mamba was still in the building.

The Nike Kobe IX Elite, the shoe he wore that night, was itself a statement. The first Nike basketball shoe ever built with a full Flyknit upper, a construction technology originally developed for elite distance runners, the IX marked Bryant's return to a high-top silhouette for the first time since 2007. Nine red detail lines on the heel were an explicit nod to Bryant's Achilles sutures, and the outsole was engineered from a pressure-mapping of Bryant's own feet. The shoe was not simply worn during his comeback. It was built around it.

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.