Nike Zoom Kobe V

Nike and Kobe Bryant today introduced the Zoom Kobe V, Nike’s lightest basketball shoe ever, at a global media event held at The L.A. Forum in Los Angeles. Rising to Bryant’s challenge of making his signature sneaker even lighter and lower than the previous iteration, Nike Performance Footwear Creative Director Eric Avar came up with a 10.6 ounce low-cut performance shoe – one ounce lighter than the Nike Zoom Kobe IV.

The initial inspiration for Kobe’s low-profile shoe came from an unexpected place: the soccer field. “I watch a lot of soccer and have seen how the best footballers in the world make sharp cuts at top speed in lightweight, low-cut footwear,” Bryant said. “The demands they make on their feet and ankles aren’t that different from what I’m doing on the court, yet nobody assumes they should play in high tops.”

Aesthetically, the Nike Zoom Kobe V, incorporates aspects of Bryant’s game and personality into details such as a heartbeat traction pattern (for the heart, passion and self-described “maniacal will” Bryant brings to the court) and a dot-matrix symbol on the front edge of the outsole, representing a codified language sequence.

Available first online through a unique Nike iD campaign beginning December 26, 2009. A retail launch will take place January 1, 2010 in China and January 16, 2010 throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.