Kobe’s New Nike Shoes Feature "Sutures" to Remind Him of His Achilles Surgery

Kobe’s New Nike Shoes Feature "Sutures" to Remind Him of His Achilles Surgery

When Kobe Bryant returned to high-tops with his Kobe 9 Elite unveiling on Wednesday evening in L.A. he did it with a nod to his torn Achilles.

The new Kobe shoe has stitching that mimics sutures on the back sleeve of the super-high high-tops. The nine red embroidered marks on the heel offer a daily reminder of his pain and path to recovery.

The lead “colorway” of the Kobe 9 Elite, which Nike dubbed “Masterpiece,” uses yellow-, red-, and orange-shaded patterns woven into the black of the shoe to suggest a piece of fine art (Nike unveiled the shoe at L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art to make the point as obvious as possible).

To get even a bit spiffier — and protect Kobe’s heel at the same time — Nike has put carbon fiber in the shoe’s heel counter, a trend becoming popular in basketball shoe construction.

The Kobe 9 Elite releases globally on Feb. 8, 2014.

Tim Newcomb covers stadiums, design and technology for Sports Illustrated. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.