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You're looking at the first industry guy to contact me, the first industry guy to provide me with background info and the first industry guy to allow me to interview one of his firm's designers (Natalie Candrian, the designer of the first T-MAC). Travis Gonzolez saw something in this site long before most and, for that, I will be forever grateful (and he's a genuinely nice guy to boot!).
Prof. K: Hey Travis — by now I think you know my question, but I'll go ahead and ask it: do you have a favorite Kicksology.net review?
Gonzolez: I would have to say my favorite review was the first one I provided you with support material for and that was The KOBE [see the full review below].
When you opened up the review with "Call me a heretic, call me blasphemous, call me crazy, call me Ishmael, but I'm calling The Kobe a better hoops shoe than anything available from Jordan Brand today" you really caught a lot of people at adidas off guard.
A Look Ahead: The upcoming adidas GDL (Game Day Lightning)
Gonzolez: We knew we had a shoe that was hot and broke the typical adidas basketball mold, but to have someone who was out there in the basketball world who also believed adidas could create great shoes on the Jordan level was amazing. At that point I new that every review you would do would be legit and truthful, much like your review for the Reebok I3 Playoff II Mid — to this day, everytime I think of Reebok basketball I think of the shoe bent in half.
For many of us who were able to get to know you over the last four year Kicksology.net will truly be missed.
A lot of us here at adidas really felt that the time and effort you put into your reviews was far beyond anything that had ever been done in this industry. From day one you have provided us with a site that was credible and not afraid to
tell it like it is and, for that, we say thank you!
Look Ma, No Laces: The highly anticipated adidas T-MAC 4 will feature a new, laceless fit system called HUG.
Gonzolez: Maybe you should reconsider shutting the site down because there are three shoes I need you to tell the world about: the The Garnett, T-MAC 4 with HUG and the GDL, which is short for Game Day Lightning. So, if you could wait until after December to stop the reviews we would be most grateful!
In all sincerity Professor K, thanks for all you have done for the industry and those of us you have helped along the way. Best of luck!
Prof. K: Travis, it's me who should be thanking you! You were the first to hook me up with the type of inside info and access that enabled me to make Ko more than just a recitation of specifications.
If you hadn't reached out to me like that, I don't know if I would have continued working on the site beyond its first year — so I owe you a great debt of gratitude. Seriously, thank you for believing in the site and for putting the time and effort into helping me make my reviews in-depth and accurate.
Well, before I start getting misty eyed reminiscing, here's Travis Gonzolez's favorite Kicksology.net review...
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adidas delivers big with a new signature shoe for Kobe Bryant named, appropriately enough, "The Kobe"
by Professor K, posted October, 2000
updated May 1, 2001 (click here for the update)
Call me a heretic, call me blasphemous, call me crazy, call me Ishmael, but I'm calling The Kobe a better hoops shoe than anything available from Jordan Brand today. Now, before you call for me to be burned at the stake, please grant me a final wish and read through this review because it might change your mind too.
That's right, before I had a chance to give "The Kobes" a try, I was predisposed to dislike them. While I definitely admire Kobe Bryant's abilities as a player, I've never been a big fan of his smug attitude (he's very good, but not quite as good as he could be or thinks he is, although he's got plenty of time to learn, so I'll cut him some slack). But I had to do my best to put kicksology before emotion and provide an impartial, objective review of the shoe. Luckily for me, "The Kobe" made that a very easy thing to do.
figure 1. Here you can see the brushed metal-like appearance of the upper of "The Kobe". The upper is not made of a PU material, ala the Nike Flightposite, as I had thought based on sample photos. Instead, it is a vinyl-like synthetic material covering a standard padded inner.
The biggest surprise to me about "The Kobe" right off the bat was the material used for the upper. Based on pictures I had seen in SLAM Magazine, I thought that the upper was based on a PU material, much like the Nike Air Flightposite, but instead, "The Kobe" is based on a more conventional, cushioned upper, covered by a vinyl-like synthetic material. It's this outer covering that gives the shoe it's metallic appearance.
By taking this more "conventional" approach adidas is able to make a shoe that is much lighter than Nike's Flightposite, but because the outer material does not stretch, ala the Flightposite, "The Kobe" manages to offer fit characteristics similiar to the Flightposite. In short, the shoe cradles your foot and locks it in for superior fit and feel. Again, like the Flightposite, "The Kobe" may feel a bit too tight in the first 5 - 10 minutes of wear (the cushioning all over the shoe is very thick), but once the inner cushioning forms to the shape of your foot, it feels great. One word of caution, if your feet are wider than an E - EE, the "The Kobes" may be a bit too narrow in the forefoot area, to the point where you may experience significant discomfort even after 5 - 10 minutes of wear. Those with wide feet may want to look elsewhere.
figure 2. The modified herringbone pattern of the outsole is visible in the image above. Also visible are the molded midfoot supports and the creasing in the forefoot area.
There are definitely some unconvential things about the "The Kobe", one of the most interesting being the design of the shoe around the ankle and achilles tendon. All hoops shoes today offer some sort of notch or cushioned area where the shoe meets the achilles to allow for a high degree of movement for the foot at an angle parallel to your body. With "The Kobe" adidas basically elminates the area of the shoe that traditionally covers the achilles, while still providing a good amount of ankle coverage (see figures 2 and 3). Basically, the achilles portion of the shoe is the height of a low-top shoe, while the ankle coverage is the height of a high-top shoe. What this means is that the wearer gets the comfort and forward range of motion of a running shoe with the ankle support and protection of a high-top.
figure 3. In the profile shot above, you can see the lines of the shoe's design inspiration, the Audi TT. You can also see how low the heel of the shoe rides.
Moving beyond the upper, the "The Kobe" offers a very good amount of cushioning using an enhanced version of adidas' adiPRENE cushioning technology called, simply enough, adiPRENE +. While it's not as responsive as Nike's Zoom Air (i.e. you don't feel it working), it clearly does the job. You won't feel any bone jarring landings and your lower body shouldn't be feeling any excessive soreness the day after game day. I'm not sure how well the cushioning will hold up for big, heavier folks, but the "The Kobe" is meant for smaller Guard/Small Forward types and the cushioning should feel great for anyone playing those positions.
In addition to the cushioning, the "The Kobe" adds to the overall comfort equation with excellent arch support. The molded arch supports built into the outsole really seem to do the trick. One other thing worth noting about the performance of the "The Kobe" is the traction of the outsole, which is incredibly good. I'm not sure if it's the rubber compound being used on the outsole or the modified herringbone pattern or both, but whatever it is, it works extremely well. This is awesome because great traction combined with great support and fit really helps to instill confidence in a player's ability to make the cuts and movements necessary to play effectively on both offense and defense.
To sum up, the "The Kobe" offers the total package in a hoops shoe. Great comfort, fit, support, cushioning, and traction, all in a light weight package. While it's not the best in all of these areas, it's far better than average in all of them and that adds up to one hell of a shoe. The only negative I found has nothing to do with performance. The upper material creases very quickly and it does so quite noticeably. I'm a little concerned about the long-term durability of the material, but only time will tell. All told, the "The Kobe" is a great shoe and I'd highly recommend it. adidas definitely has a big hit on its hands.
Who's Worn It
Kobe Bryant (G- L.A. Lakers wore this shoe during the 2000 NBA Playoffs and Finals)
adidas The Kobe Review Update
by Professor K, posted December 8, 2000
The Kobe In the image directly above you can see one of the more clever elements added to the design of the White/Black colorway. The tongue of the shoe is made up of a white lower half and a black upper half. The laces of the The Kobe are designed to match the color switch of the tongue so the laces are white above the white portion of the tongue and black with a white accent above the black portion of the tongue. This level of attention to detail is consistently applied to the design and construction of the entire shoe.
The Kobe in White/Black
If you've read our review of the The Kobe above, you know that we think highly of the shoe. It's an all-around excellent hoops shoe that is very well design and constructed. It's also, in our opinion, very appealing from a visual perspective (although there are about as many opinions about the looks of Kobe, the shoe, as there are about Kobe, the player).
In terms of performance, the shoe is unchanged, but the new colorway does much to "elevate" the design, resulting in an even more visually disctinctive shoe. Some ehancements, such as the two-toned laces, are new, but most are achieved by simply adding touches of yellow where the original Black/Black colorway used grey.
With the White/Black colorway adidas has managed to improve upon what was already an excellent product.
adidas The Kobe Review Update 2
by Professor K, posted January 28, 2001
The Kobe While the Sunshine colorway is predominantly gold and black, there are touches of purple on the heel counter and outsole to match a certain L.A. based basketball team.
The Kobe in Sunshine
Hot shoe + hot colorway + limited quantity = high demand, at least that's what we think is going to happen with this latest colorway of the adidas The Kobe. While Sunshine, as adidas calls this color combo, may be a bit too hot for many people I am fairly certain that, given it's high visibility and limited availability, this shoe will not be on store shelves for long.
One thing is clear, you'd better bring mad game or have no fear if you're going to wear these kicks on the court. Fortunately for adidas, Kobe Bryant has both of these qualities in abundance and you can expect to see him sporting the The Kobes in Sunshine in the 2001 All Star Game on February 11.
Sunshine will be released widely on Friday, February 9 and will be available nationwide at adidas.com, Eastbay, and select Nordstrom stores. You may also be able to find them at your local mom-and-pop shop.
adidas The Kobe Review Update 3
by Professor K, posted May 1, 2001
The Kobe in Ice Blue adidas keeps the hits coming with this oh-so-sweet colorway. These pictures don't quite do this colorway justice, but, unfortunately, this shoe is so rare that most will not have to see it in person.
The Kobe in Ice Blue
I didn't think that it could get any better, but adidas keeps the hit parade rolling with this latest and, in my opinion, greatest, colorway of the The Kobe. Anyone who has seen pictures of this shoe on the adidas store web site may notice that the released version of the shoe differs somewhat. The picture on adidas' site and pictures of pre-release samples show the shoe with a black midsole. As visible in the pics above the midsole is actually a silverish/grey labeled as Graphite on the box. Personally, I think that the move to a grey midsole was a very good design decision as it provides a much better transition from the Ice Blue upper, acting as a complement instead of conflicting with it.
The only downside is that this colorway is exceedingly rare. Available only through adidas directly at the thestore.adidas.com or at one of the four adidas retail stores in the U.S., this shoe is already nearly impossible to find.
adidas The Kobe Review Update 4
by Professor K, posted May 16, 2001
The Kobe in Chrome/Black/Chrome not just a new color, a whole new material, the Chrome/Black/Chrome, or Mesh, version of The Kobe provides unique form and function.
The Kobe in Chrome/Black/Chrome
This is a shoe with many names. Officially, the shoe is labeled the Chrome/Black/Chrome colorway. It's also called The Playoff because Kobe Bryant is wearing it for the Laker's playoff road games. Most people, however, know it as the Mesh, and that's probably the most apropos name because the single most distinguishing element of this shoe is its chain link mesh upper.
The material of the upper is difficult to describe. It appears to be made up of very thin strips of metal threaded between strips of what
appears to be a ballistic nylon-type material. Surprisingly, the metallic mesh upper adds merely a half ounce to the overall weight of the shoe. Aside from giving the shoe a unique look, the metallic mesh upper should make this version of The Kobe very durable and, just in time for summer, a great choice for outdoor play. Another side benefit of the unique upper is that it does not crease as noticeably as the other colorways.
The Chrome/Black/Chrome adidas The Kobe is available now and, unlike the Ice Blue colorway above, should be fairly easy to find.
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