Nike has run out of Kobe Bryant gear. The company confirmed it Tuesday, two days after the five-time NBA champion died in a helicopter crash. His 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others died with him.
Type “Kobe” into Nike’s website and shoes are not what comes back. The search turns up Lakers-themed gift cards and then redirects to a page titled “In Memory: Kobe Bryant.” It reads in part: “Kobe was one of the greatest athletes of his generation and has had an immeasurable impact on the world of sport and the community of basketball.”
For a day or so the story was muddled. ESPN reported that Nike had pulled Bryant products after his death. A company representative told Forbes that wasn’t it at all: the stock was simply gone. The Oregon brand signed Bryant to a sneaker deal in 2003, and it had put the Kobe V Protro Chaos on sale in North America on Jan. 3, only weeks before the crash. His yearly contract was estimated at $16 million.
Other stores are bare too. The Lakers website lists no Kobe apparel. The NBA’s own site is selling his No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys at $300 each, with shipping promised before July 15.
Resellers set the price
On the resale site StockX, the last sale of the Kobe 4 Protro Undefeated Phoenix Suns went for $450, a 58 percent jump. The Kobe 4 Protro Undefeated Los Angeles Lakers was listed anywhere from $449 to $4,000, and the Carpe Diem pair from $440 to $2,481.
eBay sellers are asking more. One listing for Nike Hyperdunk Supreme Kobe Bryant Lakers PE “Snakepools” wants $17,824 and throws in a signed basketball. It was updated Sunday, the day Bryant died. A 1996 Topps Chrome #138 rookie card, signed in blue Sharpie, is up for $1 million, and a framed set of autographed back-to-back championship jerseys is listed at $24,800.
A league in mourning
Shaquille O’Neal, Barack Obama and Cardi B were among the many who mourned Bryant publicly. The NBA postponed Tuesday’s Lakers and Clippers game.
Nike put out a statement of its own. “He was a beloved member of the Nike family,” it said. “We will miss him greatly. Mamba forever.”
