Kobe Bryant's Top Ten Non-Signature PEs

This Air Jordan 9 is one of Kobe's many highly-coveted Air Jordan PEs from his sneaker free agency period from 2002-03. The white and purple patent leather make-up featured yellow accents throughout, most notably Kobe's number "8" replacing the usual "23" on the heel. Jordan Brand tried to give fans of this model a special treat with a retro in 2016, but the purple was darker, and the "8" was omitted from the retail release meaning the original PE is still a grail to Kobe and Air Jordan collectors everywhere. 

More Air Jordans from the Bryant's 2002-03 season. The white-based home colorways of the Air Jordan 3 and Air Jordan 8 were two of the best PEs laced up by the Lakers' shooting guard that year. To pay tribute to Kobe Bryant's retirement back in 2016, Nike and Jordan Brand released an extremely limited amount of packs to the public. Good luck being able to afford them now though— a size 7.5 is available at Stadium Goods right now for a cool $25,000.

Team USA's run to an Olympic gold medal in Beijing at the 2008 Summer Olympics is one of the most dominant runs in recent memory. Kobe Bryant was still in peak form, coming fresh off an NBA MVP award, and smack dab in the middle of back-to-back NBA Finals appearances. He also happened to be the face of the campaigns for Nike's newest basketball model, the Hyperdunk. His Hyperdunk PE from the 2008 Summer Olympics is one of his best. The model that introduced the now common Flywire technology donned a red, white and blue upper like the rest of the pairs worn by the "Redeem Team," but the standout details on Kobe's pair came in the form of a lasered snake on the toe, his number "10" on the medial toe area and a Kobe logo on the tongue. 

In retrospect, seeing Kobe rocking a pair of Reeboks on the court seems like sacrilege given his close ties to Nike throughout the majority of his career. Yet another product of his 2002-03 season between his Adidas and Nike signature contracts, this PE colorway of Allen Iverson's first signature model featured a white leather upper with purple hits on the toe and heel, yellow branding accents and Kobe's then number "8" on the heel. To the surprise of many, New Jersey boutique Packer Shoes dropped a retail release of this pair in 2013, alongside a LeBron James PE from his high school days, while both athletes were very much the top guys over at the Swoosh. 

Before Kobe helped introduce the Huarache 2k4, he was rocking PE versions of a '90s classic. The Air Flight Huarache donned a white upper with purple and yellow hits. A black-based pair was also made especially for the Lakers' shooting guard. While the latter has remained an exclusive to Kobe from that era, Nike would go on to release the white version at retail back in 2015. 

At this point, it's safe to say that Kobe's 2002-03 season in between his signature contracts with Adidas and Nike is a legendary moment in sneaker history. More grails to come from that era are his Air Jordan 7 PEs. A white leather and black suede pair each sported Lakers' purple and yellow accents. The perfect finishing touch was Kobe's number "8" stitched on the medial ankle collar. Unlike some of his other Air Jordan PEs from this era, these never got any type of retail release, meaning they are highly coveted to this day. 

Kobe also had some exclusive pairs of one of Nike's most futuristic looking basketball models from the early 2000s. The Flightposite III was originally slated to be a Kevin Garnett signature before he jumped ship to Adidas. While its original intention was never recognized, this pair still was worn by some of the best college and pro players of that era. Bryant had two exclusive colorways of his own. There were white and black Foamposite iterations, each of which had purple TPU straps, pods and accenting. A yellow number "8" was stitched on each tongue. 

These Kobe Bryant PEs of the Nike Shox Supremacy are definitely indicative of a specific era in basketball and Nike technology. Even though Shox technology is almost completely obsolete in 2017, it was one of the Nike's premier technologies in 2003. One of Bryant's PEs takes on the usual Lakers theme, while the other pair is an ultra rare black and silver iteration. Player exclusive touches come in the form of "KOBE" on the heel tab and his jersey number "8" on the ankle. 

Before leading Nike's campaign to introduce the Air Zoom Huarache 2k4 a year later, Kobe was rocking multiple PE colorways of the Zoom Flight 2k3. The fairly simple silhouette came in multiple color schemes: all-black with Lakers' purple and yellow accents, and Yellow/White. Kobe's number "8" was embroidered on the heel. 

Kobe loves the Air Force 1, and one of his most interesting on-court PEs has to be the black and white Air Force 1 Mids from 2002. These Lakers PEs seemed more suited for a pregame outfit in 2002 than the hardwood. Nonetheless, Kobe did his finest Rasheed Wallace impression by playing in this '80s basketball model for a couple games.