Nike facing ‘bot’ battle as millions of NBA fans denied Kobe Bryant sneakers
Nike facing ‘bot’ battle as millions of NBA fans denied Kobe Bryant sneakers
Kobe Bryant was a force on the basketball court, with his deft footwork and impeccable skill captivating fans all across the world. As such Bryant’s sneakers, naturally, garnered attention, as fans eyed what the five-time NBA champion wore as he delivered daggers.The Los Angeles Lakers legend prided himself on wearing footwear that encapsulated his style and mentality. That is why Nike’s Kobe line garnered much popularity during his playing days as fans wanted to feel what it is like to be like him.That said, Bryant’s sneakers often would sit on store shelves and even hit Nike outlet stores. After his death in 2020, the demand for his sneakers has increased exponentially leaving very few, if any, pairs available for his fans.Mirror U.S. Sports spoke with Chris Chase, the founder of WearTesters.com – a mainstay of performance footwear reviews since 2009 – regarding the issue of robots taking pairs away from fans, the lack of numbers available and how he hopes Nike will address the controversy surrounding the Kobe signature line. Chase created the first YouTube channel dedicated to reviewing performance footwear, with his channel boasting almost 900,000 followers as of writing.”I, like many original Kobe wearers, we remember the days when you could go to the Nike outlet and you would find Kobe’s on clearance,” Chase recalled. “This happened as recently as the Protro line, with the Kobe 1 Protro, the Kobe 5 Protro, and so on. It wasn’t until Kobe passed that an influx of purchasers of the product came into play.”I consider a lot of those purchasers to be more of the vulture variety, where they are trying to capitalize on someone’s passing, whereas those of us who have been wearing the product since I was in high school when Kobe was drafted. So I grew up watching him play in Adidas long before Nike products, and so I still associate those brands’ product line of his original product to be his.”
