While Kobe might have emulated Jordan’s game on the court, he struggled to mimic his iconic style off it.
Neither his trapping nor style of dress ushered in any epochs.
In the era of Escalades and Hummers dominating strip club parking lots, Kobe released a signature shoe resembling an aluminum tank.
The shell-like Kobe 2’s were as ugly as Kobe’s beautiful game. If avant-garde designer Rick Owens released this today as a sculpture or a shoe, they would be in high demand.
But as something you wear when you try to hit a fall-back, turn-around, or jump shot, they are as useless as a screen door on a submarine.