{"id":144901,"date":"2026-03-21T22:05:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T22:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/144901\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T22:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T22:05:06","slug":"philly-sneakerheads-line-up-for-release-of-nike-homage-to-kobe-bryant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/144901\/","title":{"rendered":"Philly Sneakerheads line up for release of Nike homage to Kobe Bryant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Malcolm France idled near the storefront at 11th and Chestnut Streets, gripping a Dunkin\u2019 iced coffee in one hand and a green raffle ticket in the other. By 10 a.m. Saturday, as Center City<\/a> was just beginning to stir, the 25-year-old from West Philadelphia<\/a> had already been biding his time for more than five hours \u2014 since 4:40 a.m. <\/p>\n

His caffeine fix was running dry. <\/p>\n

He needed a nap. <\/p>\n

Then the store owner asked, \u201cOK, who\u2019s got 0-0-1?\u201d <\/p>\n

France was among the first few sneakerheads in the country to cop a pair of shoes from Nike\u2019s homage to Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant\u2019s Lower Merion roots<\/a>. On Saturday, Lapstone & Hammer<\/a> \u2014 a go-to retailer for premium street styles in Philadelphia \u2014 released select models early, first-come, first-served. The full collection will be widely available Monday \u2014 the 30th anniversary of Lower Merion\u2019s 1996 state championship<\/a> win and Bryant\u2019s first brush with greatness. <\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Kobe Bryant rose from Lower Merion superstar to NBA legend with Los Angeles Lakers<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a big moment for the city. This is a big moment for Kobe collectors,\u201d Lapstone & Hammer owner Brian Nadav said. <\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s drop included two Air Force 1s<\/a> in Lower Merion maroon and white ($120), as well as apparel and a store-exclusive Dunk Low Protro<\/a> ($130). <\/p>\n

This is Nike\u2019s first version of its popular Dunk model in \u201cProtro\u201d or \u201cperformance retro\u201d \u2014 nostalgic and classic silhouettes with modern construction and technologies, according to Nadav. The designs features Easter eggs from Bryant\u2019s Aces era: white satin to mimic a jersey; maroon chenille Nike swoosh; a No. 33 jersey emblem; a sheath and snake on the soles; his signature on the heel. <\/p>\n

Embroidered on the shoes\u2019 tongues: \u201cFriends hang sometimes\u201d and \u201cBanners hang forever.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt ties all back to where it all started,\u201d said France, who posts sneaker-related content on social media. \u201cLower Merion is the most important part of [Bryant\u2019s] legacy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Austin Rosen, a sixth-grade teacher at Welsh Valley Middle School in Lower Merion, was fourth in line. Rosen\u2019s shoe obsession (his collection is upward of a hundred pairs, he said) grew out of a love for basketball: \u201cI\u2019m a big sneaker guy, I like collecting Kobes, and when it has a Lower Merion connection, it\u2019s definitely more personal.\u201d <\/p>\n

In an age when scoring the latest shoe releases involves refreshing internet tabs and fighting off hundreds of thousands of simultaneous consumers and bots and price hikes, in-store releases are scarce. But Rosen said he felt camaraderie with his fellow sneakerheads \u2014 a subculture of footwear connoisseurs and curators excited by exclusivity and the next \u201chot\u201d shoe. (As of Saturday afternoon, some of the Nike x Kobe sneakers had already appeared on the secondhand market for more than $250<\/a>.) <\/p>\n

And the patrons were as much an education in streetwear as the product: They wore Fear of God hoodies<\/a>, baggy camo pants, sweatsuits, Kith for Salomon collabs<\/a>, and \u201cpanda\u201d Air Jordans<\/a> \u2014 coveted athleisure brands and styles. <\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: A look inside Philly\u2019s sneaker culture<\/a><\/p>\n

Aesthetics, banners, and records aside, Bryant is also remembered for his work ethic and \u201cMamba Mentality.\u201d<\/a> In an Instagram video promoting the soon-to-be-released metallic silver and Aces red Kobe 5 Protro ($200)<\/a>, legendary Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer said Bryant\u2019s \u201clove of winning, his no-shortcut attitude, and his dream to be the best\u201d transcend his tragic 2020 death<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cKobe became the Mamba here in Philadelphia,\u201d Nadav said. \u201cThere is so much likeness for the Philadelphia mentality and the Mamba Mentality.\u201d <\/p>\n

After only a few minutes inside the store\u2019s amber glow, France emerged, elated, with a shopping bag in tow. <\/p>\n

Then he immediately got back in line to snag another pair. <\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Sneakerheads line up for Nike Dunk Low \u2018Philly\u2019 shoes at Center City store<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Malcolm France idled near the storefront at 11th and Chestnut Streets, gripping a Dunkin\u2019 iced coffee in one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[183,185,184,186,66141],"class_list":["post-144901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion-headlines","tag-lower-merion-news","tag-lower-merion-township","tag-philadelphia-nike-shoes-kobe-bryant-lower-merion-basketball-aces"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}