{"id":211310,"date":"2026-06-05T06:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T06:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/211310\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T06:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T06:26:20","slug":"nike-to-release-lower-merion-kobe-bryant-5-protro-colorway-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/211310\/","title":{"rendered":"Nike to release ‘Lower Merion’ Kobe Bryant 5 Protro colorway next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifteen years after Nike debuted the Kobe 5 \u201cLower Merion<\/a>\u201d shoe, an homage to Kobe Bryant\u2019s high school alma mater, the brand will reportedly release the shoe again, but this time in the Protro form.<\/p>\n

According to Sneaker Market<\/a>, the shoe is set to be released during the spring of 2026. Though the shoe mock-up has not been yet released to the public, the colors of the Kobe 5 Protro \u201cLower Merion (away)\u201c will have a metallic silver and team red-white base color. The new shoe is expected to follow a similar pattern as the original Kobe 5 \u201cLower Merion Aces.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Currently, there are seven shoes with the Lower Merion colorway listed on StockX, an online marketplace where users can buy and sell shoes: Kobe 4 \u201cLower Merion,\u201d Kobe 5 \u201cLower Merion (home),\u201d Kobe 5 \u201cLower Merion (away),\u201d Kobe 6 \u201cLower Merion,\u201d Kobe 7 \u201cLower Merion Aces,\u201d Kobe 11 \u201cLower Merion,\u201d and the Nike Hyperdunk \u201cLower Merion\u201d PE. The release of the Kobe 5 Protro \u201cLower Merion (away)\u201d will add another shoe inspired by Bryant\u2019s high school.<\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: A look inside Philly’s sneaker culture \u2014 and why it’s bigger than ever<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year, Nike honored Bryant\u2019s Philly roots by releasing the Kobe 4 Protro \u201cPhilly\u201d<\/a> shoes, which featured a varsity blue upper, white midsole, and varsity red trim on the shoe laces, sock liner, and the swoosh logo colorway. It was released on April 13, eight years after his final NBA game.<\/p>\n

A number of current NBA players still rock Kobe\u2019s shoes, including New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who teamed up with Nike to create player editions of the Kobe IV Protros called \u201cThe Nattys.\u201d<\/a> He wore them for a game against the 76ers in February. They were inspired by his national championships at Villanova in 2016 and 2018.<\/p>\n

WNBA star Caitlin Clark recently wore the same Kobe 5 Protro shoe that will be released in the Lower Merion colorway next year. Clark\u2019s shoes that she wore in the Indiana Fever\u2019s season opener last week against the Chicago Sky were a player edition called \u201cRookie of the Year.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lower Merion retired Bryant\u2019s No. 33 in 2002, and the Hall of Famer and former Los Angeles Lakers star made a large donation to the school in 2010. The high school gym was renamed the Kobe Bryant Gymnasium that same year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fifteen years after Nike debuted the Kobe 5 \u201cLower Merion\u201d shoe, an homage to Kobe Bryant\u2019s high school…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[183,185,184,186,92665],"class_list":["post-211310","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-nike-kobe-bryant-sneaker-lower-merion-protro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211310","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=211310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}