Nike Kobe A.D. 2018 EP 'Moon Particle'
Colorway: Vast Grey/Moon Particle · Style code: AV3556-004 · Release date: November 2018 · Price: $290 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Kobe A.D. 2018 EP 'Black' (AV3556-001) · Nike Kobe A.D. 2018 EP 'Vivid Purple' (AV3556-002) · Nike Kobe A.D. 2018 EP 'Chaos' (AV3556-003) · Nike Kobe A.D. Sneakers (AV3556-100) · Nike Kobe A.D. 2018 EP 'Military Blue' (AV3556-400)
Signature lines usually end when a career does. Bryant retired in 2016 after the eleventh numbered model, and instead of closing the line Nike restarted the numbering: the A.D. series became the post-retirement chapter, new performance shoes carrying his name and made for players who in some cases had never seen him play. Commercially it was an unusual bet, since a signature shoe normally sells on a player's current season, and this one had to sell on a legacy instead. The shoes themselves stayed genuinely functional rather than becoming lifestyle pieces: ventilated mesh, Flywire cables pulling the lacing against the foot, a flex-grooved Lunarlon midsole over a grip-patterned outsole. Pale grey is about as unassuming as the line ever got, in a make sold for markets outside the United States.