Nike Zoom Kobe 4 'Gold Medal'
Colorway: Wht/Drk Obsdn-Vrsty Rd-Mtllc G · Style code: 344335-141 · Release date: July 19, 2009 · Price: $300 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Zoom Kobe 4 'Carpe Diem' 2009 (344335-001) · Nike Kobe 4 Splatter Sneakers (344335-002) · Nike Zoom Kobe 4 'Del Sol' (344335-011) · Nike Zoom Kobe 4 'Bred' (344335-012) · Nike Zoom Kobe 4 'MPLS' (344335-041)
Basketball shoes were high-tops because they had always been high-tops. The received wisdom held that a cut above the ankle prevented injuries, and nobody with anything to lose tested it publicly until Bryant asked Eric Avar for the lowest, lightest basketball shoe he could build, citing the football boots he had grown up playing in. The fourth model was the result, reaching retail in 2009 after an earlier run through Nike's customisation programme, and its influence was immediate: within a few seasons low-cut performance models had gone from heresy to default across the league. Flywire cables handled the containment that a collar used to be credited with. Gold Medal wears white with dark obsidian, varsity red and metallic gold, and arrived in the summer between two championship runs.