Vanessa Bryant Blames Nike for Limited Kobe Sneaker Release

Nike wants Kobe Bryant's newest sneakers to be "limited" for fans, according to Vanessa Bryant.

Today would have been the 45th birthday of Kobe Bryant. Let's start by reminding everyone to support his family and friends who are undoubtedly struggling today. Unfortunately, fans of the Los Angeles Lakers legend had a little more salt poured into the wound today.

If you are reading this article, then you have most likely already struck out in purchasing the Nike Kobe 8 Protro 'Halo,' which was released this morning. As we reported last week, Nike produced an extremely limited quantity of the sneakers.

It was not what patient fans had envisioned for the official relaunch of the "Kobe Brand." On Tuesday night, Vanessa Bryant commented on the upcoming sneaker launch with an Instagram post. She began by complimenting the design team's work before preparing fans for a disappointing day. 

"Nike wanted this debut Halo Collection to be limited and collectable [sic] but the good news is Nike is working towards more units for future Kobe releases! The “Kobe Halo” collection debuts on Kobe’s birthday tomorrow, collect all future Halo releases to celebrate this special day every year."

A detailed look at the Nike Kobe 8 Protro 'Halo.' / Nike

Well, thanks for that, Nike. Sneakers from Kobe's signature sneaker line are not already exclusive enough, and we need more collectors and resellers flooding the marketplace armed with bots to suck up all the inventory. 

It is also worth reminding Nike that Kobe's basketball shoes were meant for playing, not collecting. It will be interesting to see which celebrities get seeded pairs of the limited-edition hoop shoes (our guess is most of the Kardashians will once again score a pair for free). 

Hopefully, Nike is capable of "working towards more units" being released. We believe that the little upstart company with a market cap of $150.26 billion at the time of this article is capable of producing more sneakers. There is no sugarcoating it; today was another disappointing day for Kobe fans. 

Luckily, there are 9+ Kobe sneakers scheduled to be released over the next year. Plus, we believe Vanessa when she says she will continue to fight on behalf of fans to increase the number of units produced. Stay tuned to FanNation Kicks for all your footwear coverage.

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