A Kobe x Dunk Low Protro Is On the Way
Imagine if had never been traded. Sorry, Hornets fans, for bringing up painful memories... but according to , are once again revisiting that momentous night with a Draft Day-inspired Kobe. Over the years, Nike has celebrated the moment Kobe’s dream of being in the NBA was realised, with various Charlotte Hornets colourways. But unlike previous iterations, the latest will be a silhouette Kobe never wore on court – a .
Recent years have seen Nike expand the Kobe line, namely through a slew of co-branded – and Kobe’s love of the AF-1 was well-documented, making for a natural progression of his line. The news of a Kobe x Nike Dunk comes with more of a focus on his story than sneaker history, and with this drop Nike are giving us something we’ve never seen before: a Dunk Protro. 'Protro' is a term Kobe coined when first discussing the possibility of bringing back some of his older models. It means ‘Performance Retro’, and the idea is to reconstruct the shoe with modern upgrades to improve the performance elements, but maintain its DNA. The Kobe x Nike Dunk Low Protro will be the first of its kind.
No official specs have been revealed at this time, but the shoe will likely feature a drop-in ReactX insole – an element some Kobe AF-1s have featured, and also present in several Nike Kobe signature silhouettes. The colourway of the Kobe x Dunk Protro celebrates his draft night when the Charlotte Hornets selected Kobe as 13th overall before trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers. It is expected to feature a palette of ‘Fierce Purple/Blue Lagoon’ and ‘Sail’, which is consistent with the tones sneakerheads have come to expect from the ‘Draft Day’ colourway. There is also an unknown special detail expected to be present in the design. Could it be the mamba sheath on the heel like the Kobe Air Force 1s?
VIA: @sneakerfiles / @houseofheat (Speculative Mockup)
The release date has not been announced yet, but the Kobe x Nike Dunk Low Protro is expected to debut in Summer 2026 between April and June. Stay tuned for more as we uncover it.