Vanessa Bryant is not happy with Nike. The widow of NBA legend Kobe Bryant called out the shoe company on Instagram after her design of a shoe made to honor her late husband and daughter appeared to be released without her consent. Vanessa posted on instagram, “It was going to be called the MAMBACITA shoe as an exclusive black and white colorway on her daddy’s shoes. I picked the colors in honor of her uniform, the inside pattern, Kobe and Gigi on the back in gold instead of Kobe’s signature, the inside shoe details (butterfly, wings, halo), etc. The MAMBACITA shoes are NOT approved for sale.”
Bryant goes on to state that 100% of the proceeds of the shoe were to go to the Mamba Mambacita Sports Foundation. She writes, “but I did not re-sign the Nike contract to sell these shoes. (The MAMBACITA shoes were not approved to be made in the first place.)”
Back in April, Vanessa Bryant made the decision to part ways with Nike. That ended a partnership that Nike had with the late Kobe Bryant since 2003. At the ending of the partnership Nike said in a statement released to CNN, “ Though our contractual relationship has ended, he remains a deeply loved member of the Nike family.” The union between Bryant and Nike produced multiple lines of Kobe shoes and gear.
Vanessa states that Nike never even sent a pair to her or her girls. In the post, she asked for buyers of the shoe to share how they got them. A couple of users on social media reported they got the shoes from a retailer in London. Back here in the U.S., Milwaukee Bucks player Khris Middleton was spotted wearing the shoes during an NBA game on Saturday. No comment as of yet from Nike.