Nike Basketball sent the above tweet on Saturday, putting both the sneaker and sports worlds on notice. Perhaps as early as next week, Kobe Bryant will surpass Michael Jordan’s 32,292 points and move past the man he modeled much of his game after on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. And when he does, it looks like they have a special version of the Kobe 9. The photo’s also tagged with NIKEiD so that could mean a world of color options.
The Mamba will move into third place – and likely stay there because passing Karl Malone (second with 36,928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) seems unlikely. Still, those other two guys don’t matter because it’s Money that always will be compared with throughout his career. Even though they’re both highly competitive, their bond is strong. “He was really like a big brother,” Kobe told Bleacher Report, “And whether it’s because we see things in a similar way in terms of our competitive spirit or fire or whatever the case may be, there’s an understanding that we have—a connection that we have.”
We’ll share more details as they become available.