Nike Kobe 10 Men's Trainers

Kobe Bryant was powered by precision. He demanded exactness in his game, and his shoes were no different. "They know when they pick up a Kobe shoe, it is purposeful," he said to Sports Illustrated. "And it is made to help you perform at your absolute best." It's no surprise then that the Kobe 10's focus was on technical innovation.

After exploring lightweight Flyknit material in the Kobe 9 (and going back to it in the later versions of the Kobe 10 and again in the Kobe 11), the launch of the Kobe 10 featured an engineered textile upper with a mesh bootie inside for a snug fit. The open-weave textile, inspired by sharkskin, brought incredible strength and breathability. It also featured other stellar performance features:

• Hybrid cushioning system with full-length Lunarlon foam
• Zoom Air unit in the heel, something Kobe said helped improve comfort as he aged
• Carbon fibre shank in the forefoot that stabilizes the foot during forceful movements
• Durable rubber outsole with a translucent rubber casing that shows off the technology inside and features a new traction formula that uses hundreds of nodules to grip the court—similar to tread performance on a race car tyre—while flexing in conjunction with the midsole design

Kobe didn't leave Flyknit entirely out of the Kobe 10, bringing it back for the Kobe X Elite version, a high-top version, and an exclusive HTM low collaboration pack. "Let's take some of the most innovative technologies and morph them into one shoe," Kobe said. "Not supposed to work? Let's make them work together."

The Nike Kobe 10 launched in the 5am Flight colourway, which signified the superstar's drive to recover from Achilles surgery. The blue colourway signifies Bryant's 40-foot dive into a pool early one morning in August 2013 to push past any fears of recovering. "It means commitment," he said. "Waking up at 5 am to do anything is hard. But I get up at 5 am and I train."

Every colourway has a story, often using vibrant colours to illustrate it. While the outsole remained translucent and the upper is usually solid, designer Eric Avar brought bold patterns into the shoe, specifically on the tongue's inside. And carrying along a graphic started with the Kobe 9, four red stitches on the left heel of the Kobe 10 represent the four feet of thread surgeons used to repair Kobe's Achilles.

Beyond the 5am Flight, the Nike Kobe 10 offered a laundry list of colours like Pain, Silk, All Star, Blackout, Fundamentals, Mambacurial, Christmas and high Flyknit versions dubbed Rose Gold, American and Opening Night. There are also exclusive models (if you can find them), such as:

• Commander—a tribute to then-President Barack Obama in team colours from the Commander in Chief's high school in Honolulu
• What The—a high-top with a multi-coloured Flyknit upper, reflective silver Swoosh, speckled midsole and translucent sole
• HTM collab—a pack of four special-edition releases representing a collaboration between designer Hiroshi Fujiwara, Nike footwear legend Tinker Hatfield and then-Nike CEO Mark Parker