It has been almost a year since Kobe Bryant left the world. Even months after his untimely passing, new revelations still come up regarding the NBA legend and the latest developments suggest that the Lakers stalwart was contemplating to leave Nike and start his own shoe brand.
The surprising story on Kobe Bryant wanting to establish a shoe brand of his own was unveiled by Shervin Pishevar, the co-founder of American venture capital firm Sherpa Capital.
Mamba: Kobe Bryant imagined his own shoe brand
Shervin recently revealed on Twitter that he learned about Kobe’s desire to start his own shoe brand after meeting the Lakers icon in December last year The company would be named ‘Mamba’, the famous nickname that Kobe is revered with.
“I met with Kobe Bryant in late December 2019. Kobe wasn’t happy with Nike and was going to leave it in 2020. Kobe was going to start Mamba, a shoe company owned by players. He passed away weeks later. What he was about to do in business was going to eclipse his sports career.”
Shervin, who has made investments in Airbnb and Uber, also shared a couple of photos of the shoe design that his team had presented to Kobe. He also stated that Kobe’s meet also had the presence of Usain Bolt’s manager Gina Ford.
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Furthermore, Shervin also revealed to a Twitter user’s query on why Kobe wanted to part ways with Nike after 17 years, to which, the venture capitalist cited that Mamba was unhappy with the brand’s marketing policies and the loss of sales in his signature lineup of shoes.
“He wasn’t happy with Nike’s marketing and promotion commitment to Kobe’s line. And the sales of his shoes were anemic and he blamed Nike. He retained tight control because he didn’t trust Nike’s judgment in design,” Shervin added.
Unfortunately, Kobe’s wish didn’t come to fruition as he lost his life in a horrific helicopter crash on 26th January, which also took the life of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
