I grew up mainly interested in baseball and football. My family never really watched basketball, and I most certainly did not play the sport (except for the one time I joined an intramural team in undergrad). But the one player I have always kept tabs on is Kobe Bryant.
I don’t know his career stats by heart, but I know that Kobe Bryant was a great player and human being. The relationship he seem to have built with his daughter has made me respect him even more. The loss of Kobe and his daughter Gianna is heartbreaking.
Today, I saw how the loss impacted people in my local community. I think today is one of those days that I will always remember. I was at my job today and my manager comes in after his break and tells us the news. At first no one believes him, but eventually everyone realized it was true. The entire work environment shifted instantly. Many of my coworkers began crying or became extremely quiet for the rest of our shift. As I greeted and spoke with customers, many of them asked me if I had heard the news. One customer was still in shock and they couldn’t even order coherently.
But what I wanted to talk about is Kobe’s legacy in the sneaker world. Kobe originally started his sneaker line through Adidas, then of course made the switch to Nike. He is one of the biggest faces of Nike athletics, and will remain one of the biggest Nike legends. Typically seen in every materialistic industry (especially in art), after the artist dies their pieces become more valuable. This circumstance also applies to the sneaker industry. Within hours of the confirmation of Kobe’s passing, his sneakers have skyrocketed in second market prices. Sneakers that were hitting the outlets on sale for $40 are suddenly reselling for more than $500. An example of this would be the Jordan Retro 9 “Kobe Bryant PE”. Though this is technically a Michael Jordan sneaker, the sneaker was made in honor of Kobe Bryant in 2016. Another sneaker I would like to point out is the Kobe XI “Mamba Day”. Once the shoe released, people were standing in lines at their local Foot Lockers in attempt to purchase the sneaker for retail price at $200, and resell the sneaker for $1,000. After the first day, the resell value plummeted to about $450. Today, the sneakers are listed for second market pricing at $5,000.
I have two thoughts on this matter. The first is that it makes me sad that people are making a significant amount of money on this tragedy. Some of my friends in the sneaker world are upset that they sold some of their Kobe shoes in 2019 for a lot less, when they could have sold them now for a lot more money. It breaks my heart that people instantly become greedy and are able to make money on such a tragic event. But the second thought I have is that the people who do have Kobe’s shoes now have an extremely valuable memory. They have shoes that have such an amazing legacy attached to them. After today, it made me realize how things and people can be lost in a moment and how precious time is. It’s a reminder to be thankful for every day I have in this world and thankful for every day I have with my loved ones.
Alyssa Freyder 