Nine years after one of his more heralded signature shoes released, the Nike Zoom Kobe 5 Protro ‘Chaos’ hits shelves Friday morning at select retailers, the SNKRS app and Nike.com.
Kobe Bryant unveiled the ‘Chaos’ colorway — inspired by Heath Ledger’s Joker character from “The Dark Knight” — against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day in 2009. The shoe released early the following year.
Bryant scored 35 points and shot just 11-of-33, but add 10 rebounds and 8 assists in a 102-87 loss. Of course, Bryant and the Lakers went on to defeat the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, and he did so a ‘Big Stage’ version of the Kobe 5.
Like with other models from Bryant’s Protro line, the Kobe 5 ‘Chaos’ returns with improved technology. Namely a Zoom Air unit in the forefoot that is 100% larger than what was featured in its predecessor.
First worn by Kobe on #NBAXmas in 2009, the Kobe 5 'Chaos' returns in a Protro form on Jan. 3. pic.twitter.com/FaZ5BhLtto
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) December 26, 2019
The iconic model also has been upgraded to have a simplified construction for a softer feel while maintaining support and increasing impact protection. New tooling also has the shoe designed with softer foam in the midsole and a scaled down traction patter to improve grip.
In addition to releasing new signature models for Bryant’s line, Nike has now returned the Kobe 1, Kobe 4 and Kobe 5 under the Protro direction. “Protro is about evolution and improving on things that were,” Bryant said at the time of announcing his retro line.
“I wanted to build a business that wasn’t just based on things I have done in the past. It is important that the brand stands for performance and that everything we do is innovative, even if we are releasing shoes from the past they still must be built on performance.”
Anthony Davis wore the Kobe 5 Protro ‘Chaos’ during the first half of the Lakers’ matchup with the L.A. Clippers on Christmas. He then switched to the green colorway of the Undefeated x Nike Kobe 4 Protro.
