A Kobe and Gigi Sneaker Sold For $3,500 And Vanessa Bryant Is Heartsick Over It

Here’s how this shoe violation likely happened.

Kobe and Gigi Bryant. Photo: Getty Images

Sneakers get leaked or released too early all the time; it’s part of sneaker culture and what makes the hunt for dope kicks so exciting. So hearing that a shoe not approved for retail got into the hands of a consumer is nothing new—unless it’s a posthumous Kobe Bryant shoe marked not for sale by his estate.

Now that’s something spicy and different.

This is why Vanessa Bryant immediately voiced her displeasure on social media after seeing the Kobe 6 Protro Mamba Forever, aka “Mambacita,” in the hands of a consumer. Not just because the shoe was released after Kobe’s death, as there were shoes already scheduled to release posthumously, but because Kobe’s contract with Nike expired in April 2021, and Vanessa asserts this shoe was not included in his deal for sale.

So the retailer messed up by sending the wrong shoe, but the real question is this: How does a shoe not meant for sale end up at a retailer?

Furthermore, the shoe was intimately designed by Vanessa and included tributes to both her husband and her daughter, Gigi, who also died in the…