Arike Ogunbowale opened the Dallas Wings' season wearing an exclusive Nike Kobe 6 Protro called “Snakeskin,” a player-exclusive shoe tied to one of Nike’s most recognizable basketball lines. The pair surfaced at the start of the season and immediately stood out for its earthy, natural look.
The Kobe 6 Protro first released in 2010 and became known for its textured upper, which resembles snake scales and nods to Kobe Bryant’s “Black Mamba” nickname. This version uses a base beige sand with team dark brown reptilian patterns across the silhouette, while the black Swoosh blends into the upper and the heel carries a dark brown glossy finish. A tone-on-tone brown outsole completes the pair.
Nike has not announced any marketing plans for the Kobe 6 Protro “Snakeskin” PE, which keeps it in the realm of the kind of rare footwear Ogunbowale is known to wear during games. She is one of the players most closely associated with the Kobe line at Nike and regularly takes the floor in hard-to-find Player Exclusives, a pattern that has turned her sneaker choices into a small but reliable part of the conversation around the WNBA season opener.
That connection was already clear last year, when Ogunbowale wore a pink and silver Nike Kobe 5 Protro. The latest pair fits the same pattern: a star guard using a coveted Kobe design to make a statement before the rest of the league has any chance to get it.
For now, the “Snakeskin” PE reads less like a retail launch than another reminder of how deeply Bryant’s shoe legacy still runs through women’s basketball — and how often Ogunbowale is the one carrying it onto the court.
