Nike is releasing 13 Kobe 4 Protro colorways today in blind bags to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1996 NBA Draft, turning Kobe Bryant’s draft-night story into a randomized sneaker drop. The shoes hit SNKRS at 10 a.m. EST for $200.
The pack is built around a simple idea with a sharp edge: buyers know they are chasing a Kobe Draft Pack, but not which version they will pull. The base set includes 12 shoes, all with white uppers and soles, with the color accents coming from the outline of the Nike Swoosh, the sockliner and Bryant’s sheath logo on the tongue. Those pairs use a wear-away upper, so the white layer fades with use to reveal the team colors underneath.
That structure ties directly back to Bryant’s place in the 1996 NBA Draft. He went 13th overall, with the Charlotte Hornets selecting him at the request of the Los Angeles Lakers before sending him to the Lakers for Vlade Divac. Nike has built the 12 base colorways around the teams that passed on him, a design that makes the draft board part of the shoe itself.
The 13th pair is the one that gives the release its sharpest edge. It does not use the wear-away treatment and instead comes in a Lakers palette, with a gold upper, purple detailing and a marbled sole in purple and gold. That makes it the real prize in the pack and the hardest one to land, even though every pair is sold the same way: sealed, blind and out of the buyer’s control.
The comparison point is built into the release. Bryant was drafted after Allen Iverson went first to the Philadelphia 76ers, after Stephon Marbury and Ray Allen went fourth and fifth, and before Steve Nash went two picks later to the Phoenix Suns. Nike is leaning on that draft-night order to sell a modern release that feels part tribute, part gamble. The broader message is plain: the 30-year anniversary of Bryant’s draft is not being marked with a museum piece, but with a chase.
What Nike has not said is how many of each colorway were made or how likely it is to pull the Lakers pair. That silence is the point of the blind-bag format, and it is also what will drive the line at SNKRS today. For fans who want a specific shoe, the only certainty is the time: 10 a.m. EST.
