Kobe Bryant’s Nike Sneakers From His Legendary 81-Point Game Are Returning
Unlike Michael Jordan, most of Kobe Bryant‘s most beloved sneakers aren’t tied to specific athletic performances — but that isn’t the case for a pair of Nikes set to make a welcomed return in 2026.
The Nike Kobe 1 Protro “81 Points” is set to release in spring 2026, bringing back the sneakers worn by Bryant in his career-high scoring performance against the Toronto Raptors in 2006. With the game coming before his first signature sneaker from Nike released, the “81 Point” Kobes didn’t release until 2007. A Protro release brought back the white, purple and black colorway in 2019, which will make 2026 just the third time the shoe has ever dropped.
Photos of the forthcoming release have yet to leak, but news of the shoe’s return comes from trusted sneaker leaker zSneakerHeadz. (Pictures here are from the 2019 Protro release.)
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For its 2019 Protro, the Kobe 1 “81 Points” maintained its original color-blocking but was given a smaller carbon fiber shank and a full-length Zoom Air rather than separate units at the forefoot and heel for more modern performance.
Bryant’s 81-point performance came on January 22, 2006, when such epic scoring bursts were far less common than they are today. He was just the fifth player to surpass the 70-point mark at the time, and it still remains the second-highest scoring output in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s famous 100-point game in 1962. Including that game, Chamberlain accomplished the feat six times, and three of the games came in the same season.
Since then, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell and Luka Dončić have all scored 70 points or more in a single game. With 73 points scored last year, Doncic has the highest mark since Bryant and is tied for fourth-place overall in NBA history.
Jordan’s career high come’s in just short, as he scored 69 points in 1990 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Nike Kobe 1 Protro “81 Points” will release in spring 2026. Pricing has not yet been confirmed, but the last release was priced at $175.
