Why Barcelona are wearing Kobe Bryant-branded shirts

New York Times

31-07-2025

When Barcelona face FC Seoul in their second friendly of pre-season in the South Korean capital on Thursday, fans will notice the La Liga champions wearing a unique new kit.
Barca's away strip for the coming season is a collaboration with Kobe Bryant's brand, which is part of the Nike empire. The late NBA icon's logo replaces the traditional Nike swoosh on the right side of the player's chest, while the shirt's gold and purple detailing is a nod to Bryant's playing days with the Los Angeles Lakers, whose uniforms feature those colours.
But what is the link between Bryant and Barcelona? Let us explain.
The shirt's colours are described as 'clear team gold with touches of Persian violet and black' by the club's official website. These take inspiration from the colours of the Lakers, although the Lakers' shade of gold is actually closer to yellow. The shorts are black with further 'Persian violet' details.
The Nike swoosh has been replaced by the Kobe Sheath logo on the chest, and the shirt's fabric has a snakeskin texture in keeping with Bryant's Black Mamba nickname. Bryant played for the Lakers from 1996 to 2016.
Bryant first signed with Nike in 2003, and the most recent, long-term agreement was reached between his estate and Nike in 2022.
The sheath logo debuted the same year he signed with the company, on the fourth version of Nike's Air Huarache 2K5 shoes. It was designed by Nike's Eric Avar, who has worked on many of Bryant's series of footwear, and was said to have been inspired by samurai warriors and their swords.
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U.S. college basketball teams such as the Kentucky Wildcats, Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans have worn Kobe-branded shoes and apparel.
But this is the first time the former NBA star's brand has collaborated with a football team. It is most well-known for its performance basketball shoes, which are some of the most popular in the NBA.
Barcelona signed a new contract extending their partnership with Nike in December, which club sources at the time said was worth a total of €1.7billion over the following 14 years. The previous deal had been due to expire in 2028. The official announcement of the collaboration with the Kobe brand said it is set to continue through to the 2027-28 season.
Selected by the Lakers with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, Bryant went on to become the Black Mamba, giving himself the nickname after watching Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. A black mamba is a species of snake used as a code name for the films' protagonist, a deadly assassin played by Uma Thurman.
In 2014, Bryant told American magazine The New Yorker, 'This (Black Mamba) is a perfect description of how I would want my game to be.
'If I create this alter ego, so now when I play, this is what's coming out of your mouth. It separates the personal stuff, right? You're not watching David (the main character's name in the 1970s TV show; it's Bruce in the comics and films) Banner — you're watching the Hulk.'
Bryant's work ethic became known as 'Mamba Mentality', used by Nike in its marketing around his line of products.
In one of many examples of this mentality, Bryant's former Lakers team-mate Caron Butler once told the Duncan Robinson YouTube channel of going through Bryant's 'blackout' workout — exercising so hard you see stars — the day after Bryant had signed a new seven-year, $136million contract with the Lakers in 2004.
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He won three consecutive NBA titles (2000-02) with the Lakers and was one half of a formidable duo with Shaquille O'Neal. Bryant also won two more titles in 2009 and 2010 with Pau Gasol, who played for Barcelona's basketball team before going to the NBA. Additionally, Bryant won Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012.
Bryant was a hugely popular player, but after a sexual assault allegation in 2003, he was dropped by many of his sponsors, though not by Nike. Prosecutors dropped the case a year later when the alleged victim told them she was unwilling to testify. He denied the allegations but later apologised — saying he understood that the woman did not view their sexual encounter as consensual, while he did — and settled a civil case out of court. Bryant also told The New Yorker in 2014 that he had created his Black Mamba alter ego to cope with the fallout from that case.
He retired in 2016 at age 37 after 20 seasons with the Lakers, scoring a huge 60 points in his final game.
Bryant was killed, aged 41, in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles in January 2020, along with one of his four daughters, 13-year-old Gianna, and seven other people.
According to Barcelona sources, speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment publicly, the collaboration has special significance given Bryant's emotional connection to the club.
Bryant lived in Italy between the ages of six and 14, as his father played professional basketball there, and developed a passion for soccer. He later adopted Milan and Barcelona as his two favourite teams in that sport. He spoke Italian and Spanish, having learned the languages during his years in Europe.
Between 2006 and 2015, Bryant visited the Barca squad four times, both in Spain and during their pre-season tours in the United States. In 2017, he spoke to ESPN about the friendships he developed with Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi — and the moment the Brazilian introduced him to the latter during one of the club's summer trips.
'I think Messi must have been 18 at the time, 17 maybe,' he said. 'Ronaldinho called him over and said, 'Kobe, I want you to meet the player who is going to be the greatest player who ever lived'.'
Bryant won his last two NBA titles alongside Barcelona native and close friend Gasol. The Spaniard wrote the foreword for Bryant's book The Mamba Mentality: How I Play. According to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Bryant turned down an offer to extend his career by joining Barcelona's basketball team after leaving the NBA.
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Barca beat the Lakers, featuring Bryant and Gasol, 92-88 in a pre-season game in 2010. Their team included a young Ricky Rubio, who had a 12-year NBA career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Barca's footballers held a minute's silence at training following Bryant's passing, and their fellow Spanish sides Real Madrid and Atletico paid their respects with a silence before a derby fixture a few days after the fatal crash. Former Barcelona forward and NBA fan Neymar held up two fingers on one hand and four on the other in a tribute to Bryant — he wore the No 24 jersey for the Lakers — after scoring for Paris Saint-Germain in a match against Lille a few hours after news of his death emerged.
Barcelona's basketball team play in the cross-continent EuroLeague, widely considered to be the sport's best league after the NBA.
Pau Gasol and his younger brother Marc, a 2019 NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors, are two of the club's most famous youth products. Jabari Parker, the second pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, was a Barca player for the past two seasons before departing this summer.
The United States' 'Dream Team', consisting of megastars such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley, famously won Olympic gold at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, helping popularise the sport and showcase its best players on a global stage.
(Top photos: Gavi wearing the new shirt; Bryant on a visit to Barca's pre-season camp in 2015; by Getty Images)