According to reports, the late sports and cultural icon Kobe Bryant was set to leave Nike to launch his own sneaker brand centered on a player-ownership model. Bryant's plans for this venture were revealed on Tuesday by entrepreneur and co-founder of Virgin Hyperloop Shervin Pishevar.
Pishevar said he met with Kobe in December 2019 and was made aware of Bryant's soured relationship with the sports brand juggernaut and planned to name the new company "Mamba." Pishevar also shared a series of pictures from some of the prototypes Kobe envisioned for his company.
While Pishevar said he came forward with the story in anticipation of the one-year memorial of Bryant's stunningly untimely passing, Nike has yet to comment on his claims that there was friction between Kobe and Nike.
Source: insider.com
