The Mamba Brand? Kobe Bryant Was Reportedly Thinking Of Leaving Nike To Create Own Sneaker Company

Kobe Bryant was a visionary and excelled at everything he worked on.

Bryant envisioned many lanes for himself and it appears launching a sneaker brand might have been one. Venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, a co-founder of Sherpa Capital who has invested in such companies as Airbnb and Uber, revealed himself and Bryant.

Pishevar tweeted that he met with the Los Angeles Lakers icon in Dec. 2019 to discuss Bryant’s plans to start Mamba, a shoe company that would be owned by players. Bryant was supposedly unhappy with Nike and was planning to leave the brand in 2020. Pishevar also shared details of the meeting and the designs he presented to Bryant.

I met with Kobe Bryant in late December 2019. Kobe wasn’t happy with Nike and was going to leave it in 2020. Kobe was going to start Mamba, a shoe company owned by players. He passed away weeks later. What he was about to do in business was going to eclipse his sports career.

— Shervin (@shervin) December 29, 2020

2/ These were the designs my team did to show him that day for an independent Mamba shoe company. Here’s calendar details. There were witnesses to the meeting and Kobe’s plans like Gina Ford, who manages Usain Bolt. pic.twitter.com/PgsIDt0P0E

— Shervin (@shervin) December 29, 2020

Pishevar revealed that he decided to share this news now because we’re approaching the one year anniversary of Bryant’s death and wanted to share something many didn’t know about.

If true, it would’ve been interesting to see what Bryant could’ve come up with.