The $225 price tag may hurt the budgets of some of its consumers, but just imagine how Kobe Bryant felt.
Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers star guard aiming to make his return to the court this weekend after suffering a torn Achilles' tendon near the end of the 2012-13 regular season, has unveiled a new shoe that will hit the market next February.
The "Kobe 9 Elite" is a high-top shoe that Bryant said was two years in the making in an interview with CNBC to introduce the shoe, before he injured his Achilles.
"The challenge was to go high and have a shoe that is still light and responsive," said Bryant, whose inspiration for the shoe came by watching boxing icon Manny Pacaquiao train. The Filipino fighter frequents Los Angeles' Wild Card Gym.
But the shoe did have inspiration from the injury, according to extramustard.si.com. It reported that the shoe features nine red stitches on the back to serve as a "daily reminder of his pain and path to recovery" from the Achilles surgery.
According to extramustard.si.com, the lead "colorway" of the shoe is a blend of yellow-, red- and orange-shaded patterns that are woven into the basketball sneaker. Nike, which attempted to make the appearance of the shoe resemble fine art, called it a "Masterpiece."
To protect Bryant's repaired Achilles, Nike put carbon in the shoe's heel counter, extramustard.si.com reported, calling it a popular trend in basketball shoe construction.
According to CNBC, which cites SportsOneSource, Bryant's collection of signature shoes are the second-best selling shoes behind LeBron James. Bryant's estimated sales reached $50 million in the U.S. in 2012.
He left Adidas for Nike in 2003.
Bryant is hopeful of playing Sunday against the Toronto Raptors. CNBC said the shoe's release date is Feb. 8 with a price of $225.
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