The Nike Kobe 3 Low Protro "Mambacita" releases Friday, May 1, 2026 for $200 on SNKRS and through Mamba family channels. Style code is IQ3916-100. This is the first time the Kobe 3 has appeared in a low-top Protro build, and Nike picked the colorway and the date with intent — May 1 would have been Gianna Bryant's twentieth birthday.
The shoe
White leather with black patent toe and heel wraps, wingtip serrations framing an all-white TPU midfoot net, metallic gold accents across the Sheath logos, "GiGi" branding at the heel, and her jersey number under the right tongue. The construction is the modern Protro tooling — React foam, refined fit — under the OG Kobe 3 visual language. Profits go to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.
Why this one matters
The Kobe line has been working through the entire signature catalog since the Protro program restarted, but the 3 has been a holdout. Pulling it out of the vault for Mambacita — not for an All-Star moment, not for a Lakers tribute, but for Gigi's birthday — is the clearest read yet on how Vanessa Bryant and the Mamba estate are using the relaunch. The product calendar is the storytelling. The Kobe 9 Protro has been doing the global plays, and now the Kobe 3 carries the most personal one of the year.
SNKRS at 10 a.m. ET. Expect it to move fast.
Nike returned to Barcelona in July 2026 with the FC Barcelona x Kobe Bryant x Nike Dunk Low Protro, part of the club's Kobe Bryant-inspired 2026-27 away kit release.
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