nickgandionco

I just want to share this since it impressed me a lot. (SOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/12...pired-pacquiao)

MANILA, Philippines – Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant’s latest Nike shoe, the Kobe 9 Elite, was partly inspired by Filipino ring icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.
The Kobe 9 Elite, which will be available globally in February 2014, is Bryant’s first high top shoe in a while, as his last five shoes were mid-cut.
It looks somewhat like a boxing boot, and Bryant told Joaquin Henson of The Philippine Star that this was deliberate.
“Manny was getting ready for the (Juan Manuel) Marquez fight two years ago, and I stopped by his training camp,” Bryant told Henson.
“I watched him spar and train, watched him moving, looking at his footwork, trying to learn from him, how he uses his footwork,” he added. “I asked myself, I wonder if I could move like Manny in a basketball shoe that looks like his boxing boot.”
“The basketball shoe had to be really like Manny’s boxing boot. I wanted the high-tops to be responsive to the movement of the ankles.”
Nike creative director Eric Avar told Henson that it took over two years to develop and produce the Kobe 9 Elite.
“He (Bryant) wanted high-tops to play like low-tops, and referenced Manny,” Avar said.
Bryant is returning to action today against the Toronto Raptors after suffering an Achilles injury last April.