The Knicks just reached the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years. Fat Joe was in the building to see it happen. He celebrated the win wearing the Kobe Bryant x Nike Air Force 1 Protro "Denim," and the timing could not have been better for the shoe.
The Kobe Bryant x Nike Air Force 1 Low "Denim" was originally made exclusively for Kobe Bryant in 2006. Very few pairs ever surfaced publicly, and original pairs have sold for nearly ten thousand dollars on the resale market. Nike just dropped the pair a week ago.
The Protro version stays true to the original build. Dark Obsidian and light denim panels cover the upper, with Safety Orange stitching, Kobe's Sheath logo, and an orange outsole completing the look. It looks exactly like a shoe Kobe would have worn off the court in the mid-2000s.
The 2026 Protro update swaps in a full-length ReactX drop-in midsole, making the shoe more comfortable for daily wear than the original construction.
Fat Joe wearing them at a celebration that connected New York basketball and Kobe's legacy in one moment was fitting. The shoe landed in the right place at the right time.
Fat Joe's Kobe Bryant x Nike AF 1 "Denim"
The Kobe Bryant x Nike Air Force 1 Protro "Denim" carries more history than most sneakers hitting shelves right now. During the early 2000s, Nike gave Kobe a series of player-exclusive Air Force 1 colorways. The pair was one of the rarest, rarely seen on his feet and considered a grail-level find for collectors.
The two-tone denim construction is the detail that makes the shoe stand out. Dark blue covers the overlays while a lighter wash appears on the panels. The contrast stitching in orange runs throughout and gives the shoe a workwear quality that holds up outside of basketball.
Nike has been building out a full palette of Kobe Air Force 1 Protro colorways, but this Denim pair sits in a different category. Fat Joe pulling them out at a Knicks Finals celebration added another layer to that story.
