Two days. That is how long it took Nike’s website to run out of Kobe Bryant gear after the basketball star died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
By Tuesday, typing “Kobe” or “Kobe sneakers” into the site no longer brought up products. Visitors landed on a tribute page for Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who died along with seven others on board.
A Nike spokesperson told ESPN that everything Kobe-related online had sold out, and that the company was rethinking how it releases his sneaker line from here. Some pieces might still be on shelves in retail stores. ESPN reported that more than 100 NBA players wore his signature shoes this season.
The tribute page carries a statement from the company. Bryant “was one of the greatest athletes of his generation,” it says, and “a beloved member of the Nike family.” It ends with “Mamba forever.” Nike did not immediately answer ABC News when asked for comment on Tuesday.
The rush for his products put resellers in an awkward spot, and some chose to step back from the money. StockX said it would give every dollar from Kobe-related sales for the week after his death, whether sneakers, trading cards or merchandise, to the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation. “By making this donation,” the company said, “we hope to honor Kobe’s memory and keep his light alive.”
Jaysse Lopez, founder of the sneaker reseller Urban Necessities, wrote on Instagram that he had told staff not to raise the price of any Kobe product. “Not how I built my brand or how I need to make a dollar,” he said.
