Every August 24 beginning in 2016 was given the name Mamba Day in honor of former Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant, as the date 8/24 were his two jersey numbers throughout his historic 20-year career in Los Angeles.
In honor of Mamba Day 2017, Bryant and Nike combined to released the Kobe A.D. Mamba Mentality Pack, which is his new signature shoe that comes in five colors: grey, blue, yellow, red, and purple.
The five tonal colorways represent the five emotions of his coined phrase “Mamba Mentality” – Passion, Detached, Honesty, Fearless, and Optimism.
On Thursday Bryant used those five emotions to challenge five athletes and entertainers on Twitter. Two of them were current NBA players in Isaiah Thomas, who he used Fearless to challenge him to make All-NBA First Team this upcoming season, and DeMar DeRozan, who he used Honesty to challenge him to rekindle a lost friendship from his youth in Compton, Calif.
His other three challenges were sent out to rapper Kendrick Lamar, Richard Sherman and Allyson Felix, via Bryant’s official Twitter account:
.@KendrickLamar I challenge your record label to revolutionize the music program at Centennial High School #MambaMentality pic.twitter.com/dviWdNbXMS
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) August 24, 2017
.@RSherman_25 I challenge you to break the Seahawks single season interception record #MambaMentality pic.twitter.com/4g9kOx2YhA
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) August 24, 2017
.@allysonfelix I challenge you to coach the sprinters for the upcoming Special Olympics #MambaMentality pic.twitter.com/aaL6eiC9Lh
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) August 24, 2017
All four of the athletes and Lamar that were challenged have an affiliation with Nike, so Bryant was obviously very calculated in who he chose.
The shoes are on sale beginning Thursday morning on Mamba Day on the Nike SNKRS+ App and selected retailers worldwide for $150.