Check out a breakdown of Kobe's third signature sneaker, the Nike Zoom Kobe III:

Profile: Inspired by the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant's nickname.

Upper: Combination of skeletal TPU and textiles creating a lightweight breathable upper panel with excellent stability and support.

Midsole: Revolutionary, lightweight cupsole inspired by mountain bike tires - very strong and durable - cushion foam.

Outsole: Forefoot and heel Zoom Air-sole units for optimal cushioning and responsiveness- Carbon fiber shank for midfoot support.

Now, read what Kobe has to say about the concept of the shoe, it's performance and more:

"The first thing that we do is we start from a solid foundation: performance. I'm always looking to gain an edge when I play.

But the shoe has to be comfortable, first and foremost.

For every shoe that I have that comes out, I'm always looking to lose seconds or cut seconds off of my time when I change directions on the court. And it was no different with this shoe.

I also wanted the shoe to be lighter.

So those are some of the things we had to incorporate in the technology of the shoe: How can we have a shoe be the lightest shoe I've ever played with, cut seconds back from my reaction time and at the same time still be very soft. I wanted the shoes to be like I was playing on pillows. It's tough to accomplish both of those things, but Nike was able to do it.

With this particluar sneaker, the inspiration was the Black Mamba. I wanted a shoe that would fit that description. Something that was sleek, something that was light, something that quick, agile and flexible. That's what I came to the table with. That was the inspiration. Nike took that, baked that and came back with this:

It blew me away right from the top. We want a shoe that's true to form. In other words, I wanted a shoe that was the Black Mamba! And if you look at a lot of the shoes that are out on the market, a lot of them start looking the same.

Or a sneaker here or there might have some of the same charactaristics that another sneaker had the year before. Things start blending together and I don't like that. Things start looking too much the same. I wanted a sneaker that speaks to who I am and what inspires me and it's not taking bits and pieces from anywhere else.

My favorite part is the agility of the shoe. I went to Nike and basically said I want a shoe that plays very light to the floor and has a very quick response time. But at the same time I want the shoe to be extremely comfortable and feel like I'm running on pillows. Now, to accomplish both at the same time, to me seemed far-fetched...damn near impossible, but I just threw it out there anyway and they were able to come back and actually have the shoe perform that well in the way I kind of hoped for.

To me, that's the most amazing thing. It's mind-boggling to me that they were able to do that in the shoe."

Buy this shoe on KB24.com beginning on February 8th!

Kobe text transcribed from a Nike HOOPSTALK Interview here.

Talk about the shoe and the Genius campaign in the KB24.com forums.