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Who leaked Mambacita shoes? Vanessa Bryant blasts over Nike shoe leak, they were 'Not approved to be made'

"This is a pair that probably got stolen."

Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa Bryant designed a special signature shoe in his and their daughter Gianna's honor, which was going to be released by Nike. But Vanessa didn’t re-sign the contract with Nike, so this 'special' Mambacita shoe wasn’t supposed to be released yet but on Thursday, June 3, she posted a picture of the shoes and said "someone already has Gigi’s MAMBACITA shoe in their possession."

"In the second photo, it appears someone already has Gigi’s MAMBACITA shoe in their possession. If someone can share how they have these shoes in their possession, that would be great because my daughters and I don’t have any of Gigi’s MAMBACITA shoes," Vanessa took to Instagram along with a series of pictures. In one picture she shared a long note, while in the other one she shared the picture of the black and white Mambacita shoe. 

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The picture read, "This is a shoe I worked on in honor of my daughter, Gianna. It was going to be called the MAMBACITA shoe as an exclusive black and white colorway on her daddy's shoes. I picked the colors in honor of her uniform, the number 2 she wore just like her uniform, the pattern inside, Kobe and Gigi on the back in gold instead of Kobe's signature, the inside shoe details (butterfly, wings, halo), etc. The MAMBACITA shoes are NOT approved for sale. I wanted it to be sold to honor my daughter with ALL of the proceeds benefitting our @mambamambacitasports foundation but I did not re-sign the Nike contract and decided not to sell these shoes. (The MAMBACITA shoes were not approved to be made in the first place). Nike has NOT sent any of these pairs to me and my girls. I do not know how someone else has their hands on shoes I designed in honor of my daughter, Gigi and we don't. I hope these shoes did not get sold. @nike"

Even though it is not known or proved how did someone get a hold of the shoes, social media started making speculations about it. One person said, "With all due respect, Vanessa has no clue how cut throat the sneaker business is. All sneakers get back-doored before the general release. The resell market is insane." While one said, "She designed a shoe for her daughter and kobe didn’t sign the Nike deal so they shouldn’t be out somehow someone has a pair."

One person tweeted: "Nike has some explaining to do. Who else would have access to the design and the ability to make it??" Another one speculated, "Been in the industry for a while. Shoes that get designed get made in small amounts (maybe 2 pairs) to show what the final product will look like and feel like. This is a pair that probably got stolen."

On January 26, 2020, a helicopter carrying former pro basketball player Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others crashed in Calabasas, California, roughly 30 miles north of Los Angeles, killing everyone on board. Bryant’s death sent shockwaves through the American sporting world. Bryant and his daughter, along with the other passengers, were headed to Gianna’s basketball game at his Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California.