Kobe Bryant Killed in Helicopter Crash

Normally I wouldn't post something like this on my blog, but since Kobe Bryant has his own line of shoes with the sword-in-the-sheath emblem on them, and this blog is about shoes, it is only fitting that I pass the word on what happened to this shoe contributor.  Kobe Bryant has been pronounced dead.  I'm not kidding!  Follow this link for more details.

Even players around the league are paying tribute to them by writing on their game shoes.  In the Spurs-Raptors game today, both teams started off the game by purposely committed a 24-second shot clock violation to pay tribute his #24 that he wore on his jersey during the latter half of his playing days.

Here are some examples of the Kobe Bryant Nike shoes with the sword-in-the-sheath emblem on them, courtesy of NBA TV.