Jalen Brunson’s sneakers sparked a comeback in Game 1.
The New York Knicks point guard, 29, ditched his pale green Nike Kobe 3 midway through Wednesday’s NBA Finals 2026 opener against the San Antonio Spurs and replaced it with a purple Nike Kobe 6.
The results spoke for themselves. Brunson scored just 11 points in the first half, but after being replaced he scored 19 points (including 13 in the final eight minutes) and finished with a game-high 30 points in New York’s 105-95 victory.
“I hope Branson never wears the Kobe 3 again. Kobe 6 for the rest of the series,” one fan wrote to X.
Others echoed this sentiment on Instagram, with comments like “He knows where the 6s are” and “Kobe 6s gets the job done again” flooding the sneaker account.
As Knicks superfan Spike Lee once proclaimed in his iconic late-’80s Nike ad with Michael Jordan, “It has to be shoes,” and after Wednesday night, Branson fans seem to wholeheartedly agree.
The Knicks guard did not explain his mid-game substitution, but he has worn Nike Kobe since high school and reportedly even turned down his own signature contract with Nike to continue playing on Bryant’s line.
That dedication dates back to Christmas Day 2014, when Bryant handed a Kobe 9 to teenage Brunson at a Lakers-Bulls game in Chicago. Brunson wore the kicks at his next high school game, breaking the team’s color rule in the process, and hasn’t looked back since.
Since then, Nike has made Branson the face of the Kobe Protro series, collaborating with him on exclusive colorways such as the sold-out Kobe 6 “Statue of Liberty,” which retailed for $200 but is now available on the resale market for more than double that.
With New York in the finals for the first time since 1999 and Game 2 starting tonight in San Antonio, the only question is which race Kobe Brunson will compete in next.
Smart money is on the 6s.
