On his legacy:
Complex: What will be Kobe Bryant’s pop-culture legacy?
Kobe Bryant: We live in a different era. When Michael came up, he was the first one to really pioneer the concept of royalties and shoes and so forth—and for me and the newer generation, we tend to look more towards longevity: owning it yourself, really building the business yourself.
On his image:
Complex: Do you have any regrets when you think about how your image was cultivated early on, as compared to today, when there’s a more mature Kobe?
Kobe Bryant: I wouldn’t have been as naïve. I would’ve paid more attention to what was going on. I never read the press, never watched TV. The only thing that mattered to me was playing the game, and I was kind of oblivious to everything else that was going on outside of that.
Complex: Does reading the press matter now?
Kobe Bryant: Well, it does from the standpoint of making sure that your image is what you are, you know what I mean? Because that’s something that I take stock in and that I care about. So from the standpoint of making sure you have a team around you that supports you, making sure that if somebody doesn’t like you they don’t like you, and not what they say you are. That’s something that I’ve had to adjust to.

On new Nike sneakers:
Complex: I like that they’re low-top, from an aesthetic point of view and a trend perspective. This is a meaningful off-court shoe as well.
Kobe Bryant: I’ve been wearing high-tops for so long, it felt like the movement of my ankle was restricted, like I couldn’t even cut as well or as sharply as I’d like to. And I like soccer—I love the sport, just from growing up in Italy—so I was watching it on TV one day and just looking at the way they move and how they cut. They put twice as much torque on their ankles as we do, but they were playing in shoes that were lower cut than this. So my mind got to thinking, You know what, maybe it’s time to do that in basketball. And they were able to come up with a shoe that fit that description perfectly.