"Truly grateful and thankful": Dawn Staley expresses gratitude to wife of late Kobe Bryant on receiving fresh sneakers

South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley shared her gratitude to late NBA legend Kobe Bryant's wife, Vanessa Bryant, on social media. Staley received a pair of custom Kobe sneakers from Bryant's widow in appreciation for the Gamecocks coach's outstanding role in advancing women’s basketball.

The Gamecocks coach showcased the new Nike Kobe 4 Protro CHBL "Lightning" sneakers, designed in yellow and cream colors, on Instagram on Saturday. The shoes are set to launch this summer.

"@vanessabryant I don’t mean to flood your timeline but truly grateful and thankful to receive part of @kobebryant legacy and your vision and love for him elevate that legacy! Don’t ever stop….mamba mentality!" Staley wrote.

Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others in January 2020. Before his death, Bryant planned to launch the "Mamba" shoe brand as a player-owned shoe company. He aimed to control his own likeness and allow other athletes to do the same.

Meanwhile, Staley has a longstanding partnership with Nike, earning her first signature shoe, the Nike Zoom S5, in 1999 as a college player. In 2024, she was one of four coaches selected for Nike's Athlete Think Tank 3.0 initiative.

Dawn Staley calls for more money from ESPN for women's basketball

As South Carolina's Dawn Staley continues to prepare for the next season, the Gamecocks' coach shifted her focus to the future of women’s sports. Staley called on ESPN to invest more finances in the women's college basketball television deal.

“We should get more money from ESPN,” Staley said during her book tour in Colombia on Thursday night. “We’re in a television deal where when we signed the deal three or four years ago, we weren’t where we are today. Let’s go back to the table and let’s talk about where we are today."

"Let’s negotiate in good faith, because where we’ll be five years from now, right, we’ll think about you all coming back to the table today and maybe not hit you so hard in five years. So that’s what I would want. I want ESPN to step up to the plate and give us a little bit more from collegiately to the WNBA."

In January 2024, the NCAA signed an eight-year media rights deal with ESPN, valued at $115 million annually according to The Times. The agreement grants ESPN broadcast rights to 40 college sports championships, including the Division I women’s basketball tournament.