When I first saw Kobe wearing these in the ’08-09 Finals, I just knew I had to get my hands on a pair. The only problem is, living in Australia we are generally neglected of all the good shoe releases.

Luckily for me, Footlocker Australia was getting in very limited quantities of this release and sure enough I got my hands on a pair. So, this morning while putting these bad boys on, I realised I hadn’t put them on my blog even though I’ve had them for months and decided to take a quick picture. If you’re a shoe collector, grabbing a pair of these is a must for any collection.. if you can find a pair.

I was after a pair of the Zoom Kobe IV Carpe Diem for a while, but was too slow in finding a set at a decent price.. Well, I found a pair but thought the price was a bit too high so I held off.

Eventually I came across these Nike iD’s which I thought looked pretty good. As I wanted a black based colourway, the colours of these matched those of my favourite team in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, Nike iD isn’t available to Australian’s (why Nike, why?) so getting these was also a bonus. Overall I’m quite happy with how they came out, the photos on the eBay listing didn’t do them justice. I also almost forgot how tight Kobe IV’s are when you first put them on.

Now, if I could only get my hands on a pair of the Zoom Kobe IV’s that he wore in Game 4 and 5 of the NBA Finals I’d be one happy man.

9th August – After posting photos of my iD’s up on the NikeTalk forums, members suggested I swap the laces from the Kobe IV inline colourway to the iD’s. So, I decided to go ahead and do it. Check out the result and let me know what you think..

About a month ago now I started playing competition basketball again on my colleagues team. The only problem was I didn’t have proper shoes to play in.

I decided to jump on a few sneaker websites to see what was out and what the latest trend in. The first shoes that caught my eye were the Nike Kobe Zoom IV →. After searching and searching, I couldn’t really find any local retailers that had them in so I was contemplating getting them from the US. But, God bless my mum – she found a pair for me in Rebel Sport to which she even picked up with a 10% discount, win.

So, how are they? Well, I find them great – not because I’m a Kobe fan or I think they make me play like him. They genuinely are a comfortable shoe to play in, you easily notice the cushioning on your heel. They are quite a firm fit, initially they were rather tight but my foot has adjusted to them now.

The lace design helps keep them tight as well. Another good thing about the shoe is they are light, probably the lightest shoe I have played. A week later, I found the Nike LeBron VI’s → at Footlocker which I also bought. I’ll post my thoughts on them after next weeks game.