The Caitlin Clark Nike Kobe Protro PE Tier Rankings

20 years from now, when Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese enter the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame together with Los Angeles Sparks teammate Cameron Brink after they shocked the world by joining forces and forming the WNBA’s version of the Miami Heatles (they were called the Sparkles), one of the many retrospectives that AI bloggers people will be writing about Clark’s amazing career is her sneaker journey. After debuting the Nike Caitlin 1 in 2026, it would go on to become one of the most memorable and best-selling signature shoe lines of all-time. But prior to the Caitlin 1’s launch, there’s the interesting prologue where she wore player exclusive Nike Kobe Protros. Between Clark and future mayor of New York Jalen Brunson, their Kobe Protros would go on to become highly sought after by fans and collectors alike, getting numerous reissues in the 20 years since they first dropped.

Now, are we getting ahead of ourselves? Absolutely, but there’s nothing wrong with a little wishcasting, especially if it breaks the minds of every side of the mentally exhausting Clark-Reese rivalry that just won’t die even after both sides have generally stopped giving it oxygen for a few years now. Where it doesn’t feel like internet hot air is the excitement that surrounds every Kobe Protro Caitlin Clark PE drop. From social media metrics to instant sellouts, the energy is still going strong, which bodes well for the eventual release of the Caitlin 1 on October 1st.

Now that Clark has announced that she has worn her last Kobe Protro PE and begun rocking her signature sneaker, let’s go back and scientifically analyze PEs with this proprietary thing we call “vibes” and tier rank her Kobe Protros.

D-Tier

Entries: Nike Kobe 6 Protro 2024 WNBA All-Star Game PE, Nike Kobe 5 2025 WNBA All-Star Game PE, Nike Kobe 6 Alternate Chaos PE

It’s less of a critique of the sneakers and more a matter of bad timing because Caitlin was not able to showcase her talents in the sneakers. She didn’t shoot well in the 2024 All-Star Game and injuries kept her off the 2025 edition, and the only recorded instance of her wearing an alternate version of the Kobe 6 Chaos was when she was celebrating her 24th birthday with the team.

C-Tier

Entries: Nike Kobe 5 Protro Iowa to Indiana PE, Nike Kobe 5 Team USA PE

What relegates these two player exclusives to the C-Tier is their lack of exclusivity to Caitlin. Both colorways could easily be PEs for other players, especially the Team USA Kobe 5 that has been worn by plenty of Nike Basketball athletes on both the women’s and men’s squads. The Iowa to Indiana theme is a nice bit of storytelling and the gold swoosh is a winner no matter where it goes, but as easily as Cailtin can claim these, it would not have been shocking to see Anthony Davis rock these when he was on the Lakers.

B-Tier

Entries: Nike Kobe 6 Protro Light Armory Blue PE, Nike Kobe 5 Protro Parent Trap PE, Nike Kobe 5 Protro Scrabble PE, Nike Kobe 5 Midwest Lakes PE

Now we’re entering the zone where Clark’s PEs show off a little bit of her personality. The Kobe 6 in Light Armory Blue was one of the biggest releases of 2025 and because of their neutral look that fits in with most kits, they became the most worn sneaker in the NBA during the 2025-26 season.

Filling out the rest of the tier are a trio of sneakers that give us an insight into Clark’s personality, like her favorite movie growing up (Kobe 5 The Parent Trap), a classic game that probably caused more than a few fun arguments between family members (Kobe 5 Scrabble), and a childhood memories of growing up in Iowa (Kobe 5 Midwest Lakers). With all of the attention that was going to be placed on her once the Caitlin 1 was revealed, it made sense that The Parent Trap and Scrabble pairs were not official collabs but rather subtle homages. There would be too much attention paid to those licenses and not on Caitlin herself.

A-Tier

Entries: Nike Kobe 5 Protro Indiana Fever PE, Nike Kobe 5 Protro Rookie of the Year PE, Nike Kobe 6 Protro Parent Trap PE, Nike Kobe 5 Protro Sonic The Hedgehog PE

No shocker here as two of the top-selling and most-hyped Kobe Protro drops of 2025 were connected to Clark. Unlike the Iowa to Indiana PE that still had plenty of Lakers vibes, the Indiana Fever pair was made specifically for Clark’s team with the deep blue upper and gradient outlined swoosh and heel clip in bright crimson red and yellow. The same goes for her Rookie of the Year pair that features plenty of metallic hits and a chrome heel that represents the hardware Clark picked up for being the league’s best first-year player in 2024.

When Clark debuted a Sonic The Hedgehog-inspired Kobe 5 earlier this season, that unlocked a number of questions in the minds of every gamer who also happened to be a sneakerhead and fan of Clark’s work: how deep does her Sonic fandom go? Is she more of a fan of the surprisingly competent film franchise? What’s her hot take on the best Sonic video game? Did she watch the dozens of animated series growing up where Sonic was sometimes voiced by Jaleel White (aka Steve Urkel)? What’s her opinion on Big The Cat, a big cat who loves to go fishing? Is it time to end this bit?

Unlike the Kobe 5 Parent Trap PE, the Kobe 6 version that Clark wore first caused a minor stir on the socials as fans (and the Sole Retriever group chat) tried to piece together what the inspiration was for the mismatched sneakers, especially after Clark promised a pair to whoever could guess it first. Unfortunately for your boys, we did not receive a pair of the PEs, but congrats whoever reached out to Clark first.

S-Tier

Entries: Nike Kobe 6 Protro Lime Green PE, Nike Kobe 6 Protro Bella PE, Nike Kobe 6 Protro Cookie Monster PE, Nike Kobe 6 Protro Eras Tour PE

Despite not having a personal connection to the sneaker unlike the other PEs that have populated the upper echelon of Clark’s Kobe collection, the Lime Green Kobe 6 is quite simply a damn good Kobe 6 colorway no matter who wears them. From the light green to dark obsidian blue gradient upper that sounds like a disaster on upper but looks amazing in execution to the contrasting gold swoosh and bright green heel and tooling, it’s a shame we may never see this get a retail release now that all eyes are on the Caitlin 1.

The S-Tier features the most personal of Clark’s PEs and the great job that Nike did in bringing them to life in the Kobe 6. The Bella Kobe 6 is based on Clark’s childhood golden retriever and includes personal touches like a picture of the beloved pet on the insole and a color scheme that would make any dog parent nod in approval. Cookie Monster needs no introduction because we all know who he am, and we can count Clark as one of his biggest fans thanks to another Kobe 6 inspired by the iconic Sesame Street character. A bit of a shame that fuzzy laces didn’t make it on the court, but that’s probably more a functional choice than a stylistic one.

And if Caitlin says she saved her best PE for last before debuting her signature shoe, who are we to judge, especially since the Swifties are watching? Taylor Swift had a storied connection to Kobe Bryant, from declaring himself to be a fan of her work ethic to surprising her with a banner at Crypto Arena Staples Center for selling out the most shows in the venue’s history. To encapsulate that and Caitlin’s fandom onto a Kobe sneaker probably means a little bit more to Clark than your ordinary sneaker tribute. The Eras Tour Kobe 6 PE will likely never get a retail release right now, but if in a few years Taylor and Caitlin feel like breaking some Nike sales records, they could make it happen.

So how did Caitlin do on a blind ranking of her own sneaker? We got close to some of her picks and some were way off, which is how it should be.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. After recently getting into Formula 1, he now has hot takes about who the greatest driver of all time is. Email: juan@soleretriever.com