No Kobe, no problem.

With the Black Mamba absent for the majority of the season, Bryant’s on-court footwear presence came from an unlikely source, Phoenix Suns guard/forward P.J. Tucker. Sure, Nick Young debuted the Nike Kobe 9 Elite on a special night in Miami, but it was P.J. Tucker who maintained the Kicks On Court wow factor regarding Kobe’s latest signature series throughout the entire year.

“P.J. made an easy transition to Kobes this year simply because Kobe didn’t play, and he wears the same size as Kobe,” says Jay Gaspar, the Phoenix Suns Equipment Manager. “Nike loves the exposure, so they hooked P.J. up with a ton of the latest and greatest Kobes that were initially made for Bryant.”

Tucker debuted a total of seven Nike Kobe player exclusives, including a Phoenix Suns-esque Kobe 9 Elite, throughout the last five months of the season. He even tested the on-court dress code by wearing obvious Los Angeles Laker-colored PEs with the Suns’ orange and purple.

“I think I make my case because I come to the court with a lot of stuff that people haven’t seen, especially this year with the Kobes,” says P.J. Tucker. “I loved wearing  the Kobe 9s – especially the Nike Kobe 9 EMs a lot lately, but the Kobe 9 Elite is probably my favorite basketball shoe ever.”

Not only did Tucker consistently keep the Kobe signature line alive throughout the season, he also brought out jewels from other signatures lines, namely Jordan, Kevin Durant and LeBron James. He also debuted two highly anticipated Foamposites – the “Safari” Foamposite and the “Area 72” Foamposite Pro – and took to the court in one of the most surprising wears of the season in the form of the “Suns” Nike Air Penny IV PE.

“I really like to mix it up,” says Tucker. “I like to wear some of the never-before-seen stuff; I like to debut new shoes before their release dates; I like to bring out some of the older stuff that people haven’t seen in years.”

Suns equipment manager Jay Gaspar explains: [P.J.] told me before the season that he wanted to wear 82 different shoes, and I’ve actually had games where he changed his shoes 3-4 times. He’ll sometimes not like the pair he warms up in, so he’ll switch. Then, after a few missed shots, he’ll switch again. It’s always the shoe’s fault with him. In Phoenix, he has two lockers in the room and honestly has about 50 pairs of shoes in there.

While Tucker didn’t switch his footwear up 82 times this season, he still kept our interest throughout the duration of the season. His passion for sneakers is apparent, and his desire to break out a wide range of sneakers throughout the year undoubtedly helped his case.

“I like Tucker’s Kicks On Court resume just because the sneakers that he brings out are shoes that you might not have seen for five or six years and you know that he’s had them for that long,” says former teammate Kendall Marshall. “For that reason, I might have to give the edge to Tucker, this year, in regards to the Kicks On Court Champion award.”

NIKEiD/PE

Top NIKEiD/PE Wears:
1. Nike Kobe 9 Elite PE (4)
2. Nike Kobe 9 EM PE (3)
3. Nike KD VI iD (2)

P.J. Tucker makes his biggest case for the 2014 Kicks On Court Champion award in this particular category. As a competitor, we’re sure Tucker wasn’t happy that Kobe Bryant missed the majority of the season, but it gave him, along with Nick Young, the chance to debut a number of Kobe 9s – both EM and Elite – considering he wears the same size as the Black Mamba. A total of seven Kobe 9 PEs were brought to the court for the first time by the Phoenix Suns forward, and he also earned NIKEiD points by lacing up two, intriguing colorways of the KD VI.