The Kobe 9 Elite has been by far the best looking new basketball sneaker out of the Nike bball camp. The Kobe 9 EM has not quite been blowing me away until now with the recent China edition. This rendition of the Kobe 9 screams detail: From the snake artwork on the tongue in gold to the gold glitter mudguard along the sides and front. The back of the shoe where the Achilles stitches lay in gold, sits black on black artwork within the heel shot. The red midsole flaked with gold speckles really shows how well they played with that color gold on the sneaker. Little hints of bright orange from the flywire to the tongue bring the color scheme together very well. All that red and gold truly capturing a feel of China. By far, this is the best Kobe 9 EM to come out yet.

You can find these on their release date of August 29th at Nike retailers.

Follow Jon Hundreds on Instagram @archwood.