Tis the season for giving and receiving gifts, and the Bryant Family is coming through in a big way for all of the diehard Kobe fans and sneaker heads out there who are looking to put the finishing touches on their Christmas lists. The gift comes in the form of an update from Vanessa Bryant on the release of a brand new pair of Nike Kobe 6's that are sure to get basketball fans in the Christmas spirit if they weren't already. Even the Grinch himself couldn't spoil this announcement.

 

The new ‘Reverse Grinch' Nike's are a play on the original Christmas Edition Nike Zoom Kobe VI's that Bryant wore during a Christmas Day game versus the Miami Heat way back in 2010, in a showdown of the co-favorites for the NBA Title at the time. The Heat came out on top in that match-up, which was considered a potential NBA Finals preview. The Dallas Mavericks would go on to beat the Lakers and the Heat in the 2011 NBA Playoffs on their way to the franchise's first NBA Title.

Kobe Bryant may have retired seven years ago, and it's been nearly four years since Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and seven others tragically passed away in a helicopter, but it's tributes like this one that will keep Kobe Bryant alive in the hearts and minds of basketball fans for decades to come. We'll always have the highlights of Kobe to turn to, memorializing his biggest games, like his 60-point send-off, his 81-point explosion versus Toronto, his late-game heroics in the 2008 Gold Medal game versus Spain, and any number of his noteworthy postseason games on the way to five NBA titles. But it's Kobe's lifetime partnership with Nike that will allow fans to carry a piece of Kobe with them forever.