Kobe Bryant Still Has a Ways to Go to Catch Up to Michael Jordan in One Respect

Retiring NBA superstar Kobe Bryant's huge night on Thursday -- the lifetime Laker scored 60 points in a winning effort against the Utah Jazz -- showed how Bryant has become much more than just any sneaker endorser for Nike (NKE - Get Report) . Since Bryant's first signature sneaker debuted during the 2005-2006 NBA season -- the Nike Zoom Kobe 1 -- Nike has debuted a baker's dozen of best-selling shoes tied to Bryant and attached his name to a host of other products, including backpacks, jackets and t-shirts. In his final game on Thursday, Bryant wore a pair of black low-top sneakers with a gold Nike swoosh symbol and date inscribed on the back. Leveraging Bryant's name into his retirement years is something Nike appears to have in the cards, similar to what it has done successfully with fellow basketball icon Michael Jordan some 13 years after Jordan's final game. ...