Sports World Horrified by New Sneaker

After Chanel debuted its "Miami Vice" shoe, which came complete with a mini pistol in place of the heel, at this summer's Cruise collection, Miami is starting to gain a reputation for debuting controversial footwear.

While Kobe Bryant is no Karl Lagerfeld, he's following in the Kaiser's footsteps by debuting his new Nike signature sneaker when the Lakers play the Heat at the Triple A December 19. A controversial sneaker? See, we're not sure how to break it to you, but Bryant's latest show is ... oh the horror ... a low-top!
ESPN.com has a 1,500-word piece up about the controversy. Apparently podiatrists are worried that low-tops won't provide the ankle support basketball players need, possibly leading to injury.

For his part, Bryant simply wanted the lightest basketball shoe possible, and Nike decided to go low.

Hopefully this will add the teeniest bit of drama to the Heat vs. Lakers game. There's been something lacking between the two teams since Shaq hightailed it out of town.

-- Kyle Munzenrieder