TAMPA - Shortly after marking a year since the death of basketball great Kobe Bryant -- Nike and his estate have parted ways.

Kobe Bryant's line of Nike sneakers are one of the most sought after shoes of the brand. 

"Growing up, my parents didn't have the money to buy me a pair of $150 sneakers," said Danny Flores. "After I got out of college and got my job, that was the first thing I did."

Now Flores is a self-professed sneaker enthusiast. His personal collection includes shoes from Kobe Bryant's line over the years. 

Each shoe, he says, has its own story. 

"He was wearing the Kobe 8's and he went out and made that fall-away shot that every body remembers," said Flores. 

A pair could easily sell for over $700, says the owner of Soleciety, Tarik Nasser. High demand and low supply is expected now that the deal between Nike and Bryant's estate has expired. 

Only two more shoe releases are planned. 

"The shoes haven't been that accessible to get," adds Nasser. 

He says his current stock of Kobe Bryants are no longer for sale.

It's the end of an era that caught basketball and sneaker fans by surprise.

"This hasn't happened before with anybody," he said. "There's no athlete that has had such an impact and we lost so suddenly and that is in the shoe game as Kobe.

"The way he died was so sudden it had an effect across the board as far as sneakers and apparel." 

While holding on to their collections, they also hold on to the memories. 

"It's a big deal because Kobe is a big deal," said Nasser. "Because of how iconic he was as a person and the impact that he had in the world, not just basketball and sneakers. As a person, he touched a lot of people's lives." 

Before his tragic death there were reports of Bryant planning to launch his own shoe company. 

The idea has fans hopeful that even if the split from Nike is indefinite - there is a possibility of purchasing Bryant's products in the future.