Names & Faces: Kobe To Wear Shoe Designed By Chicago Student

In Chicago, Roman Modrowski reported Lakers G Kobe Bryant during Saturday night's game against the Bulls in Chicago will wear a Chicago-style version of his Nike Zoom Kobe IV shoe, designed by a Chicago Public School student through a Nike contest. The winner of the sneaker-design contest, which is part of Nike's "After-School All-Stars" program that serves kids throughout the county, will be announced Friday (SUNTIMES.com, 3/17).

LEADING LADY: ESPN the Magazine Editor-in-Chief Gary Belsky said of putting WNBA Sparks F Candace Parker on the cover of the March 23 issue, "She is a major breakthrough star and it's clear that some of the major marketers in the country think that too." Belsky: "It's rare that an athlete gets that kind of attention from companies such as McDonald's, Gatorade and adidas. Especially when the athlete is in a sport that is somewhat challenged in the ratings area" (WNBA.com, 3/12).

EYE SOAR: Heat G Dwyane Wade yesterday discussed the use of his “Band-Wades,” and said due to being hit under the eye during a game last month, “I had to wear band-aids, so why not make it be stylish and I enjoyed it. … I had fun with it while it lasted and it just sucked that it got taken away.” The NBA has since banned players wearing personalized bandages, and Wade said, “I actually thought they were going to take it away earlier than they did” (“PTI,” ESPN, 3/17).

TEEN SENSATION: In St. Petersburg, Rodney Page writes 17-year-old Japanese golfer Ryo Ishikawa is "Japan's Tiger Woods." There are 57 credentialed media from Japan that will cover Ishikawa at this week's PGA Tour Transitions Championship, his second Tour event. Japan journalist Keigo Amemiya said Ishikawa is "not as popular" as Mariners RF Ichiro Suzuki, "but he's pretty close." Ishikawa has sponsorship deals with Panasonic and Yonex, which "outfits him from head to toe" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 3/18).