This past Thursday, the Lakers unveiled their permanent tribute to Kobe Bryant with a bronze statue in downtown Los Angeles outside of the Crypto.com arena (we’re still calling it the Staples Center btw, and we don’t care what anyone says). The unveiling date, 2/8/24, represents something important to fans worldwide - it honors both jersey numbers Bryant wore during his NBA career, No. 8 and No. 24, as well as his daughter Gigi Bryant, who wore No. 2.

Kobe has had an impact on everyone who has ever touched a basketball, but he’s also one of the rare sports figures that had as big an impact on everything outside the sport - from music, to fashion, to startup culture and beyond - cementing his legacy in both pop-culture, business, and basketball all in one. Kobe’s memorabilia has always been some of the most popular assets on Rally, and that impact outside of just sports is without question one of the reasons.

With that in mind, we take a look back this week at 4 of the most impactful Kobe moments of the past 3 decades… but not the ones from the 20 years as a Laker with a ball in his hand - the ones that made him bigger-than-just-sports, and put him in the First Name Only club.

#4. Viral before Social Media

Kobe found his way into a lot of iconic commercials, but the one that mattered most involved Kobe, a camcorder, and an Aston Martin.

The scene - Kobe puts on a pair of Nike’s new (at the time) Hyperdunks, comes into frame in a warm-up suit, gives a reassuring look to teammate Ronie Turiaf and yells “don’t worry… I GOT THIS.”

Then, out of nowhere, an Aston Martin speeds into frame, and Kobe jumps over it as it flys underneath him. He gives Turiaf a chest bump, then shouts into the camera “THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT. HYPERDUNKS!”

It was 2008. Online video was new. The concept of “viral” marketing as we know it today was in its infancy. But this commercial was in every conversation for weeks and set the standard for every ad agency from that point forward. Low cost, high impact, and it created massive conversation. Was it real? It didn’t matter, because everyone knew Kobe could actually do it whether this shoot was authentic or not. The Hyperdunks became a massive success, and the “Kobe Aston Martin video” became an instant classic.

#3. Prom King & Queen

The year was 1996. Kobe was still a student at Lower Merion high school, but he was headed to the NBA draft and was already a bonafide star. The only thing that could eclipse his fame in Philadelphia was his prom date - Brandy Norwood, the pop princess and star of the hit show “Moesha” who agreed to be his date. "I thought he was cute. I read about him after I met him. And then I saw he was going somewhere in life, and I thought I would love to go to the prom with him” she said. 

When people at school found out Kobe was coming to prom with Brandy, rumors took on a life of their own. This wasn’t the NIL-era social-media-driven high school sports star. It was very rare at the time for anyone to go straight from high-school to the pros, and even more rare for a high school athlete to be on the national stage and supposedly dating a superstar. Rumors swirled that Brandy would sing at the prom, that they were getting married, and all sorts of other high-school drama (except, at an international level). 

They showed up in a white stretch limo, three hours late. Not everyone at Lower Merion was into it, with many saying it was a distraction and pretending they didn’t care… but for anyone who watched Kobe throughout his career, you know that that was only fuel for the future NBA champion. 

#2. Surprise Visit to the Mecca

There was a certain right of passage for every superstar in the NBA in the early 2000s: playing on the outdoor court at Rucker Park on 155th Street in Harlem in the pro-am Entertainer's Basketball Classic, established by the late Greg Marius.

Rucker wasn’t just a park during this era - it was a proving ground. A place where you might see an NBA superstar post up against a local neighborhood hooper who could stack up with a lot of NBA defenders, but had a regular weekday job and a name you never heard of. It was where you got street credibility - something Kobe wasn’t necessarily known for in his early career. 

It was 2002. Kobe was coming off his first 3-peat. He showed up with 1 security guard, no entourage, and took the court in a pair of high-top Air Force 1 sneakers that he borrowed on the spot. He COOKED - dismantling the opposing team every possible way - but only for a very short period. It began to rain and the game was called.

Then he dapped-up and shook hands with basically everyone in the park. He had proven something 3 rings couldn’t - that his game could translate in any arena, anywhere, any time. The next summer, Lebron, Shaq, and a host of others showed up for the same game to prove they were on that same level. 

#1. It’s Lonely at the Top

Documenting an iconic moment is more than just the photo or video we’re left with. Good images create a storyline that one can apply to their own life, even if the moment doesn’t match your exact situation. It’s drama. It’s tension. It’s triumph. It’s defeat. Most images are lucky to capture just one of those. But one image of Kobe captures all of them, and more. 

One of the most searched and reposted images of Kobe Bryant was taken in one of the most unlikely places - the bathroom of the Philadelphia 76ers visiting team locker room, on June 15th of 2001. The scene - a 22 year old Kobe, in a Jeff Hamilton logo-patch leather jacket over his still champagne soaked uniform, in a shower stall cradling the NBA Championship Trophy with a somber expression on his face that seems anything but celebratory. 

It was a moment that everyone added their own context to. Kobe was relentless in his work ethic and in setting and achieving goals. A title meant something, but the hunger for more was something he publicly spoke about often. But this wasn’t necessarily that. Two months earlier, Kobe married his wife Vanessa. His parents didn’t approve of the relationship, and chose not to attend the wedding. It was a falling out that started a year earlier, and was now in full view as Kobe won his second title just a couple short miles from the street he and his family called home. But they weren’t there to see it. 

While the shot would initially be interpreted by the press as a mix of relief, joy, and preparation for the next title, Kobe himself would later tell the LA Times, “That was about my dad.”

There are hundreds more moments that shaped Kobe’s career, both on and off the court, that add to his legendary story. We’ll be documenting them across our social channels in the coming weeks, and a bit more here in our weekly installments of Shiny Thing$.

Until Next Week...