Investing $500k, James Harden Reminisces Over Kobe Bryant’s Incredible BodyArmor Deal

Prateek Singh | 22/11/2024
Kobe Bryant(L) and James Harden(R)

The late, great Kobe Bryant was one of the first to believe in the future of BodyArmor. When the company started out, Kobe was front and center to put his money into it. During a recent conversation on the Earn Your Leisure podcast, James Harden talked about the impact the Black Mamba made on the industry.

Other than being an investor himself, Kobe asked several other people to invest in the company. Knowing Kobe’s decision was likely not going to be wrong, Harden joined him. The Beard invested $500k in the company and years later reaped the benefits.

He credits the late legend for putting him on. Harden said, “I put like $500k into BodyArmor and got me a good amount of money back.” The NBA veteran said that the idea of putting aside a significant amount of money from the annual earnings only for investments came from Kobe.

He said, “Kobe basically was like, ‘We’re gonna put a stash of like $5 million and then any business opportunities…it might be a little $200k, might be $500k, depending on what investment is, but we’re gonna put a pot together and we’re just gonna invest our money.” This is how he was able to build a brand from the ground up to a multi-billion dollar company.

Two years after the company started Kobe invested $6 million in BodyArmor. This investment gave Kobe 10% of the company. Eight years later, in 2021, Coca-Cola bought the company for $5.6 billion, giving Kobe’s estate a 67-fold return. The $6 million investment turned into $400 million over a span of eight years.

Kobe was a seasoned businessman known for his incredible investments, having teamed up with Jeff Stibel. The Black Mamba was an investor in companies like Dell, Alibaba, and Epic Games (maker of Fortnight). He also founded Granity Studios.

James Harden on carrying Kobe Bryant’s legacy

Kobe has left behind a legacy that will remain unmatched. He has inspired millions of people around the world and a handful of them are world-class athletes like Harden. During a conversation with HypeBeast, the Beard was asked about the idea of carrying Kobe’s BodyArmor legacy forward.

He said, “To carry on the legacy of Kobe is very, very, very difficult because he was just one-of-one. But for me, I think I try to help with the creative process and the branding and to keep it moving forward. We are definitely going to skyrocket so it’s about finding ways to keep things going.”

When asked if a particular Kobe lesson sticks out for him from the world of basketball or beyond, Harden said that he was just starting to form a friendship with the legend. He said that Kobe was just as special off the court as he was on the court.

Post Edited By: Samir Mehdi
James Harden Kobe Bryant

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Prateek Singh

Prateek is a Senior NBA Writer for The SportsRush. He has over 900 published articles under his name. Prateek merged his passion for writing and his love for the sport of basketball to make a career out of it. Other than basketball, he is also an ardent follower of the UFC and soccer. Apart from the world of sports, he has followed hip-hop religiously and often writes about the origins, evolution, and the biggest stars of the music genre.

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