On Byron Scott’s Fast Brea, Anthony Anderson recounted when his cast members once scolded him for wearing the 5x champion’s personally signed Adidas sneakers to work. The incident occurred during the filming of the high school basketball-themed NBC show Hang Time.
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Anderson, a co-star on the sitcom, had helped arrange Kobe Bryant’s cameo in a Season 3 episode titled The Hustlers. After recording, he asked the Los Angeles Lakers great for his Adidas shoes as a favor. ‘The Black Mamba’ obliged and gifted a signed pair to the actor.
What happened next caused an uproar. Instead of preserving the signed sneakers, Anderson wore them to the set the following day. This decision struck a nerve with everyone around him.
They began yelling at him, concerned that wearing those shoes might cause the signature to wear off. The intense reaction made Anderson rethink his choice. This eventually became the first and last time he wore that pair of signed sneakers. He humorously recalled,
“This was when he was an Adidas guy. After we finish playing… I asked him if I could have his shoes… He gave them to me. He signed them and I came to work the next day wearing them… And everybody on the set was like, ‘Yo, are you out of your mind?’… ‘You gonna mess up the signature’… That was the first and only time I wore them cause they ridiculed me so much I took the shoes off.”
The reaction was understandable given the emotional and financial value of those sneakers. They are also part of a rare collection from the Lakers star’s six-year partnership with Adidas.
Anderson fortunately understood both aspects of its value over time. He consequently decided to preserve them in his home office. They remain a cherished part of his collection to this day.
Bryant and Anderson’s memorable final meeting
Although they were on a first-name basis, their schedules often kept them from meeting each other. However, their paths crossed one last time during a 2018 Oscar after-party. Bryant, who had just won an Oscar for the short film Dear Basketball, embraced Anderson in a Jay-Z and Beyonce-hosted Black party at the Chateau Marmont.
“The last time we actually saw one another was the night that he won his Oscar. We were all at Jay-Z and Beyonce’s Black party and we sat up there and he embraced me as if we had been friends for twenty-plus years.”
This warm embrace left a lasting impression on Anderson, as it showed the depth of Bryant’s appreciation for their relationship. It also added a layer to the NBA icon’s already impressive persona and character.
