The NBA is without a question, the best-paying sport in the world. The revenue the league generates enables them to compensate their athletes generously, with some even signing multi-year contracts which guarantee them over 200 million within that span of time. Kobe Bryant was among a few of them.
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Given that the time value of money is taken into consideration along with inflation, one wonders whether the players of yesterday would have been remunerated just as well. Players like Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Bryant, and so on and so forth. Basketball players of a certain standing, essentially.
While that is an intriguing question that was raised, it also provides us with yet another prudent question which is does the vast amount of money they receive change them?
Five-time NBA champion, Kobe Bryant who has stockpiled a vast amount of wealth due to his superlative skills in the NBA once provided an appropriate response to the question.
Kobe Bryant answers a highly anticipated question on money.
Kobe Bryant once appeared on the popular show ‘Jimmy Kimmel live’ and was asked what it was like to be a teenager with a lot of money. Bryant provided a short but honest answer, stating-
“It was, it was cool.”
However, ‘Bean’ did contradict himself as footage emerged of the former NBA MVP driving around in a Ferrari as a youngster, following being named one of the highest-paid 22 years old’s in the world. He can be heard saying-
“I always wanted a Ferrari since I was a little kid. And it was kind of an opportunity to kind of splurge.”
The Ferrari in question was an F430, for which he paid a staggering $400,000.
Bryant at Kimmel’s show later on went on to state that he didn’t care about money or the expenditure related to it, as he was too consumed with perfecting his craft and racking up accolades.
Also read: “Fix That Motherf***er!”: When LeBron James Turned to Coach K to Control Kobe Bryant’s ‘Solo Act’
Bryant and his love for the opulent vehicle!
The ‘Black Mamba’ believes that money changed him. Being the global star that he was, it was an interesting perspective on how he managed his finances.
With that being said, Bryant’s love for Ferrari’s unconditional. The Los Angeles Lakers great had two Ferraris as his prized possession before his untimely death. The first is the aforementioned F430.
This was followed by the 458 Italia. Not a bad set of Ferrari’s to have in all fairness. It’s worth noting that being the car aficionado that he was, the Ferraris were just a couple out of his long list of luxurious vehicles at his disposal.
