Kobe Bryant made $400,000 out of a company going bankrupt to fund himself during NBA lockout

Kobe Bryant made $400,000 out of a company going bankrupt to fund himself during NBA lockout

Kobe Bryant wasn’t going to let the NBA lockout season ruin his chance at earning money as one comapny’s demise gave him $400,000.

The NBA lockout was a weird time for the league. It lasted 149 days before the players and owners finally reached an agreement. The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement from 2005 had ended and after several discussions, the league wasn’t able to approve a new one.

This meant that the entire NBA was shut down. Teams couldn’t sign, trade, or communicate with their players. Players weren’t allowed to use training facilities, team trainers, or staff as well.

Pay was suspended, and the entire league came to a standstill. Things looked bad for some time, but eventually, the players and owners came to a compromise. They agreed to a 49-51.2% revenue sharing, a flexible salary cap, and a harsher luxury tax.

All sorts of wild things were going down. Players were thinking of playing in other countries, Durant was showing off at Rucker park, and LeBron almost joined an NFL team.

Kobe Bryant found a way to fund himself too.

Also Read: 37 y/o LeBron James uses his $1 million to add workouts for slimmed down physique and core stability ahead of Lakers 2023 campaign

Kobe Bryant made serious money even when he wasn’t playing

Bryant didn’t need the NBA to find a way to make money. The Lakers legend lucked into $400,000 as a company owed him that much money.

Power Balance went bankrupt, and the company still owed the superstar a lot of cash. Kobe’s endorsement deal with Power Balance still had to pay out, and as a result, the lack of salary wasn’t really going to hit him hard.

Bryant wasn’t even an official endorser for Power Balance, but he’s worn their bracelets on the court several times. Kobe’s popularity is a major selling point. He had built up an incredible fanbase, and so by just sporting the company on the court, Bryant was doing enough.

Kobe’s teammate Lamar Odom was also a minority investor in Power Balance. Of course, Kobe didn’t really need the $400,000 to fund himself as he had made over $100 million in his career at that time, but the extra cash definitely didn’t hurt.

Also Read: Shaquille O’Neal got into a heated altercation with a fellow 7-footer during the 2001 NBA Finals

Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers NBA

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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