“My Frosted Flakes came out to $80 and I said ‘h*ll no’!”: When Kobe Bryant was livid at the cost of cereal during his Lakers rookie season

Kobe Bryant reminisced over his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers and hilariously complained about the price of Frosted Flakes. 

Kobe Bryant spent 20 incredibly successful season with the Los Angeles Lakers and so it’s easy to forget about the time that he was merely a rookie in the league and not an individual in the uppermost echelon of NBA legends. Back in 1996, Bryant was just a high school kid acquired by the Lakers at the behest of Jerry West. 

Coming into the league, Bryant didn’t know what to expect in terms of the level of play given his experiences only being at the HS level. Frequently contacting Kevin Garnett who also made the jump from high school to the NBA a year prior was his way of figuring out how he should approach the game upon getting drafted.

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However, getting drafted into the league doesn’t just mean that you start to play a higher level of basketball. The entirety of your lifestyle changes, everything from the paycheck you receive to the places you start to frequent. 

Kobe Bryant learned this in his rookie season when staying at a hotel during training camp with his Lakers teammates. 

Kobe Bryant on a training camp he had in his rookie season. 

Kobe Bryant reminisced about his time as a rookie in the NBA during an interview with ESPN amidst his 17th season in the league. He would go on to narrate a story about the time he had his first training camp in Hawaii and an unsettling realization he came across about Frosted Flakes.

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“I just think about how different I was back then. There are so many specific days that I can remember like they happened yesterday.” 

“When I was a rookie in my first training camp in Hawaii, I ordered a bowl of cereal from room service. They were Frosted Flakes with a little thing of milk that came out to $80! In 1996! I said ‘h*ll no’ and told them to take it back. I got dressed and walked down to the corner store and bought a jug of milk and a box of Frosted Flakes for $10.” 

Resorts harboring athletes of the NBA’s caliber know that overpricing their food wouldn’t mean much as their guests earn in the millions. However, for a 17-year-old fresh out of Lower Merion High School, paying anything more than $10 for breakfast is undoubtedly ludicrous.