“There’s Only One Keyshawn”: 17-Year-Old Kobe Bryant Taught The NFL Legend How To Have Quicker Signatures During His Adidas Stint

NFL Legend Keyshawn Johnson played 10 years in the league before hanging up his cleats for good. Even in his 10-year career, Keyshawn was touted as one of the best to ever play the game of football. But during his rookie year, he had an interaction with a young Kobe Bryant that ended up changing one thing about him for the rest of his life.

Keyshawn Johnson recently made an appearance on the All The Smoke podcast with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes. Jackson asked about Johnson’s experience with Adidas back when he entered the league with his own signature shoe.

Keyshawn went on to narrate a story that had a 17-year-old Kobe Bryant who was drafted right out of high school. Johnson mentioned traveling to Portland, Oregon for an Adidas promotion with Bryant back in 96. As the two reached their destination, there was a stack of pictures and other memorabilia for the two to sign. The two sat down to imprint their signatures on the stack of pictures and other items and before you know it, Bryant was already done with his pile.

The young Los Angeles Lakers guard looked over at the NFL prodigy and saw him still working on his signatures. And that is when Bryant offered Keyshawn a piece of advice that still lives with him to this day.

“So I’m writing Keyshawn Johnson #3. So, that’s all day, right? He said to me, ‘There’s only one Keyshawn just like there’s only one Kobe.’ He goes, Kobe #8. That’s how I changed my signature to just Keyshawn because of that moment.”

 

Kobe Bryant had a certain and effective way of doing things and it was not limited to just the basketball court. Even off the court, Bryant conducted his life and everyday chores in a particular manner.

And as it turns out, one of those peculiar habits of The Black Mamba ended up rubbing off on the NFL legend. Bryant’s approach to most of the things in his life was quite meticulous and yet effective in terms of time consumed.

Once during his early playing days, Kobe even spotted his fake signature and went on to sign one with a reporter while on camera. Even the reporter was a bit taken aback by Bryant’s minimal effort while signing his autograph.

A few seconds was all it took for Kobe to imprint his signature and differentiate between the fake that the reporter held in front of him.

Kobe Bryant’s short-lived stint with Adidas

Coming into the league, Kobe Bryant was one of the biggest names coming straight out of high school. The 17-year-old also had signed a signature shoe deal with Adidas back in 1996. Signing a young Bryant did wonders for the brand as they were linked to one of the top superstars in the NBA.

However, Kobe’s relationship with Adidas was short-lived. Bryant only spent six years with the brand before paying $8 million from his own pocket to terminate his contract due to indifferences in the shoe’s design. Bryant was a sneaker free agent in 2002 and by the same time next year, The Black Mamba had signed with Nike which led to the world getting a series of Bryant’s signature shoes for the next two decades.

Looking back at the whole ordeal, Adidas must’ve kicked themselves for losing Bryant.