All posts tagged: Kobe

Kid Rock invokes Kobe Bryant for response to backlash against conservative Super Bowl halftime show

Kid Rock invokes Kobe Bryant for response to backlash against conservative Super Bowl halftime show

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Kid Rock has addressed outrage over Turning Point USA’s rival Super Bowl halftime show by invoking the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Mentality, sharing a quote about learning to “love the hate.” The controversial country singer and Donald Trump loyalist, 55, was announced as the headliner for the right-wing organization’s All-American Halftime Show, created in protest of the NFL’s selection of Puerto Rican singer and rapper Bad Bunny as its 2026 Super Bowl halftime performer. The alternative halftime show, scheduled to take place the same day — February 8 — has been the subject of much criticism and mockery. Meanwhile, Rock’s 2001 song “Cool, Daddy Cool,” which contains several unsavory lyrics, has resurfaced ahead of his performance. The song, featured in the 2001 children’s film Osmosis Jones, includes the line: “Young ladies, young ladies, I like ‘em underage/ See, some …

20 Years After Kobe Scored 81, Nike Is Bringing Back His Legendary Sneakers

20 Years After Kobe Scored 81, Nike Is Bringing Back His Legendary Sneakers

Published by Jenni Sidey

The thing with sneakers—all sneakers, really, but hoop shoes especially—is that it’s as much about the story as the shoe. A new signature silhouette or limited colorway can hit all the right aesthetic notes, but if the player they’re named after never manages to create a signature moment in them, they could easily get lost to the annals of sneaker history. There are a lot of shoes bearing Kobe Bryant’s name and no shortage of great stories attached to them—but few are greater than the one that took place 20 years ago today. For all of Kobe’s legendary feats—the five rings, the MVPs, the 18 All-Star Game appearances—none are quite as singular or indelible as the time he dropped 81 points on the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006. It’s an accomplishment that makes everything surrounding it feel significant, including his sneakers. Bryant had recently signed with Nike after defecting from Adidas and took the court in his first signature model, the Nike Kobe 1. It’s a mid-top heater that became beloved by sneakerheads for …

Here are 24 Kobe Bryant murals in L.A. and 8 in Orange County to visit

Here are 24 Kobe Bryant murals in L.A. and 8 in Orange County to visit

Published by Sam Flores

Artist Jonas Never was downtown Feb. 24, 2020, the day of the memorial celebration for Kobe and Gianna Bryant at Staples Center. He passed by a mural of Kobe that he and fellow artist Droycela painted four years earlier. It looked different than he remembered. “I couldn’t even believe how much writing was on it,” Never told The Times in a recent phone interview. That spot had become a gathering place for mourning fans in the aftermath of the Jan. 26, 2020, helicopter crash that killed Kobe, Gianna and seven others. Many of those fans had written simple messages to the beloved icon — like “RIP Kobe & Gigi,” “We love you,” “Thank you for everything,” and “Mamba out” — all over the mural. “I’ve never really seen that done with a mural before,” Never said. “And it’s sort of unique because that mural wasn’t a memorial mural. It was just a straight Kobe mural because he was still alive” when it was painted. But at some point since then, Never said, “it kind of …