Lakers Video: Kobe Bryant Trolls Jalen Rose In Hilarious ESPN Commercial

Daniel Starkand
2 Min Read

Los Angeles Lakers Lakers legend Kobe Bryant has begun his life after basketball, as he officially retired after the 2015-16 season, going out in style as he scored 60 points in his last career game.

Bryant has said that his new passion is storytelling, as he has been working on a documentary series with ESPN that he calls “Canvas.”

He also has time to do some commercials, as his newest commercial for ESPN debuted Monday morning, and it features him teasing ESPN basketball analyst Jalen Rose, who played for the Toronto Raptors when Bryant scored 81 points against them, via Arash Markazi of ESPN:

Bryant’s 81-point performance against the Raptors came on Jan. 23, 2006 when the Lakers were able to erase a 20-point deficit mainly due to Bryant being able to do whatever he wanted offensively with Rose guarding him.

In the commercial, Rose sees Bryant in a restaurant, and Kobe orders a vodka martini and asks for 81 olives when staring Rose down. Rose stares back at him, not looking too happy before Bryant laughs and says he’s just joking.

Rose has been bitter when jokes about Bryant’s 81-point game have been brought up in the past, but it appears he is finally ready to joke about it when he made this commercial that is set to air for the first time Tuesday night on ESPN.

Daniel Starkand is a graduate from Chapman University with a degree in journalism and broadcast journalism. He grew up in Burbank, Calif. and played baseball at Burbank High and his first two years at Chapman. Along with serving as the managing editor for LakersNation.com, Daniel also serves as a senior writer, editor and social media manager for DodgerBlue.com Contact: daniel@mediumlargela.com