As Kobe Bryant has officially retired from the Los Angeles Lakers, there is a bit of a void regarding the biggest sports star in the city. With the Rams moving back to Los Angeles, running back Todd Gurley could wind up filling that gap.
Gurley, the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year last season, is the focal point of the Rams offense, and many fans will be filling up stadiums to watch him run the ball.
If Gurley has it his way, however, there is one person in particular he hopes becomes a Rams fan, and that is Bryant himself as he revealed in an interview with Melissa Jacobs of Sports Illustrated:
MJ: Last thing. Now that the Rams are in Los Angeles, the franchise is supposed to bring in a new celebrity contingent when you move into your fancy stadium. Pick one celebrity you’d like to see become a Rams fan.
TG: I guess I’d like to see Kobe Bryant get some season tickets. Make sure you tweet that out to him.
Bryant is a well-known fan of the Philadelphia Eagles and has already spoken about his allegiance to his childhood team so Gurley getting him to switch alliances over to the Rams is unlikely. Bryant is well-known for holding grudges and the Rams, while still in St. Louis, defeated Bryant’s Eagles in the 2001 NFC Championship Game so Bryant could still resent them.
The Rams did show Kobe some respect by delaying the announcement of their acquisition of the first overall pick in this year’s draft to not take attention away from Bryant’s final game. If all else fails the Eagles and Rams will square off in 2017 and Bryant will surely be in the building for that if it is in Los Angeles.
