Kobe Bryant played his entire 20-year career in Los Angeles, so it was unsurprising that he'd guest in some television shows. One of his first was on the NBC teen sitcom, "Hang Time." The show's theme centered on hoops, so it was perfect for the LA Lakers great.
In 1996, when Kobe was just a rookie, he appeared on an episode of "Hang Time" opposite actor Anthony Anderson. Bryant had yet to become a superstar at that time and was still finding his way at the pro level. According to the famed actor, who played the role of Ted Brodis on the show, getting the soon-to-be Lakers icon to guest on the show was contingent on his mother's approval.
Anthony was on the same set as Kobe
Anderson, who would go on to star in popular movies such as "Hustle and Flow" and "Barbershop," relayed that as they were filming on set, he overheard the producers talking about how great it would be to have someone like Kobe appear on the show.
"I was like, 'Alright, well, you know what? Kobe just happens to be on the back lot right now with Derek Fisher.' I believe they were doing something on it was either 'The Wayans Brothers Show' or LL Cool J's show, I couldn't remember which one, but we were all filming on the same lot, and I knew they were there. And they were like, 'Really?' I was like, 'Yeah, give me a few minutes,'" Anderson said on "Byron Scott's Fast Break."
The Hollywood actor confidently walked up to Kobe, who was with point guard Derek Fisher then, as the two young NBA players were chatting and getting some shots up.
"I went back, introduced myself to him—or Derek introduced us—and I was like, 'Hey man,' but they recognized me, or Kobe recognized me from the show because a lot of athletes would watch the show, I guess, to ridicule us playing basketball and all that, but then we would always have them on the show as well," Anderson continued.
As Anthony talked to Bean and told him about the producers' idea to have him on the show, Kobe became receptive and went with Anderson to talk to the producers themselves.
"So we all walked up to the production office. I introduced him to our producers, and they asked him, they were like, 'Well, what do we have to do to get you on the show?" And I'll never forget this—he just said, Call my mama.' And the next week, we had him on the show," Anderson shared.
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Anthony wore Kobe's signed shoes
After Kobe's appearance on the show, Anthony mustered some confidence to ask for the hoopster's sneakers. To his surprise, the one-time MVP was more than happy to hand them over to the Hollywood actor. The next day, Anderson's colleagues were stunned when they saw the latter wearing the shoes with Kobe's signature.
"He gave them to me, signed them, and I came to work the next day wearing them, playing basketball. And everybody on the set like, 'Yo, are you out of your mind? Are you crazy?' I was like, 'But these the same shoes that Kobe wear, man. I want to play.' They said, 'But you're going to mess up the signature!'" Anderson recalled.
Anthony never wore those shoes again, and they currently have a special place in his office. After his career concluded, Kobe eventually got into Hollywood and even won an Oscar in 2018 for "Best Animated Short Film" for his work on "Dear Basketball."
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