Kobe Bryant (foreground, left) appeared on the cover of the premier issue of ESPN The Magazine (March 23, 1998). His cover co-stars included (l-r) Alex Rodriguez, Kordell Stewart and Eric Lindros.
Kobe Bryant will attempt to pass Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list tonight when his Los Angeles Lakers visit the defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs (9:30 ET, ESPN). Bryant needs 31 points to pass Jordan, whose 32,292 points rank behind only Karl Malone (36,928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387).
Since entering the NBA in 1996, Bryant – aka “The Black Mamba” – has appeared on numerous ESPN platforms in a variety of ways. Front Row revisits some of those moments in the photo gallery above.
Laurel Daggett and Ana Livia Coelho contributed to this post.
Bryant has appeared in three “This Is SportsCenter” spots, including two from 1996 featuring current ESPN NFL analyst Keyshawn Johnson and SportsCenter anchors Karl Ravech, Kenny Mayne and Stuart Scott.
Last winter, Bryant and former President Bill Clinton (left) were panelists for ESPN Town Hall: Kids and Sports.
At the 2009 ESPYS, singer Stevie Wonder presented Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers the Best Team Award.
In 2000, Bryant co-starred with Stuart Scott and former SportsCenter anchor Rich Eisen (holding cup) in a “This Is SportsCenter” commercial. Here’s a photo from the shoot – see the commercial on the next page.
This spot was shot in ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. headquarters and featured a “Jordanesque” theme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGkYT4mwtdg&feature=youtu.be