Kobe Bryant California Dreamin’ Photo Shoot 

What do you do with a basketball phenom who you believe has the potential to make a massive impact beyond the game into society at large? Peter got to answer that question at Nike with Michael Jordan, but more than a decade later he did it again with adidas and Kobe Bryant. It all began on an LA beach with an 18-year-old phenom and an attempt to redefine the California dream. 

Kobe Bryant_LA_Photoshoot: “18-year old Kobe Bryant during his first adidas photoshoot at Will Rogers State Beach October 15, 1996 cc LA Times / Ken Hively (@thegratefulgoober)”

It was just before the start of Kobe’s rookie year with the Lakers. General Manager Jerry West had acquired Kobe from Charlotte in a trade that would prove to be foundational to Laker championship runs over the next two decades. There were questions about the ability of a kid going from high school to the NBA, but Kobe was talented and driven to not only make it, but to be the best. Adidas had signed Kobe after developing a relationship over his high school years through sponsored teams and summer camps, and Peter was charged with deciding what to do with this young phenom. Naturally, he wanted to introduce him with a poster, something that showcased his ability and personality, and that claimed LA and the California Dream as his own. The solution was to shoot him flying high over an iconic LA beach with the title California Dreamin’ as his introduction to the NBA and the city of Los Angeles. The only problem, his wrist was in a cast from an earlier injury. After some discussion, and assurances from Kobe that he could still perform just fine with his right hand, the shoot went forward. I was there as a videographer to document adidas’ first shoot with the young star they had signed up to lead their push in the basketball category. It was a relatively small crew, with myself, photographer Steve Bonnini, his photo assistant and producer, Peter and his assistant Kathy Lind, along with Jim Gatto, Kobe’s sports promotions guy at adidas. We set up a giant hoop, like 14 feet high, right in the sand oceanside at Roy Rogers State Beach, an iconic location near the now recently burned Pacific Palisades. We wanted Kobe to really fly, so we set up a trampoline in the sand to get him way up off the beach and into the air. Peter had seen Kobe make that move in a few highschool dunk competitions and asked him to take that same pose during these dunks. Being young and energetic, Kobe probably took more than a dozen passes at the dunk, giving us many options to choose from, unlike some more seasoned vets who would give you 2 or 3 attempts and call it good. If you look closely you can see the cast on his left wrist in this photo taken by Ken Hively, a photographer from the LA Times who came out to cover the shoot of the Lakers’ prized new rookie. It even made it into the final proster production. This was the first of many shoots with young Kobe in LA over the years, but remained one of my favorites. We did some fun tv commercial shoots with Kobe, including during 9/11 on an eerily empty Paramount Studios lot, but that is another story. Peter created a lot of amazing work with Kobe, including a great logo and some way ahead of their time shoes designed with the help of some California car designers for the Kobe line. He loved the opportunity to work with Kobe early in his career, and truly believed he would become the star he became, on and off the court, living the California Dream. 

Kobe_Bryant_California_Dreamin_Adidas_Photo_Shoot

Photo by Steve Bonini

Kobe_Bryant_California_Dreamin_Adidas_Photo_Shoot_2

Photo by Steve Bonini

Kobe Bryant California Dreaming Poster

Photo by Steve Bonini

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