“My imagination and my foundation started from Kobe,” DeMar DeRozan says. The Sacramento Kings star was a high schooler when he saw the beginnings of his bond with the Lakers’ icon. Of what would go on to be a mentee role DeRozan would forever cherish, and a shoe line he’d be known to represent, the start was seemingly over the top for the youngster in him.

Back in 2006, DeRozan was a rising star at Compton High School. During his freshman year, he averaged 26.1 points and 8.4 rebounds, which changed to 22.6 points and 8.4 rebounds in his sophomore year. He was ranked the third-best high school player by Rivals.com and was also the top college recruit in the nation for the class of 2008. Just as he ascended in high school, DeRozan recalls, Kobe Bryant gifted him a pair of Kobe 1s that were newly released. 

That would be the first of many Nike Kobe shoes DeRozan would proudly go on to adorn. “Then I just started rocking them from there,” he recalls on the latest episode of the Club 520 podcast. He also reveals he was the first one to wear Nike ID Kobe shoes in every colorway. It got to a point where “all through high school, I had so many Kobes after every game I was throwing in the crowd,” said DeRozan.

But that is not to forget Kobe shoes were an important part of the 6x All-Star’s gameplay. Through college and through the NBA, he wore a different version of Kobe shoes almost every game. In 2022, the small forward made history, surpassing 20,000 career points. While doing so, he had the Nike Kobe 10 Elite “Rose Gold” colorway shoes on him. 

The same year, he signed a 4-year contract extension with Nike to remain the featured face of the Kobe sneaker line. Earlier in 2017, the brand also launched Kobe A.D. ‘DeRozan PE’, inspired by the Kings’ star’s earliest memory of Kobe, as a 7-year-old himself. “For me personally, he meant everything to me basketball-wise… someone that taught me a big part of the game and motivated me to have the mentality that I have today,” DeRozan had said following the contract.

All of this, and DeRozan one day, ditched the Kobes for a competitor’s brand. Yes, that did draw a reaction from the Lakers’ icon. 

DeMar DeRozan was mocked by Kobe Bryant

DeRozan had religiously worn the Kobe shoes throughout his career. It can be said they were the driving force for him that helped him deliver such strong performances. However, things took a turn one time.

Vince Carter, one of DeRozan’s teammates on the Toronto Raptors, had asked him if he wanted to go on the court against Bryant, wearing his shoes. DeRozan, thinking, “He’s [Kobe] the type like, ‘You got my shoes on, I’m about to kill you with my sh** on,'” took a decision that he would later regret.

He chose to play against Kobe Bryant wearing Jordans, but Bryant, upon seeing what Derozan was wearing, said, “The F— you got on your feet?” (as per podcast P). Bryant went on to destroy the Raptors that day, and from then on, Derozan never wore any shoes other than the Kobe.

“Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.”