DeMar DeRozan shares the story of meeting Kobe Bryant

Most NBA players only get to meet their idols once they set foot in the league. For a select few, though, that opportunity comes even earlier. For Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan, his first Kobe Bryant experience came when he was just 15 years old when he attended the Black Mamba’s basketball camp.

Learning from the best

The year was 2007 and DeRozan, along with a few of the country’s best high school players, was invited to attend Kobe’s Nike camp. That elite group included Golden State Warriors legend Klay Thompson, among others. According to DeRozan, it was the first time ever he came across the Los Angeles Lakers legend, and he was laser-focused on absorbing as much information as possible.

“I think my first time meeting (Kobe) was — I was 15-16 years old at the Kobe Camp,” DeRozan said. “It was the time when everybody had their own little camp. It’s been a picture that has been floating out there when we were at his camp, and I was sitting in the front row. You see Klay sitting in the second row, and we was literally locked in at everything he was saying.”

Kobe speaking at a 2007 Nike camp with Klay Thompson & DeMar DeRozan!

R.I.P Kobe 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/D2t3JwIFUq
— TimeoutSPORTS__ (@TimeoutSPORTS3) August 12, 2020

Started a lifelong relationship

DeRozan said their interactions began with simple basketball instructions. From there, the relationship blossomed into a true friendship and eventually carried over to the Association when DeRozan was selected ninth overall by the Toronto Raptors. Not long after, DeRozan began exclusively using Kobe’s signature sneakers, a tradition he continues to this day.

“From that moment, being at his camp, I didn’t realize he knew who I was,” DeRozan said. “It started with little conversations like ‘Do this, do this,’ next thing you know, it started to slowly turn into a whole different type of relationship that just came from respect to me being an athlete, and really paying attention to everything he said. And by the time I was senior in high school, I’m getting his shoes, personally giving me his shoes.”

A young DeMar DeRozan guards Kobe Bryant during a scrimmage at the Kobe Academy Basketball Camp at Loyola Marymount.

(2008) pic.twitter.com/pRLeiTwECb
— Hoops Nostalgia (@HoopsNostalgia) April 10, 2022