Kobe Bryant appears in a Nike ad before in his final NBA game. Photo / YouTube
Kobe Bryant appears in a Nike ad before in his final NBA game. Photo / YouTube
Nike have released an ad ahead of Kobe Bryant's final game today of his 20-year NBA career that perfectly sums up how rival fans hate him.
Titled the Conductor the ad sees Bryant hit a game-winning shot against the Portland Trail Blazers on the buzzer before a home fan, playedby an actor, shouts out 'Kobe you suck'.
It's not long before the whole crowd it's chanting 'Kobe sucks' and the NBA great takes great pleasure in the hate, something he has coped most of his career.
He then starts conducting a song which begins with a Celtics fan singing the lines 'I've been hating you too long to stop now..."
There are a few cameos with Phil Jackson, who coached Kobe in three titles, plays the piano and sings while Celtics rival Paul Pierce and Rasheed Wallace, who was part of the 2004 Pistons that beat Kobe's Lakers in the finals, also show off their singing voices.
Bryant plays his final game for the Lakers today when they host the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles. Tickets are selling for more than US$800 for the nosebleed sections of the Staples Centre while premium seats are going for upwards of US$7,000.
Meanwhile one fan has created a YouTube video of all the lowlights of the Lakers season, where they have gone 16-65 for the season - titled 'One Shining Moment'.
It illustrates the struggle the Bryant has had to go through in his final season with the Lakers, just the fifth time where he will miss the playoffs in his career. It includes plenty of air balls, poor defence and even an own goal.
