Snoop Dogg once gave Kobe Bryant a customized 64' Chevy Impala as a retirement gift
Kobe Bryant made friends with well-known personalities in his tenure as an active player in the NBA, suiting up for the Los Angeles Lakers. One of them was rapper Snoop Dogg, who wanted to thank the NBA Legend's run in the league and the five championships he helped the Lakers win.
The 2008 NBA MVP spent 20 seasons playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and had his final season in the 2015-16 season.
That year, Bryant averaged 17.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while having arguably the best farewell game by any NBA player scoring 60 points against the Utah Jazz.
Lakers fans all wanted to thank Kobe Bryant for staying with the team and winning them championships, but Snoop Dogg wanted to level up his retirement gift by building him a customized car.
Snoop Dogg, in an interview with HBO's Winning Time Podcast, said:
“What I did was I had built a Laker car, yes. And I built it in his name and I was like, damn, what could I give him as a gift for retirement? Everybody’s gonna give him a basketball or some regular shit, a tie. I’m like, I’m trying to get this…That’s gonna be memorable that when he sees it, he ain’t gonna understand it."
The rapper recalled that he once rode with Kobe Bryant in the passenger seat while showing up all the features of the car he gifted:
“He flies out here, I pick him up, put him in the passenger seat. I got GoPros and shit all in the car. Me and him riding for, from LAX to my spot and people riding the side of us like, ‘Is that Snoop and Kobe?’ And you could just see, he ain’t never been in the low rider cuz he’s sitting up like this. I’m like, ‘You gotta lean back!’
Snoop Dogg felt honored in the presence of Kobe Bryant
As a long-time Laker fan, Snoop Dogg treating Kobe Bryant on his contributions to the organization was indeed special for him.
Looking back as Bryant passed away due to a helicopter crash back in 2020, he sees that time with 'The Black Mamba' as even more special. In the same podcast, he said:
“But I felt honored to be able to have him come see me that day because it was just about me and him just chopping it up after his retirement and me just wanting to tell him how much he meant to me and the family. And then I ended up blessing him with the gift, but he blessed us with a gift. He touched everybody in this muthafucka that day.”
Unbelievable retirement gift from my man Snoop today #KB20 pic.twitter.com/vTATznwnKc