Some sports commercials are memorable. If it was Tom Brady’s ‘The Athlete No One Saw Coming’ that’s been the buzz in recent times, Jalen Rose’s backstory on his legendary ad with the late Kobe Bryant will surely serve as a feel-good moment for his fans and NBA aficionados alike.
Rose revealed that the commercial was somewhat based on a true story. Taking to Twitter, the former player revealed the story behind the 81 Olives commercial with Bryant.
The ad starts with Rose walking into a restaurant with Bryant already sitting inside. After calling him over, the Los Angeles Lakers star orders a martini with 81 olives — paying a fitting tribute to his 81-point demolition against the Toronto Raptors.
As Rose and the steward look incredulously at Bryant, the forward breaks into a smile suggesting he was kidding and just needed two to go with his Martini. Rose had this to say in his video on Twitter:
The BACKSTORY of the 81 Olives commercial with Kobe… pic.twitter.com/Umam0LvkqJ
— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) October 14, 2022
“I think it was date night for him and the wife… I looked down at the table and they had a few martinis. That image always stuck with me.,” he said. “I wanted to do something about 81 martinis. Because to me… they probably had like 4 or 5 glasses… but to me it looked like 10 or 11.”
The creativity served its purpose, and the ad went on to become one of Bryant’s iconic commercials.
Reliving Kobe Bryant’s 81-Point Blitzkrieg Against The Toronto Raptors
On his day, Bryant can be unstoppable, and on that eventful home game against the Toronto Raptors, the Lakers star exploded, shooting from every angle and drilling the ball in. By the end of the play, he has the second-highest score by an NBA player behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points against the New York Knicks.
The Lakers had 122 points and 81 of them were scored by Bryant as they restricted the Raptors to just 104. Bryant collected his points with 28-of-46 shooting, including 7-of-13 from 3-point land, and 18-of-20 from the foul line. It was sheer disbelief, and even the late forward couldn’t believe it. Per an AP report he said:
“It just happened, man. It really hasn’t, like, set in for me. It’s about the ‘W,’ that’s why I turned it on. It turned into something special. “To sit here and say I grasp what happened, that would be lying. Not even in my dreams.”
Adding a little bit of warmth, the 81-point masterclass was also the only game his grandmother had ever seen him play live, and boy, did she choose the perfect one.
