Nov 17, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former Lakers player Kobe Bryant acknowledges the crowd during the second quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Jaylen Brown Credits Kobe Bryant As Motivation For Starting Shoe Brand

Originally posted on Lakers Nation | By Matthew Valento | Last updated Sep 14, 2025 2:50 PM ET

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was an inspiration to many due to his on-court performances, but no one got to see how he was going to succeed off the floor.

As a five-time champion, Bryant was successful throughout his 20-year career and truly poured his heart into basketball. Once he retired, the Black Mamba dabbled in new ventures to fill that void, like short films and publishing bestselling books.

The writing was on the wall, and Bryant showed signs of newfound success in the media. Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown became motivated by the Lakers legend, which prompted him to start his own shoe brand to give athletes better deals and percentages, via Bobby Krivitsky:

In his appearance on V-103 Atlanta, Jaylen Brown said that Kobe wrote an article about wanting to offer athletes better deals with higher percentages. That inspired Brown to launch @741Performance

“A little easter egg in my shoe, the ‘Rover,’ is that the midsole is very similar… pic.twitter.com/glvSpDpjre

— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) September 11, 2025

Props to Brown for embarking on a mission to help athletes secure shoe deals based on their merit, rather than being paid better. His brand is called 741Performance, and he has worn some of those sneakers last season for the Celtics.

Many professional stars opt to sign with the iconic, recognizable brands to put their names on a bigger platform. Obviously, signing with the likes of Nike, Adidas, New Balance or Jordan presumably would be able to sell more shoes than say Brown’s 741Performance.

However, it does not mean that Brown’s mission is not worth mentioning and acknowledging the good faith behind starting his sneaker line. As a relatively new brand, seeing how it goes in the coming years will be interesting, and how many athletes sign with 741 due to his more “athlete-friendly” viewpoint.

Jaylen Brown regrets never meeting Lakers legend Kobe Bryant

Now five years removed from Kobe Bryant’s untimely passing, his legacy continues to live on, like building statues in front of Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers are taking respectable steps in immortalizing a legend by retiring both of his jerseys and even going so far as to build more statues as time passes.

A player of Bryant’s caliber is a rarity and inspired plenty of today’s NBA stars to pick up a basketball. Jaylen Brown fell under that category and is now an NBA Finals MVP through his short nine-year career.

Reflecting on the 20-year veteran’s career, Brown regrets never meeting him as he was a rookie in 2016, the season after Bryant retired.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Lakers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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