Kobe Bryant shares last thoughts on his last night at Staples Center, Los Angeles.
Superlatives have always followed Kobe Bryant, and continued to do so up to his career-ending game at the Los Angeles Staples Center on April 13, 2016. From his inimitable career records to the unprecedented sales of one-of-a-kind merchandise created for the event, the men and women behind his final game shared details of the day and night that, like the man himself, aren’t likely to be repeated anytime soon.
Cara Vanderhook, senior director of communications and social media for Staples Center, said that people started lining up at midnight before the game to purchase the special merchandise offered at the TEAM LA Store at the arena. The products were created through collaboration between AEG Merchandise, the L.A. Lakers, and Bryant’s company Kobe Inc., along with companies like New Era, adidas, and JH Design Jackets.
The union between all of these companies offered 45 different products, ranging from pins priced at $8.24 (to commemorate Bryant’s number 24 jersey) to a series of eight hats designed by New Era priced at $38,024 each (boasting 3.5 ounces of 18k gold, snakeskin, and purple satin liners).
Vanderhook said that it was difficult to say which product was the most popular since almost everything sold out quickly. However, she said the staggered allotment of products sold online first, then in the TEAM LA Store to ticketholders, then finally to the public at large. The 248 Exclusive Boxed Jersey (selling at $824 retail) sold the fastest, regardless of the outlet.
Vanderhook estimated that 95% of the products for the event were sold out when the totals were counted. The merchandise was “pretty much ransacked,” Vanderhook said, “which is a great thing to have when you’re trying to sell all of that stuff.”
The end of the night saw Bryant’s merchandise sales surpassing Led Zeppelin’s previous record of $1 million in one night, with a healthy $1.2 million in sales in one night going to Staples Center.
When asked if he expected to beat the previous record, President of Staples Center Lee Zeidman said that in his talks with Staples Center Vice President of Merchandise Sean Ryan, $1 million had been talked about as an estimate for the event’s sale. To get past that, according to Zeidman, was phenomenal, drawing people from all over the world to buy products at a game he said was unlike any other he had seen at his arena.
“This was a finale,” Zeidman said. “You knew that he wasn’t coming back, that this was it, and you were seeing greatness for one last time, a legend.”
Vanderhook agreed that a different tone followed Bryant’s last game to the end. The excitement was such that Twitter and the Lakers' official website went down during the game, which to her felt “more celebratory. There was a ‘nothing to lose’ sort of energy, but an excitement in the building that you really only feel in a playoff sort of setting.”
Zeidman attributed much of the success of the event, which drew in over 40,000 people between the L.A. Live restaurants, fan fest event, and the game itself, to good relationships with the Lakers, LAPD, LAFD, and Staples own security service.
“I think collectively we took a look at the entire event and we anticipated everything and anything we thought could potentially become an issue that day,” said Zeidman.
By paying attention to details like having TVs situated for crowds to watch outside the arena to having Staples Center security and LAPD visible, Zeidman said that the comfort and security of the event was his favorite accomplishment of the night.
“I think that we kept not only Staples Center but the entire L.A. Live area a safe and comfortable place for everyone to come down.”
While Vanderhook could not think of any difficulties on her side, Zeidman saw one solitary quirk that can be attributed to the sheer volume of celebration at the end of Bryant’s professional career. Given the tight scheduling of the Los Angeles Kings’ playoff games and more Clippers' games to come, Zeidman said some leftover confetti kept raining down from Bryant’s last game.
“That wasn’t really a problem,” Zeidman said, “but it was the only thing that really struck me as interesting on such a smooth evening for Kobe’s retirement: the fact that there were a tremendous amount of streamers, balloons, and confetti that I think would rival the political conventions coming up this summer.”
Zeidman shared that he got a chance to talk with Bryant the night of his last game, and that the sentiments he was left with assure him that this is far from the end for the star player.
“This is going to be a new beginning for him. The interesting thing is you talk about a guy playing 20 years and retiring, he’s only 37 years old, which is pretty phenomenal. He’s got a long, productive, and hopefully healthy life ahead of him, and Kobe is going to be successful at whatever he chooses to do.”
For himself, Zeidman said it was a privilege to play a part in bringing about the end of this chapter in Bryant’s life.
“It was an honor to be part of his entire career,” Zeidman said, “and an honor to help the Lakers facilitate that evening and to watch a legend go out on his own terms.”
Interviewed for this article: Cara Vanderhook, (213) 742-7273; Lee Zeidman, (213) 742-7255.