Right now is a pretty good time to be a Los Angeles sports fan. The Los Angeles Lakers have LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing at a very high level, even though James is about to turn 39, and they could have a shot at winning the NBA championship.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have been perennial World Series contenders for the last several years, just landed arguably the biggest star in all of sports, phenom Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani, who has been among Major League Baseball’s best pitchers and hitters over the last few years, has been compared to Babe Ruth. He will give the Dodgers a monstrous offensive lineup right away.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Dodgers had wanted Ohtani for years, and in 2017, Lakers legend Kobe Bryant recorded a short recruiting clip as a favor to the Dodgers. The Dodgers played that clip recently while meeting with Ohtani, and the Japan native lit up.
Via ESPN:
“For six years, the video remained a secret, squirreled away for the next time. In 2017, during their failed courtship of Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers held onto the minute-or-so-long clip as part of their closing pitch, one they never got to give. Two weeks ago, the next time arrived, and the Dodgers weren’t leaving anything to chance.
“This time was different. Every team has a DH. And the Dodgers offered so much more, from the 10 division titles in 11 seasons, to the farm system that churned out major leaguers on the regular, to the robust analytical group that dispenses wisdom to players. Plus, of course, the video — which, in the grand scheme, wasn’t a whole lot, taking up a fraction of the three hours Ohtani spent with the team’s upper management at Dodger Stadium on Dec. 1. But in that sliver of time, on the screen for Ohtani was a figure long associated with Los Angeles sports excellence making the case for him to sign with the Dodgers.
“Kobe Bryant.
“Back in 2017, Bryant had filmed the clip as a favor to the team. Now, more than three years after his death in a helicopter crash, Bryant’s reputation as the ultimate competitor spans all sports, and his message to Ohtani registered the same posthumously in 2023 as it would have then: There’s no better place in the world to win than Los Angeles, and there’s no better team in baseball to win with than the Dodgers.
“‘That was one of the highlights of the whole meeting,’ Ohtani told ESPN through his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. ‘I was really surprised to see it. It was a strong and touching message.’
“When Bryant said Ohtani’s name, it took him aback. They never met, but Ohtani marveled at Bryant’s commitment, to his craft, to his sport, to his team. Mizuhara, who is as much adviser to Ohtani as the conduit for his words, grew up in Los Angeles and understood what it meant for Bryant to vouch for the Dodgers. A minute of his time, of the presence he still casts, felt like a wonderful eternity.”
Bryant, who tragically died in 2020 in a helicopter crash, continues to not only inspire countless people, but apparently, he is continuing to influence L.A. sports teams in a positive way.
