It is always fun when we get celebrity Apple tips, but those usually revolve around Samsung endorsers using an iPhone. Today we received something a little more interesting.
An Apple tipster sent in an image of Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant with his wife Vanessa today on Apple’s Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino, California. The pair met with Jony Ive’s team according to the tipster and the scuttlebutt is that the meeting centered around upcoming products. Apple’s campus is clearly recognizable in the background of the photo and the couple can be seen waiting for food. We can’t verify the topic of conversation with Ive but the picture is embedded with a geotag that confirms the photo was taken with an iPhone on Apple’s campus. Kobe’s watch matches a previous publicly available image you can see in the inset…
Speaking of watches, an immediate connection would be a possible endorsement deal with Apple on either the upcoming iWatch or Apple’s upcoming Healthbook product that Mark Gurman has covered extensively. We expect Apple to announce the Healthbook app at WWDC in June and the iWatch in the latter half of the year. On the topic of health and fitness products, Apple has been rumored to be working on partnering with Nike on future devices. Bryant happens to count Nike as his biggest endorsement deal on his extensive list of partnerships and Apple CEO Tim Cook is a Nike director.
Bryant signed a watch endorsement contract in March 2013 with Swiss watch brand Hublot, part of the LVMH luxury group, which sells watches in the 20-30K range and even has his own Black Mamba special edition model. The length of the contract and the exclusivity terms aren’t immediately available. Apple is somewhat connected to Hublot as an executive from the watchmaker recently accused Apple of attempting to poach employees from the firm. Bryant is also a sponsor for technology company Lenovo, and with Samsung having LeBron James as a close partner, perhaps Apple is looking to get into the athlete spokesperson game.
The Los Angeles Lakers deferred a request for comment to Bryant’s agent. Apple and Bryant’s agent did not respond to requests for comment.
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This is totally about the watch. Celebrity + sports/fitness.
Kobe will go out on stage during WWDC iWatch/Band presentation later this year for sure because,now obvious, iWatch is completely fitness product. I doubt it will have display at all…it will be all fitness tech blank band that depends on iPhone or other iOS devices(healthbook) completely…Dre will be on stage soon to present new products also.
kobe…shouldn’t you practice basketball?
no he should retire! this dude is done and that is coming from some with a complete ATR. he did not suffer a full rupture. he is endless ego with no class! Beats and now Kobe…. i don’t seeing this ending well.
Won’t be the only Celeb/sports endorser
Great. Apple has gangsters and rapist now. Let the downfall begin sadly :(
Kobe Bryant is a rapist? Wtf?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant_sexual_assault_case
i guess you forgot that court case where he had to fight allegations from a hotel worker that he raped her. he admitted having sex with her and it was consensual. i think the case was thrown out when it was found the girl had semen in her underwear from multiple men. he almost lost his wife over this. it was a big news story a few years ago. media gave him a pass cause he is a star
Give me a break..
you can tell they’ve lost their way and can’t innovate anymore. they have to bring other people in who they think is hip and cool with the younger crowd. kobe bryants career is over. the guy is boring too. tim cook doesn’t know what to do
Ha what a joke. We have absolutely NO idea why Kobe was at Apple meeting with Ive’s team. It’s all speculation. Perhaps he will be doing beta testing of a fitness related device they’re working on. If it was some kind of marketing or endorsement deal he wouldn’t be meeting with designers. He’d be meeting with Schiller and marketing.
Shut up and go away, you useless pathetic troll.
Can’t innovate my ass.
WTF? Grow a brain. This isn’t the first time Apple has used celebrity endorsement. Plus you don’t even know what they talked about.
I am an avid Apple fanboy, an Apple Certified Mac Technician, I was once employed by Apple, I now work for an AASP repairing Apple products… I Love Apple! That said, if Kobe Bryant becomes involved with Apple product design and/or advertising, I’m out the f***ing door. I will sell my $2500 MBP, my iPhones, and all my iPods and go buy Windows products immediately. Don’t do it, Apple, don’t do it!
Yes, because their marketing campaigns have everything to do with how their products are going to function. Just sell your swag now if you have that little regard for the ACTUAL PRODUCTS. And we have no idea why he was actually there.
Why?
Please just shut up. My list of trolling is not a list of what TO do. If you can’t even come up with an original pile of FUD, why should we care about your rehashes?
I do understand his frustration. Has been a long time since we saw something from Apple.
Four months is a long time? He needs to get over it.
Don’t worry, you won’t do it anyway if they really do it.
Rabble Rabble Apple is doomed, Tim must die, and I hate black people.
Apple is in talks to buy Kobe Bryant for 5 Billion !
Why?
First, Vick with torturing animals and millions from Nike and now Kobe, convicted rapist and adulterer hawking HealthBook. You know the latter never would have happened under Jobs’ watch. Chalk both up to the “morals” of predatory and evil homosexuals.
If you’re going to use your real name here you probably shouldn’t slander a man that can buy you multiple times. He wasn’t convicted of anything, #litigation101
Breaking News! Kobe is leaving Lenovo, and going to Apple!
Kobe Bryant is known as one of the most intensive trainers of all time in professional sports. I’m not sure why everyone assumes this is related to celebrity endorsement as opposed to getting feedback from him for Healthbook.
#MoneyMamba