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Published 20:42 IST, November 25th 2020

Steph Curry receives Kobe Bryant jacket worth $7,000 as GIFT from Drake; see pictures

Canadian rapper Drake revealed that he gifted his iconic 'Farewell Kobe Bryant' Lakers jacket from the 2016 All-Stars game to the Warriors' Steph Curry.

Reported by: Sharmistha More
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Canadian rapping sensation and Toronto Raptors ambassador, Drake was seen in a custom-made Kobe Bryant Lakers jacket at the legend's last All-Star game. The 'Farewell Mamba' jacket made its first appearance at the 2016 Kobe Bryant all-star game in Toronto. Designer Jeff Hamilton - now an icon of leather design - went on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show to recall his many meetings with the rapper while they designed the jacket in tribute to the Mamba. 

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Drake gifted iconic Kobe Bryant Lakers jacket to Steph Curry

“It was amazing, Drake being such a great artist and also being an icon of our times and also being able to commission me that jacket,” says Jeff Hamilton of the experience of collaborating with the rap legend. "He had a lot of input with that jacket, on the idea of what he wanted. He had a clear idea of how to do it" he says. However, Drake's firm ideas of what he wanted the jacket to look like also made it a huge logistical challenge, admitted Hamilton. 

"The jacket had to have the Nike logos, it had to have the NBA logos and I wasn’t an NBA licensee at the time so I had to go through the NBA and all the red tape to make sure it was done, and the jacket came out really special" recalled Jeff Hamilton. The iconic jacket came in at around $7000-8000, of which Hamilton revealed he took just a small portion, foregoing the rest in exchange for a shoutout on the superstar's Instagram post. 

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This turned out to be a great strategy by the designer, who mentioned that "I was growing with followers on my Instagram and that weekend, my Instagram probably jumped to like 50,000 followers and everybody up to this day said, "That’s the guy who did the Drake jacket!" Long back, in 2016, Drake revealed that he had in fact, gifted the jacket to Golden State Warriors Guard, Steph Curry instead of giving it to Kobe Bryant. 

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“The interesting part about that jacket is that he did not give that jacket to Kobe,” Hamilton said on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show. “He gave it to Steph Curry. Steph Curry owns that jacket! I would assume that he would’ve given it to Kobe, right? But he gave it to Steph Curry! I think he wore it a couple of times  but I saw the interview one time when he gave the jacket to Steph Curry.”

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Kobe Bryant death

Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash on January 26 this year. The Los Angeles Lakers legend was 41. He is survived by his wife, Vanessa Bryant, and his three daughters. His second daughter, Gianna was among the nine people who lost their lives in the helicopter crash with him. 

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Image Credits: NBA Website

20:42 IST, November 25th 2020