A Video Recorded by Kobe Bryant Pushed Shohei Ohtani to Sign With Los Angeles Dodgers

According to ESPN, the Los Angeles Dodgers landed the monumental $700 million USD 10-year signing of Shohei Ohtani with assistance from the late Kobe Bryant. The report shares that during a three-hour meeting between Ohtani and his team with the team's upper management at Dodger Stadium on December 1, a video package with a message from the Los Angeles basketball icon was shown.

"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," ESPN's Alden Gonzalez and Jeff Passan wrote. "This was their best pitch—the equivalent of Ohtani's sweeper to Mike Trout that ended the World Baseball Classic—and it suggested that even if 2012 and 2017 weren't the time for Ohtani and the Dodgers, now was."

Shohei Ohtani shared, "That was one of the highlights of the whole meeting. I was really surprised to see it. It was a strong and touching message."

Ohtani will play a Dodger next season though he has deferred $680 million USD of his record-breaking contract. The baseball superstar will earn $2 million USD per year over 10 years with the deferred amount paid out in $68 million yearly installments from 2034 to 2043.