About
In May of 2010, the LA Times published a fashion spread featuring NBA superstar and shooting guard for the LA Lakers Kobe Bryant entitled “White Hot”. The photos feature Kobe posing awkwardly and dressed in strange, all white outfits. The photos received an outpouring of criticism from the sports and online community, who took the photos and pasted his face over other images, creating an exploitable.
Origin
The original spread was published in the LA Times Magazine May 2010 issue. The spread also featured a pre-photo shoot interview with Kobe, on his NBA career and his lifestyle. The white clothing in the spread was meant to represent Kobe’s unbelievable and unimaginable good fortune throughout his life, that it was almost dream like. This is an excerpt from his interview with LA Times writer Tom Murray before the photo shoot:
Tom Murray: I have to ask, when you’re in that chopper, do you ever look down on the city, pinch yourself and say—
Kobe Bryant: How the hell did this happen? Absolutely—every time. Like I’m sitting here right now. [Nods toward the two ladies primping him.] You know what I mean? This is dream s—t. Wardrobe that’s all white? This just doesn’t happen. Not for me. This is crazy.
Popularity
After the article and photos were published, many people began to criticize his decision to do the shoot. HipHopCrunch.com said Kobe looked like “a gay pretzel”, and Yahoo! Sports called it “bizarre”, “crazy”, and “very weird”. Even Kobe’s teammates had a hard time understanding why he agreed to it.
Within days, Kobe Bryant’s photos started becoming a popular exploitable, showing up mostly on sports blogs and sites. The two most popular images used were Kobe with a scarf on his head, and Kobe’s bizarre pilgrim outfit, which was appropriately dubbed “Pilgrim Kobe”. Google searches began to rise for “kobe bryant photoshoot/photo shoot”, “kobe bryant white hot”, and “kobe bryant photshop”. Websites began posting the funniest ones, ranging from Kobe’s face on the Quaker Oats box, to his face on the cover of National Geographic, imitating the famous “Afghan Girl” cover.