Kobe despised this sponsored product so much, he paid 8M to get rid of it

In the 90s, the most dominant player in the NBA was Michael Jordan without question, but in 1996 a young promising talent popped out, and sports brands fought to get the league's next big thing.

Adidas won the war and signed the 17-year-old Kobe Bryant, with skill and star power the league hadn't seen since MJ for six years.

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At first, the partnership was a success, but through the years, Kobe got less and less involved with creative control over his shoes; then, in 2002, Adidas dropped the Kobe's II, which turned out to be ugly and uncomfortable that even Bryant refused to play in them.

Kobe paid 8M to get off the deal

Kobe Bryant was so fed up with Adidas that he paid 8 Million dollars to end his contract early; since then, he took his ex-partnership personally and refused to sign Adidas merch and even threw one of his teammate's shoes in the trash.