Jaylen Brown says Kobe Bryant inspired him to start his own brand, 741, after turning down nearly $50,000,000 in deals
“I passed on almost $50 million worth of deals in order to start something on my own. Not because I didn't like money, those type of deals didn't work for me. Honestly, where I got the idea was from Kobe, may he rest in peace. Before he passed away, I remember seeing an article come out that Kobe was launching his own brand. He had planned on signing athletes, giving better deals and better percentages. I thought that was dope”
“Also, just going through my own experiences dealing with some major corporations and how they value your creativity, how they value you. I met with every brand in hopes of signing with somebody, and none of them stood out to me. They all kind of approached things the same, and I think it's a little dinosaur. I was looking for the brand of the future, not the brand of the past. I couldn't find it, so I had to start it”
“Intellectual property and that stuff is important because when you get older, when the ball stops, you still want to be able to present your shoes or go back to your neighborhood and do some projects or events. Just because your career stops doesn't mean your influence and your likeness stop. But if somebody owns that, they tell you when you can do what you want to do”
“There are certain older players that I've had conversations with, being a union member, who are extremely upset by the fact that they've had signature lines and the company they were aligned with told them, ‘We're not putting out, you can't put out any more shoes.’ They're frustrated by that”
“Our youth need to hear that frustration. They've seen you at your highest, but they need to see that too because it can help inform their decision making. It might be somebody else in the next generation who wants to start their own business. They might start the next Nike. They might start the next Yeezy”