--- description: Is Apple about to play the celebrity game at a new, all-pro level? title: Kobe Bryant's iWatch image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Apple Is Planning to Make a Huge Break With Its Past by [Philip Elmer-DeWitt](/author/philip-elmer-dewitt/) ## Philip Elmer-DeWitt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 24, 2014 2:49 PM CUT by [Philip Elmer-DeWitt](/author/philip-elmer-dewitt/) ## Philip Elmer-DeWitt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 24, 2014 2:49 PM CUT  This post is in partnership with Fortune, which offers the latest business and finance news. Read the article below originally published at [Fortune.com](http://fortune.com/2014/06/22/kobe-bryants-iwatch/ "undefined"). Steve Jobs liked to court celebrities, but he did it quietly. He might give Sean Lennon a Mac, Bob Dylan an iPod or Barack Obama an iPad, but you wouldn’t hear about it from Apple. That may be about to change. According to Mark Gurman, a young reporter at 9to5Mac who has broken more stories about Apple’s “iWatch” that the rest of the pack combined, Apple is teaming up with a [raft of sports celebrities](http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/20/apple-said-to-team-up-with-pro-athletes-to-test-iwatch-fitness-capabilities/ "undefined") to test — and perhaps market — what the Street and the tech press expect will be Apple’s next big thing. Gurman mentions in particular L.A. Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant, L.A. Kings right wing Dustin Brown and a player from the Boston Red Sox to be named later. Bryant was a key spokesperson for Nike, which is winding down its FuelBand business, and he was [spotted last month](http://9to5mac.com/2014/05/15/la-lakers-superstar-kobe-bryant-seen-on-apples-campus-reportedly-meeting-with-jony-ive-about-upcoming-products/ "undefined") on Apple’s Cupertino campus, where he reportedly met with Apple design chief Jony Ive. In a similar vein, Jimmy Iovine, the well-connected music producer who came to Apple, along with Dr. Dre, as part of the $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics, spoke at an industry conference in late May about having music stars “curate” playlists on a new Apple streaming music service. Iovine knows a lot about cashing in on celebrity, something he did regularly at Beats, using exclusive tracks from the likes of Robin Thicke, Britney Spears and Wil.i.am to promote his company’s brand. [For the rest of the story, go to Fortune.com](http://fortune.com/2014/06/22/kobe-bryants-iwatch/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2912318/kobe-bryant-iwatch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2912318/kobe-bryant-iwatch/"},"headline":"Apple Is Planning to Make a Huge Break With Its Past","datePublished":"2014-06-24T14:49:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:45:49.858Z","description":"Is Apple about to play the celebrity game at a new, all-pro level?","url":"https://time.com/2912318/kobe-bryant-iwatch/","keywords":["Tech","Basketball","Apple","Steve Jobs","Fortune"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elmer-DeWitt","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/philip-elmer-dewitt/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2912318/kobe-bryant-iwatch/","name":"Apple Is Planning to Make a Huge Break With Its Past"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Ways Jonathan Ive Changed Your World","description":"Jonathan Ive has been essential in designing the envelope-pushing products for Apple for nearly two decades.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/U5Oyjh6b/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-03-17T07:04:35.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/U5Oyjh6b.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2912318/kobe-bryant-iwatch/","duration":"PT3M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2912318/kobe-bryant-iwatch/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```