Robert Rodriguez's latest muse? Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant. Is. The Black Mamba. In two short internet teasers, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star gets the full-on Hollywood treatment from director Robert Rodriguez, who builds a Grindhouse-style trailer around the hoopster. According to a Nike spokesperson, the teasers aren’t stand-alones: Rodriguez crafted an eight-minute short film that will bow this February during the NBA’s All-Star weekend.

If Bryant and Rodriguez seem like an unusual pairing, recall that Black Mamba is the nickname Bryant gave himself soon after seeing the African snake’s deadly powers in Kill Bill, Vol. 2, which was scored by … Robert Rodriguez. See? It all adds up.

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