Kobe Bryant is telling his Chinese fans to ‘hate’ him in a new commercial

Days before he plays his final game, Nike China released a new commercial where Kobe Bryant gives a speech to his Chinese fans about how they shouldn’t love him for being a decorated champion, but instead hate him for pushing them to practice hard in order to be as great as him.

Bryant is widely loved in China, so it makes sense that this commercial would be specifically geared toward them, and according to Adweek, the speech even had some input from the man himself:

“Kobe has an intimate relationship with the Chinese ballers, so he knows exactly how to teach and motivate them,” says Terence Leong, creative director of W+K Shanghai. “Together with Nike China and Kobe, our team crafted the script and made sure the film was just as provocative as the man himself. It was an intense and uncompromising process because Kobe was just as demanding on the creative team as he was on the Lakers.”

It’ll be interesting how Chinese fans react when Bryant finishes his final game. Meanwhile, Nike’s got their sponsored athletes wearing Kobe tribute apparel, such as Rory McIlroy’s golf shoes at the Masters.