The Los Angeles Dodgers went above and beyond to recruit Shohei Ohtani. After signing him to a 10-year $700 million deal, LA has locked up baseball's top player for the next decade. With that said, the organization got clever during the recruiting process. So much so, that Kobe Bryant somehow played a role.

That's right. The Dodgers reportedly had Bryant film a video to recruit Ohtani back in 2017. Los Angeles kept that video and used it as their closing pitch to sign the superstar two-way player, per Alden Gonzalez and Jeff Passan of ESPN.

“For six years, the video remained a secret, squirreled away for the next time. In 2017, during their failed courtship of Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers held onto the minute-or-so-long clip as part of their closing pitch, one they never got to give. Two weeks ago, the next time arrived, and the Dodgers weren't leaving anything to chance.”

The message Kobe Bryant delivered in that video was clear and concise. “There's no better place in the world to win than Los Angeles, and there's no better team in baseball to win with than the Dodgers.”

Shohei Ohtani called the one-minute long clip the “highlight” of meeting with the Dodgers. Considering the legacy and the championship pedigree Bryant brought to LA, it was enough to win Ohtani over.

“When Bryant said Ohtani's name, it took him aback. They never met, but Ohtani marveled at his commitment, to his craft, to his sport, to his team. Mizuhara, who is as much consigliere to Ohtani as the conduit for his words, grew up in Los Angeles and understood what it meant for Bryant to vouch for the Dodgers. A minute of his time, of the presence he still casts, felt like a wonderful eternity.”

That just had to be a surreal moment for Shohei Ohtani. Especially considering it's a six-year old video the Dodgers recorded in the hopes to recruit him. On top of that, it's now three years after Kobe Bryant died in the tragic helicopter crash in 2020.

Now that Ohtani is with the Dodgers, he can now chase the one thing that's eluded him his entire career. World Series Championships. The Los Angeles Angels failed to build a contending roster around Ohtani and Mike Trout. Despite that, the superstar two-way player has still been the best player in baseball over the years.

With that said, it's awesome that the Dodgers kept that Kobe Bryant video. If they hadn't, them perhaps Shohei Ohtani would have singed elsewhere.