Kobe putting an exclamation point on his return as an endorser

Having dropped 81 big ones on the unsuspecting Toronto Raptors yesterday, Kobe Bryant certainly is preparing well for his full reinstatement as a celebrity endorser. The Los Angeles Lakers star is recapturing his old form in style. (The Sports Illustrated cover shown here is from March 2003, a few months before he was accused of rape—charges that were eventually dropped. This season he’s averaging something like 35 points a game.) Bryant appeared in a two-page Nike ad in SI last July, but this winter he will make an even splashier return by marketing