Kobe Bryant designed products by talking Picasso, leopards and great white sharks with Nike CEO

• Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
• The basketball star's process of designing products included wide-ranging chats with his mentor, former Nike CEO Mark Parker.
• "We sit down and start talking great white sharks and leopards and we're talking about Picasso," Bryant said at Nike's investor day in 2017.
• "Believe me, he really geeks out, and we love that," Parker added.
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Kobe Bryant's process of designing products involved discussing exotic creatures and Spanish painters with his mentor, former Nike CEO Mark Parker.

"Our conversations get really weird when we sit down and start talking great white sharks and leopards and we're talking about Picasso and all these other things and how it relates to human nature," Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, had said at Nike's investor day in 2017.

Their wide-ranging chats aimed to find "the meaning or the truth behind those things that we can then relate to the product," the Los Angeles Lakers star continued. Bryant helped design several lines of Nike sneakers, jerseys, and other basketball merchandise during his career.

"Believe me, he really geeks out, and we love that," Parker told the crowd of investors. "You look at nature, you look at art, you look at science in different ways and you bring that into your point of view on the product."

As a player, Bryant was famous for his work ethic and competitiveness. He won five National Basketball Association championships and ranks fourth among the league's all-time top scorers.

"Off the court, he's equally intense. He's got a million ideas," Parker said. "He is one of the most amazing athletes I've had the privilege to work with."