Kobe Bryant won five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. He won two NBA Finals MVPs and one league MVP award. He is tied for the record with most All-Star Game MVPs (four).
Now, Bryant has a legitimate opportunity to win an Oscar for his animated short film, “Dear Basketball,” which is based on the poem he wrote to the game soon after he announced his retirement.
Since Bryant hung up his Kobe's, he's delved into storytelling, putting out Musecage videos every so often. Those in particular have gotten mixed reviews, but it appears his filmmaking has gotten better as “Dear Basketball” is actually very moving.
He talked about his post-retirement life recently, and said the Oscar nomination is a validation that he has talents outside of basketball, per Kelley R. Carter of The Undefeated.
“I’ve always been told that as basketball players the expectation is that you play. This is all you know. This is all you do. Don’t think about handling finances. Don’t think about going into business. Don’t think that you want to be a writer — that’s cute. I got that a lot. What do you want to do when you retire? ‘Well, I want to be a storyteller.’ That’s cute. This is … a form of validation for people to look and say, ‘OK, he really can do something other than dribble and shoot.’”
All of those basketball accolades already put Bryant in the discussion for top 10 players of all time. But if Bryant actually wins the Oscar, he would do something no other former player has ever done. It would be an accomplishment of Bryant-level proportions.
In that vein, it makes sense for Bryant to win. The Oscar ceremony is tonight, so everyone in the world will find out together.
Not breaking any ground here — but here are my #Oscars predictions. @shapeofwater , @RealGDT , #GaryOldman , #FrancesMcDormand, @AllisonBJanney and #SamRockwell. Biggest NAME to win an Oscar could be @kobebryant.
— Steve Futterman (@sfutterman) March 4, 2018
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