Before he tragically passed away in a helicopter crash, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was in serious talks to create a animation studio.
Bryant had a multimedia empire, headlined by The Punies podcast, which shares important life lessons on how to play with joy and limitless imagination. He also won an Oscar for “Dear Basketball.” In addition, the former Lakers star was writing books and coaching his daughter’s AAU basketball team.
Via CBS Sports:
Before his death, Bryant was in serious talks about creating an animation studio. Bruce W. Smith, creator of the Disney animated show “The Proud Family,” said in an interview with Double Toasted that he and the creator of the “Despicable Me” franchise, Sergio Pablos, sat down with Bryant over dinner to go over future animation projects.
“[Bryant] was heavily invested in starting an animation studio. So for the past six months or so Kobe and I have been in deep talks about making that happen,” Smith said. “So we're together finding artists to galvanize his dream and Kobe was, like they were saying, Kobe was beginning his second act and animation was going to play a huge part in that.”
Bryant, arguably the best player in Lakers franchise history, was using his world famous work ethic on things outside of basketball. The Black Mamba said multiple times since he retired from the NBA that he didn't miss playing basketball and was enjoying working on these different projects.
The last time the Lakers won the championship was back in 2010 over the Boston Celtics in seven games. Bryant was named Finals MVP and captured his fifth ring. Lakers fans are hoping LeBron James and Anthony Davis can deliver banner No. 17 this season for Bryant.