From NBA superstar to acclaimed film producer: Kobe Bryant won the 90. The Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles won an Oscar for the animated film “Dear Basketball”. 39-year-old Bryant, five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers and two-time Olympic champion, had written the script for the five-minute short film.
“This is incredible. It almost feels even better than the sporting successes,”said Bryant, who won against the short films “Garden Party”,”Lou”,”Negative Space” and “Revolting Rhymes”.”That’s just crazy,”he added.
At first he had to listen to his plans to produce films, the American said:”Some of them told me:’ That’s sweet. Bryant didn’t let it unsettle him,” The hardest thing is to start from scratch,”he said,” You have to work on the basics and invest a lot of time and effort.”
That paid off. He received a lot of recognition for his successful work:”Absolutely deserved,” twittered former Lakers star Magic Johnson, and Shaquille O’ Neal admitted to being “a bit envious.
Disney artist Glen Keane’s five-minute short film “Dear Basketball” is the adaptation of a poem that Bryant published when he announced his resignation in autumn 2015. In the spring of 2016, after 20 years in the Lakers’ jersey, the 18-time all-star had retired from the stalls.