In Kobe Bryant‘s final interview, the Los Angeles Lakers star outlined his hopes for life after basketball. He was already an Oscar winner thanks to his animated film Dear Basketball and was looking for more ways to change up the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, Byant’s efforts were cut shot when he died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant.
In an interview with USA Today Sports, first published just thee days before his death, Bryant said he remained stunned by his Oscar and Annie Award for the film.
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“They’re at the top for me,” Bryant, who launched his production company Granity Studios after retiring from basketball in 2016, told USA Today. “It’s not something that was expected. As a kid, you kind of have the goal of winning championships and all these sorts of things. Being in the industry that I’m in now? It wasn’t something that was thought of me winning an Oscar.”
Granity Studios’ first projects included Detail, an ESPN+ series about professional athletes’ best performances, and The Punies, a family podcast that teaches life lessons with melodies.
In the same interview, Bryant discussed coaching Gianna and youth sports. He said he does not have the patience to coach NBA players.
“Coaching youth sports is so important to take very seriously because you’re helping the emotional (development) of young kids,” Bryant explained. “So it’s understanding not to be overcritical and understanding that (there) are going to be mistakes.”
Bryant said his practices focus on basketball fundamentals, like defensive positions, handling the ball and tying to predict opponents’ habits. Once the games start, he took a hands-off approach.
Bryant’s plan for Detail was to create a show by athletes and for athletes.
“It is not for fans,” Bryant said. “It is for one percent of people that will actually understand what the hell we’re talking about. The funny thing is by doing that, we seem to have really connected with everyone, everyone else. But that was absolutely not the mission.”
Many of Bryant’s post-retirement creative ideas came from his “Granity Bible,” a book he compiled during his final season. He sought out authors Ivy Claore and Wesley King to find ways to make use of the ideas.
“He’s approaching this in the same manner with the same passion as he did with basketball,” King said of Bryant’s post-basketball projects. “That’s not necessarily the case with a lot of other athletes. Some have put out books, but have been more hands off. But he’s in the trenches and wants to work on every sentence possible.”
Bryant also worked with Brazilian author Paulo Coelho on a children’s book that was still unpublished at the time of Bryant’s death. Coelho said he deleted the draft because it “didn’t make any sense to publish without him.”
Bryant, Gianna and seven others died in the helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The other victims of the crash were John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli; Sarah and Payton Chester; Christina Mauser; and pilot Ara Zobayan.
Photo credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
