Kobe Bryant reflected on his 20-year basketball career and his Oscar win in his final interview before his death.
The LA Lakers legend was killed on Sunday, 26 January aged 41 in a helicopter crash that killed all nine people on board – including Kobe’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
Just days before his shock death, a profile with Bryant was published by USA Today, in which he discussed his pride at winning an Oscar, a Sports Emmy and an Annie Award for his animated short film, Dear Basketball.
In the interview published on 23 January, Bryant said: ‘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.’
In 2018, Kobe took home an Academy Award for Dear Basketball, which he wrote, produced and narrated, in collaboration with director Glen Keane composer John Williams.
The animated short film is based on a letter Bryant wrote to the Players’ Tribune announcing his retirement from basketball.
The father-of-four retired from basketball in 2016, after winning five NBA championships and becoming an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team and the 2008 NBA MVP.
He told USA Today: ‘I don’t know what you want to do when you retire. “You’re going to go through a state of depression. You’re going to have an identity crisis.”
‘These are all things that were said to me because people were genuinely concerned.’
However, Bryant kept himself busy by beginning to build an entertainment empire, as he founded the multimedia company Granity Studios and began the family podcast The Punies.
He also published three sports fantasy children’s books – Legacy and The Queen, Epoca: The Tree of Ecrof and The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, with his next book The Wizenard Series: Season One set for publication on 31 March.
The showbiz and sports worlds are in mourning following Kobe and Gianna’s deaths, with the Grammy Awards featuring tributes to the basketball legend.
They are survived by wife and mother Vanessa, and daughters and sisters Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and seven-month-old Capri.
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