Monday, February 3, 2020

Remembering Kobe Bryant


A five-time NBA champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist, Kobe Bryant`s talent was a source of awe for all who watched him. After retiring, Kobe moved onto other endeavors, ones which earned him an Academy Award and a spot on the New York Times Bestsellers list.


Dear Basketball 
In 2018,  Kobe Bryant and director Glen Keane won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, making him the only professional athlete to win an Oscar. The film was based on Bryant`s poem of the same name which was published on The Players Tribune in 2015 when he announced his retirement. In the poem he recounts when he fell in love with basketball and all that it gave to him. In 2015 Bryant met with Glen Keane, a Disney animator who worked on many classic films including Beauty & The Best, Aladdin, & Pocahontas. Keane says they bonded over their love of Beethoven, which solidified their creative relationship.

Read the poem here

Watch a one minute preview of the film here

Click here to watch Kobe`s Oscar acceptance speech


The Wizenard Series: Training Camp

Published in May 2019, the Wizenard Series was created by Bryant and written by Wesley King. Mixing basketball and magic, the young adult story focuses on the West Bottom Badgers, a down on their luck team that gets inspiration from their new coach, Professor Wizenard. This series is part of Bryant`s Granity Studios, a multimedia organization that provides content for youth. In an interview published in Parade magazine two days before his death, Bryant said "I created Granity Studios as a way of teaching valuable life lessons to the next generation, with whatever they hope to do. The goal is to encourage children to develop their own inner magic and believe they can achieve the impossible and do so in a fun way.” The next installment in the series, Season One, will be published in March. Bryant`s other recent publications include Legacy & The Queen written by Annie Matthew and The Tree of Ecrof written by Ivy Claire.

Read the full Parade article here


The Punies

The Punies is a podcast that tells the story of a young boy named Puny Pete who plays sports with his neighborhood friends, an eclectic group of kids known as the Punies. Being a father of four, Bryant knew that kids tend to tune their parents out after a while. The idea for the podcast was to give kids advice on leadership and teamwork in a way that was more receptive to them. Written by Jon Haller, this podcast is available on the Granity Studios website.

Bryant was also working on a children`s book with author Paulo Coehlo, writer of The Alchemist, which is said to be one of Kobe`s favorite books. The story he was writing with Coehlo was meant to inspire underprivileged children to overcome adversity through sports. After Bryant`s passing, Coehlo announced that he had deleted the draft.


Recommended Reading 


In Mamba Mentality, Kobe Bryant shared his knowledge of basketball and how he prepared himself physically and mentally to become an NBA legend.

Click here to place a hold.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

An Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. What starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasures found within. Click here to place a hold.



The Track Series by Jason Reynolds

Recommended to him by his daughter Gianna, Kobe Bryant thought this series would help parents understand their athlete children and help kids overcome obstacles in life and sports.

Click here to place a hold.

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