What has Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant been doing during retirement?
Kobe Bryant’s final game with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA was on April 13, 2016, against the Utah Jazz. He scored a whopping 60 points, much of which took place during the fourth quarter.
For the first time in 20 seasons, the NBA has not had the Black Mamba to dazzle them with this famous fade away and other impossible shots. But, what has the Black Mamba been up to since retiring last year?
1. He hasn’t been watching basketball
ICYMI: @kobebryant joined #TheSix and revealed that since being retired he discovered something interesting about his cable package pic.twitter.com/ZrozEB5rlV
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 25, 2017
According to an interview done by ESPN broadcaster Jemele Hill, Kobe only realized he didn’t have the NBA league package while preparing to workout, which means he hasn’t been watching many NBA games. But, hey at least he’s staying in shape!
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2. He’s a screenwriter and an executive producer
When Kobe retired from the NBA last year, he released a poem, Dear Basketball via The Players Tribune. In that poem, Bryant expressed how much the game has meant to him ever since he was a child and how that passion transcribed into his tenacious attitude while on the court night in and night out.
Glen Keane, an animator for the Walt Disney Company who had done animations for many classic movies such as The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast decided to turn Bryant’s poem into a short film that was scored by renowned composer, John Williams. The short film made its debut at the Tribeca film festival, which Bryant and his family attended.
3. He has his own series of short films
From Canvas City, introducing Little Mamba who learned today about how to build a musecage to find your inner beast. #musecage pic.twitter.com/uFPcge2IuM
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) March 26, 2017
Finally, after all these years of playing basketball in Los Angeles, Bryant has finally caught the film bug. In addition to his Dear Basketball short, Bryant has created another set of shorts titled Canvas City featuring a purple puppet aka Little Mamba.
In this series, Bryant uses Little Mamba to talk about his younger self in addition to discussing complex basketball issues into simpler ones. During this particular episode Bryant and Little Mamba breakdown the matchup between MVP candidates Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
4. Working out with current players
While he may not be watching many NBA games during his retirement, that hasn’t stopped many current NBA players from wanting to be mentored by the Black Mamba. Thus far, guards Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving have worked out with Bryant. All of the off-season workouts must have gone extremely well because both of those players made it to the NBA postseason, with Irving helping the Cleveland Cavaliers into the NBA Finals.
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I can’t wait to see Bryant’s next endeavor. Maybe, he will continue to make more films about his love for the game or perhaps he will become coach Bryant. Who knows? Only time will tell.