The same relentless perfectionism that drove Kobe Bryant on the court was the force behind his second act as a creator and storyteller. While many saw his Oscar win for Dear Basketball as a beautiful farewell, it was the result of a deliberate, calculated, and obsessive pursuit of excellence—a vision that later fueled his entire creative empire.

Kobe’s journey into film began with a simple farewell poem, a heartfelt love letter to the game he published in The Players’ Tribune. But as author Jimmy Soni revealed on a podcast, for Kobe, a poem wasn’t enough. He wanted to do something more, something that would capture the grief of a body breaking down and the pain of saying goodbye to the game he loved.

That’s when the vision for an animated short film took hold. In true Mamba fashion,

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