Bond Over Beethoven Led to Kobe Bryant’s Oscar for ‘Dear Basketball’ (Published 2020) (2024)

Basketball|Bond Over Beethoven Led to Kobe Bryant’s Oscar for ‘Dear Basketball’

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/sports/basketball/kobe-bryant-oscar-award.html

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A shared love for the master composer connected the Lakers legend who died on Sunday and the illustrator of the short film based on Bryant’s retirement poem.

Bond Over Beethoven Led to Kobe Bryant’s Oscar for ‘Dear Basketball’ (Published 2020) (1)

By Charles Solomon and Michael Cooper

Even before he wrote the poem on which the Oscar-winning short “Dear Basketball” was based, Kobe Bryant was interested in animation.

He approached the former Disney animator Glen Keane after seeing his film “Duet.” Bryant explained in an interview in 2017, “Animation can capture the emotion in the story in a much more compelling, visual way than live action.”

“Dear Basketball” illustrated the poem Bryant wrote in 2015 as a farewell to the sport he loved; it served as his announcement that the 2015-16 season would be his last. In the poem, recognizing that his body can no longer bear the game’s demands, he accepts the inevitably of retirement.

Keane’s rough pencil drawings depict Bryant as both a Los Angeles Lakers superstar and as a small boy, executing the same leaps and dribbling maneuvers. The film, featuring a score by the composer John Williams, won both the Academy Award for best animated short in 2018 and the Annie Award, the animation industry’s most prestigious prize.

[The latest on the crash that killed Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others.]

Looking back Sunday after hearing of Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash at age 41, Keane said sadly: “Kobe was the most passionate man who was led by his heart and his intellect. He was a great thinker with an insatiable hunger for learning: As soon as he stepped into animation, he eagerly began soaking up every aspect of it. Working with him was a dream and one of the high points of my career.”

Keane, who hadn’t touched a basketball since high school gym class, insisted at the time that the athlete “couldn’t pick a worse animator for basketball.” In a 2017 interview, Bryant explained why he thought the contrary.

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Bond Over Beethoven Led to Kobe Bryant’s Oscar for ‘Dear Basketball’ (Published 2020) (2024)

FAQs

Bond Over Beethoven Led to Kobe Bryant’s Oscar for ‘Dear Basketball’ (Published 2020)? ›

Bond Over Beethoven Led to Kobe Bryant's Oscar for 'Dear Basketball' A shared love for the master composer connected the Lakers legend who died on Sunday and the illustrator of the short film based on Bryant's retirement poem.

What is the central idea of the poem Dear Basketball by Kobe Bryant? ›

Dear Basketball at its core is a love letter to the sport. Kobe states, “A love so deep I gave you my all – from my mind and body to my spirit and soul. You asked for my hustle, I gave you my heart.” But the film is also a farewell to the sport.

Why did Dear Basketball win an Oscar? ›

Bryant won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. The film that won was titled "Dear Basketball," and it was based on the poem Bryant wrote when he announced his retirement from the NBA. He was the first African-American ever to win in this category.

Who was the poem "Dear Basketball" written for? ›

'Dear Basketball' by Kobe Bryant is a moving poem that was written as an announcement of the Lakers star's retirement from basketball. The letter, which is in the form of a poem, separated into stanzas, takes the reader through Bryant's emotional connection to the game.

What is the author's purpose of Dear Basketball? ›

“Dear Basketball” illustrated the poem Bryant wrote in 2015 as a farewell to the sport he loved; it served as his announcement that the 2015-16 season would be his last.

What is the central idea of the poem answers? ›

The central idea of the poem is the most important concept that the author wants to tell the reader. The central idea may be stated directly.

What book did Kobe win an Oscar for? ›

Bryant's most significant creative success was the animated short “Dear Basketball,” a story based on the poem he wrote to announce his retirement from basketball that earned him an Academy Award, a Sports Emmy and an Annie Award.

Who refused his Oscar? ›

Sacheen Littlefeather holds a written statement from actor Marlon Brando refusing his Oscar on stage at the Academy Awards on March 27, 1973, in Los Angeles.

Who won an Oscar after his death? ›

In 1939, the Gone with the Wind screenwriter Sidney Howard was crushed to death in a freak tractor accident on his farm. A year later, he won the inaugural posthumous Oscar. It was the first of surprisingly many deceased winners and nominees, from James Dean and Spencer Tracy to Chadwick Boseman and Walt Disney.

When did Kobe Bryant retire? ›

He is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Bryant retired on April 13, 2016 after scoring 60 points in a Lakers win against the Utah Jazz. He won an Oscar and Emmy for his movie Dear Basketball.

What NBA award is named after Kobe Bryant? ›

The fan voting accounts for 25% of the voting. The player(s) with the most votes or ties for the most votes wins the award. In February 2020, Commissioner Adam Silver renamed the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player in honor of four-time winner Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash a few weeks earlier.

What metaphors are used in Dear Basketball by Kobe Bryant? ›

Bryant doesn't clearly spell out his obsession though, he builds to it by using classic metaphors like [his dad's] "tube socks," "the tunnel," and "sweat and hurt." Through use of these devices Kobe builds up the great love affair of his life and allows us, the reader, to experience this highs and lows of said romance.

What was Kobe's purpose? ›

“I only saw myself/Running out of one.” Basketball was Kobe's dream, the thing that flowed through his veins and gave him his identity and purpose. He never doubted that it would be his future. And he famously worked hard, on and off the court, for decades, to make his dream a reality.

What did Kobe do for basketball? ›

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, Bryant won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, a 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP.

What is the central idea message of the poem? ›

The central idea is what the poet is writing aboutor conveying to the reader. The message of the poem is the poet's feelings of position regarding the central idea. For example, the central idea of a poem might be war. The message might be opposition to war, the devastation, loss, suffering.

What is the central main idea in a poem? ›

Answer: The central idea of a poem is the poem's theme or 'what it's about' if you like. Although many shy away from poems being 'about' something, at the end of the day, the poet had something in mind when it was written, and that something is the central idea, whatever it is or might have been.

What is the central meaning or idea of the poem? ›

The theme of a poem is the message an author wants to communicate through the piece. The theme differs from the main idea because the main idea describes what the text is mostly about. Supporting details in a text can help lead a reader to the main idea.

What is the main idea of Kobe Bryant? ›

The Mamba Mentality encompasses a mindset that doesn't focus solely on achieving a goal. Instead, it looks at the whole process of getting there – the journey – to the extent that it becomes, as Kobe himself said, “a way of life.”

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