Dear Basketball - A Poem by Kobe Bryant Latest (2024)

FAQs

What is Kobe Bryant's poem? ›

On November 29, 2015, NBA superstar Kobe Bryant would see Dear Basketball be published in the Players' Tribune. The poem was an ode to the sport of basketball, to the game that afforded him so many invaluable opportunities both on and off the court; to the game that he loved.

Love and Obsession

While Kobe Bryant's retirement from basketball prompts the poem, the theme of love propels it. What pushes Bryant to play in the NBA for 20 years is his lifelong love for basketball, and love isn't a moderate feeling: It's an obsession.

The poem is in free verse. As the name indicates, Kobe Bryant is free to give his poem the form he wants. The lines don't have to contain a set amount of beats (pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables), and the lines don't have to rhyme.

This is my favorite poem because this is how Kobe Bryant announced his retirement. It was released in 2015 when I was a sophom*ore in high school. He spoke about what the game of basketball meant to him and how much he poured into it.

Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise. If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail.

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.

Kobe treats basketball like a person and gives it a personal pronoun—a “you.” When a poet gives human characteristics to something nonhuman, they're using a literary device known as personification.

In 'Dear Basketball,' Bryant expresses a deep emotional connection and a reflective sadness about leaving the sport he dearly loves, indicative of a melancholic tone.

“If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail.” “After all, greatness is not for everybody.” “I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.” “Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache.”

LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were buried Friday in a cemetery near the family's Southern California home, according to death certificates.

What were Kobe Bryant's words? ›

He explains his childhood experience and his hard work to do the sport justice. In the end, the poem announces Kobe's retirement. The nine-stanza poem is separated into an uneven set of lines. The range is from one to seven: no rhyme or metrical pattern.

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 the Utah Jazz. He won an Oscar and Emmy for his movie Dear Basketball.

At sixteen, Bryant enrolled as a sophom*ore at WIlliams College with the intention of transferring to Yale. During his time at Williams, Bryant wrote “Thanatopsis,” which was later published in The North American Review for September, 1817.

'Dear Basketball' by Kobe Bryant depicts the poet's love for the sport. He expresses his appreciation for basketball and how it made him into the person he became.

The poem gives voice to the despair people feel in contemplating death, then finds peace by viewing death as a harmonious part of nature.

In 2015, Bryant had written a poem titled 'Dear Basketball' after he announced his retirement from the game. He then collaborated with Glen Keane and John Williams to turn his poem into a short film, which went on to win the Best Animated Short Film at the Academy Awards (Oscars) in 2018.