Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 23, 1978. While with the Los Angeles Lakers, he won five NBA championship titles.

He became the youngest All-Star at 19. He was the Most Valuable Player in 2008. He was part of the U.S. team’s 2008 and the 2012 representatives to the Olympics.

During his career, he has been part of the NBA All-Star 17 times. He also won two Olympic medals. He played his last game with the Lakers in April 2016 at the Staples Center.

Bryant reached out to Glen Keane, a Disney animator, and John Williams, a composer, to turn the poem he used to announced his retirement into a short film. The film was shown in the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, and Bryant accepted an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2018.