Kobe Bryant Wins an Oscar for His animated short “Dear Basketball”

Even Michael Jordan didn't pull this off.

Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant at the 90th Annual Academy Awards. Photo by David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock (9446181dy)

Five times NBA champion, four times NBA Finals MVP and 18 times an All-Star and one time NBA regular season MVP. To all of these and other accomplishments, former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant can now add an Academy Award. Bryant won an Oscar at Sunday’s 90th annual Academy Awards ceremony, for Best Animated Short Film for “Dear Basketball”. He and Disney animator Glen Keane, who directed the short, shared the honors for the film based on Bryant’s poem from 2015 in which he announced his retirement from basketball.

I don’t know if it’s possible,” – said Bryant upon receiving the award. “I mean, as basketball players, we are really supposed to shut up and dribble. But I am glad we do a little bit more than that.

Bryant proceeded on by thanking his wife Vanessa and his daughters, saying: “You are my inspiration.

I feel better than winning a championship, to be honest with you. I swear I do.” – Bryant said to the reporters after the ceremony.

The success of the film and the poem inspired Bryant to start a second career since he also revealed that he is working on a series of novels.

I wake up in the morning, I can’t wait to write, I can’t wait to get to the studio.” – he added.

Kobe Bryant wrote the “Dear Basketball” poem and sent it to The Players’ Tribune on November 29, 2015, describing his love for the game of basketball.

I am a reality TV junkie. My dream since I was a kid was to be on Big Brother, but until then you can catch me binge-watching episodes each summer.