Shop.org 2017: Kobe Bryant Talks Career Transition, Books, Oscars Chatter
Kobe Bryant used to dream of winning basketball championships and now may be fulfilling what so many in Hollywood often fantasize about, with buzz building around a potential Oscar nomination.
The retired Los Angeles Laker’s short animated film “Dear Basketball” has been chatted up as a possible Oscar nominee in what he said was meant to be “my retirement letter to the game.”
“To sit here right now, to even hear you say that the film is even being considered for an Oscar nom, that’s crazy. I’m winning championships. That’s what I dream of. That’s beyond any realm of any dream whatsoever,” he said.
Bryant, chief executive officer of Kobe Inc. and a general partner at Bryant Stibel, closed out the National Retail Federation’s annual Shop.org conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center Wednesday talking about the transformation he’s undergone via projects taken up since his move away from professional basketball.
Chief among those is Granity Studios, which he said he’s focused on building. The company’s name is a fusion of the words “greater than infinity,” with the bold vision of creating a media company that tells stories withstanding the test of time. The athlete said he’s working on eight different novels, something he said is a motivator for him.
“I love stories. I love everything about them,” he said.
Bryant, who also invests in businesses such as BodyArmor through Kobe Inc., said the transition from basketball wasn’t easy but the sport prepared him for his next act.
“It’s hard. It’s hard to break away with what was, especially when you loved what was. It’s really, really hard,” he said. “But you’re not fully breaking away from it. You’re taking lessons that you learned from that and you carry that forward. That’s what I’ve tried to do with the game and for what I’m doing now.”
For More in WWD:
Shop.org 2017: Dolls Kill, Allbirds, Soko Glam Founders on Community Building
Shop.org 2017: Minted to Explore Wholesale, Licensing
Shop.org 2017: Marc Lore Talks Tech, Role of Stores
Shop.org 2017: Disney Tech Strategy Focuses on AI, Machine Learning
Related stories
Shop.org 2017: Dolls Kill, Allbirds, Soko Glam Founders on Community Building
Domino Links With Fred Segal, Home Depot for Bicoastal Holiday Pop-ups
Shop.org 2017: Minted to Explore Wholesale, Licensing
Get more from WWD: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
