6’6″ Kobe Bryant spent almost his whole career learning how to write!

Kobe Bryant meant everything to the city of LA – he was synonymous with purple and gold.

Everyone needs a hero – Kobe Bryant was one of the very best. A man who inspired 20 years of LA, Kobe was and still is a person every kid looks up to. Some people still whisper “Kobe” under their breaths when throwing something away. And that is how Dear Basketball started – a balled-up sock thrown into a kid-sized hoop.

Dear Basketball is a short story summing up 30 years of the life of the only child of Jelly Bean Bryant. Every single line was purposefully written, spoken, and kept in. Every single emotion behind the lines was purposeful and was 15 years in the making. The Lakers legend in an interview said he was ridiculed for staving off hangouts during plane rides.

Kobe spent a good part of 15 years learning and honing his craft as a storyteller. He studied Joseph Campbell to understand how to make story arcs, to hold people’s attention. And for those 4-something minutes, Dear basketball holds the attention of everyone. He did not have luck in winning an Oscar, there are 15 years of hard work behind that small video.

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Kobe Bryant was seen as a mad man when he was alive – stories slowly reveal that there was a method to his madness

Dear Basketball was an emotional journey for anyone – not just a basketball fan. Kobe Bryant was able to tell a story of a kid who dreamed, so eloquently. Portraying himself as a hard-natured cynic was a ruse because there was a soft version of him all along. That version of him was 15 years in the making, writing every day and honing his craft to be a master storyteller.

For 20 years we watched a man who showed nothing to the world except his love for basketball. Even towards the end of his career, the ability to do it waned, but his love did not. Till his last point (coincidentally the same way he scored his first), Kobe had the same glimmer in his eyes. Free Throws, but not free points.

Nothing comes to anyone for free – such is life. No reward without the hard work put in beforehand, as shown by every successful person. Unless you are a Kardashian, there’s no shortcut to success. Hours of hard work, days without sleep, and losing friends is the mandate. Life is meant to be enjoyed, but not wasted. Kobe Bryant was no wastrel, he was an Oscar-winning 5x NBA champion.

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