The city of Los Angeles and the entire world came to a standstill yesterday as the 95th Academy Awards aired from Hollywood. While the regular season action continued as scheduled in the NBA, fans were torn between watching the award ceremony or the Knicks taking on the Lakers.
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No NBA fan can think about the Oscars without mentioning how Kobe Bryant was the first NBA personality to win the prestigious award. Last year, Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry made the front page of every media house covering the NBA. As Queen of Basketball won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short, many publications, even NBA.com, put out articles about the two basketball players having won the award.
However, did Shaq and Steph actually win the oscar?
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Fact Check: Did Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry win the Oscar?
No, Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry did not win the Oscar for Queen of Basketball. The duo was involved in the film. They were the executive producers and top promoters of the short film. The person who won the Oscar was Ben Proudfoot, the film’s director and producer.
The Oscar for Documentary (Short Subject) goes to “The Queen of Basketball.” #Oscars
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 27, 2022
Queen of Basketball was a short film about the life of Lusia Harris, the first woman to score a basket in Olympic women’s basketball history. She was also officially the first woman to be drafted by an NBA team.
Before the idea of the film got to Shaquille O’Neal, he had no idea who Harris was. Despite being a Hall-of-Famer, Lucia did not have the recognition she deserved. Having names such as Steph and Shaq involved with the project helped spread the word about the film and educate people about Lucia.
Is Kobe Bryant the only NBA personality to have won an OSCAR?
Yes, after the claims about Shaq and Steph having won an Oscar were cleared, there is only one name from the NBA who has won an Oscar. That man is none other than Kobe Bryant. Dear Basketball won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2018. It was written by Kobe and directed by Glen Keane.
5 years ago today, DEAR BASKETBALL won Best Animated Short Film at the 2018 Oscars 🏀
Written by basketball legend Kobe Bryant
Directed by animation legend Glen Keane
Music by composing legend John Williams pic.twitter.com/KAP8nVyHbR— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 4, 2023
Both Kobe and Glen received the award for Dear Basketball.
