Kobe Bryant's 'Dear Basketball' wins Oscar for Best Animated Short Film

Kobe Bryant now has more Academy Awards than LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
Kobe Bryant's 'Dear Basketball' wins Oscar for Best Animated Short Film
Kobe Bryant's 'Dear Basketball' wins Oscar for Best Animated Short Film /

Former NBA star Kobe Bryant's "Dear Basketball" won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at Sunday's Academy Awards.

The film is six minutes long and based off Bryant's retirement letter in the Players Tribune from 2015. The film was directed with the help of animator Glen Keane, who has previously worked on films like "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast."

In the letter, he described basketball as "A love so deep I gave you my all/From my mind & body/To my spirit & soul."

"Garden Party", "Lou", "Negative Space" and "Revolting Rhymes" were also nominated.

Bryant retired in 2016 after 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers He won five NBA titles, two NBA Finals MVP awards, one MVP award and was named an All-Star 18 times.

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Chris Chavez
CHRIS CHAVEZ

An avid runner, Chris Chavez covers track and field, marathons and the Olympics for Sports Illustrated.