Dear Basketball

Dear Basketball
Directed byGlen Keane
Written byKobe Bryant
Produced byGennie Rim
Narrated byKobe Bryant
Music byJohn Williams
Production
companies
Release date
Running time
5 minutes
CountryUnited States

Dear Basketball is a 2017 American animated film written and narrated by Kobe Bryant and directed and animated by Glen Keane, with music by John Williams.[2] It is based on a letter Bryant wrote for The Players' Tribune on November 29, 2015, announcing his retirement from basketball.[3][4]

The film was distributed online through go90.[5] It carries the same name as Bryant's retirement letter, and was made in partnership between Bryant's own Granity Studios and Believe Entertainment Group.[6] It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 90th Academy Awards, the first Oscar win for any professional athlete, and the first Oscar win for Keane, a veteran Disney animator.[7]

  1. ^ "Dear Basketball". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  2. ^ "Dear Basketball". California Film Institute. January 25, 2018. Archived from the original on July 30, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2020 – via Vimeo.
  3. ^ Wolff, Ellen (January 12, 2018). "Kobe Bryant Assembles His Animated Dream Team for 'Dear Basketball'". Variety. Variety Media, LLC. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018.
  4. ^ Bryant, Kobe (November 29, 2015). "Dear Basketball". The Players' Tribune. The Players' Tribune, Inc. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018.
  5. ^ Wagner, Gretchen (December 19, 2017). "'Dear Basketball,' Assembled by Legendary Team of Creators, Premieres on Verizon's go90". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  6. ^ "go90 Picks Up Kobe Bryant and Believe Entertainment's 'Dear Basketball'". thevideoink.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2024. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  7. ^ "90th Academy Award Animated Film Nominees". The Oscars 2018. Disney Enterprises, Inc. January 23, 2018. Archived from the original on January 24, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.