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IMDbPro

Dear Basketball

  • 20172017
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 6m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
5.8K
YOUR RATING
Dear Basketball (2017)
Basketball great Kobe Bryant, along with animator Glen Keane and composer John Williams, narrates the story of one little boy living out his basketball dream. The hand-drawn animated film is an adaptation of the NBA legend's 2015 farewell letter to the game he loves.
Play trailer1:01
1 Video
8 Photos
AnimationShortBiography
An animated telling of Kobe Bryant's poem 'Dear Basketball'.An animated telling of Kobe Bryant's poem 'Dear Basketball'.An animated telling of Kobe Bryant's poem 'Dear Basketball'.
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
5.8K
YOUR RATING
    • Glen Keane
    • Kobe Bryant
    • Kobe Bryant(voice)
    • Glen Keane
    • Kobe Bryant
    • Kobe Bryant(voice)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 24User reviews
    • 15Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:01
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos8

    Dear Basketball (2017)
    Dear Basketball (2017)
    Kobe Bryant, Gennie Rim, and Max Keane in Dear Basketball (2017)
    Twant Lavish and Kobe Bryant in Kobe Tribute (2021)
    Dear Basketball (2017)
    Dear Basketball (2017)
    Dear Basketball (2017)

    Top cast

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    Kobe Bryant
    Kobe Bryant
    • Self
    • (voice)
      • Glen Keane
      • Kobe Bryant
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In 2018, Kobe Bryant became the first professional athlete and NBA player to be nominated for and to win an Academy Award; winning in the category of Best Animated Short Film for "Dear Basketball".
    • Quotes

      Kobe Bryant: Dear Basketball, from the moment I started rolling my dad's tube socks and shooting imaginary game-winning shots In the Great Western Forum, I knew one thing was real: I fell in love with you. A love so deep I gave you my all - from my mind & body to my spirit & soul. As a six-year-old boy, deeply in love with you, I never saw the end of the tunnel. I only saw myself running out of one. And so I ran. I ran up and down every court. After every loose ball for you. You asked for my hustle. I gave you my heart. Because it came with so much more. I played through the sweat and hurt. Not because challenge called me. But because YOU called me. I did everything for YOU. Because that's what you do. When someone makes you feel as alive as you've made me feel. You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream. And I'll always love you for it. But I can't love you obsessively for much longer. This season is all I have left to give. My heart can take the pounding. My mind can handle the grind. But my body knows it's time to say goodbye. And that's OK. I'm ready to let you go. I want you to know now. So we both can savor every moment we have left together. The good and the bad. We have given each other all that we have. And we both know, no matter what I do next, I'll always be that kid with the rolled up socks. Garbage can in the corner. :05 seconds on the clock. Ball in my hands. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1. Love you always, Kobe

    • Connections
      Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Kobe Bryant/Kathryn Hahn/Big Boi (2017)

    User reviews24

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    No, never count the time you had the same dream. Just reach It.
    Kobe Bryant's words describes in personal flashbacks : The gratitude, the love for game, the proud to represent the same shared spirit of success around the years, with his fans and country. The life, our life without witnesses is a kind of dream. A one that have to become real until the clock stops. Who knows? The time to love, to go, to rest, to grow up or just to thank.

    Then the humbles traces of Glenn Keane come over Kobe's words. Few colours but always brighted by the warm voice of a grateful Kobe. Some seconds flow like a game clock and Keane play back to back, to Kobe's words. Sometimes the complex drawings appears when the last Kobe's moments appears playing on the Court or he had growed. Others are just like a little boy sketches and strokes, just living the emotion of respresent the idea that we'd enjoyed in our childhood: Play, have fun and smile.

    Finally, John Williams conducts the heart of two men in the play court. Reads any creative and emotional moment, the movements between Bryant and Keane looking for success until the farewell. Williams is the coach, seeks the moments to take timeouts, no matter what come next, is Kobe's time. The chords touches the heart such a Mother listens to her kids, waiting for the time Kobe's call the game as the same way he love his family and parents. Maybe in this day, seems to be words to thank every one who had witness his life. Finally Williams, repeat in a triunfal and powerful chord, the crowd, success until the farewell.

    Is an amazing short film, powerful and lovely. A perfect way to honor a great player and show us the way of built our dreams since childhood.

    In Memoriam of Kobe Bryant's sport words, the Academy Award 2018 Winner - Dear Basketball...

    "There is power in understanding the Journey of Others to help create your Own".
    helpful•8
    2
    • robert_angier-902-965123
    • Jan 27, 2020

    Details

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    • Release date
      • April 23, 2017 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Production companies
      • Believe Entertainment Group
      • Glen Keane Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 6 minutes
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