After 20 years in the NBA, the late Kobe Bryant retired from the league in 2016 to spend more time with his family and venture into other business opportunities.
In January of 2020, the basketball legend lost his life in a helicopter crash with his daughter GiGi and seven other victims.
Bryant’s time following the NBA was cut short, and we didn’t get to see all these amazing things he set out to do.
However, according to John Black, leader of the Laker’s Public Relations Department, basketball fans around the world may get to see the Black Mamba’s love and dedication for the sport again, inv unreleased behind the scenes footage.
Black revealed that during Bryant’s final season, he gave his camera crew and several Lakers staffers “unparalleled access” in the locker room, at home, on the road, during training, time spent at the team’s practice facility and on the team’s charter plane, ESPN reports.
“They had unprecedented and, by far, greater access than anyone else ever,” said Black. “We certainly allowed them to do everything we could within what the league would allow, and sometimes, with a wink and look-the-other-way, allowed them even more.”
Sources with knowledge of the footage told ESPN that the footage was being edited for a potential documentary years down the line, and it’s “unlikely” those plans have changed.
Bryant, who also produced and starred in his 2015 documentary “Muse,” wanted control over the footage during his final season, which was the reason he had his own film crew take on the project.
Bryant was involved in the editing process by providing feedback in the months leading up to his untimely death.
According to Marco Nunez, who was the assistant athletic trainer for Bryant’s final season, the documentary is similar to Michael Jordan’s ‘The Last Dance.’
“Just watching them and being able to view what the cameras were doing to [capture] Jordan’s pregame routine, I mean, it’s the same thing,” Nunez said. “Just flash forward … take out No. 23 with the Bulls and insert No. 24 with the Lakers. Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty much identical.”
Other Lakers players who played alongside Bryant during his final season, remember it being challenging having cameras around when they were having a challenging season.
“It was interesting because, obviously, we weren’t winning, so that was frustrating. And the [cameras were always] in your face so, I don’t know, it was hard,” Robert Sacre said. “It didn’t feel real as a season.”
“It was really cool because, like, this is the Black Mamba. But at the same time, like, this is also the worst season in Lakers history,” Larry Nance Jr. said. “So while I’m really proud to be in the NBA playing with this absolute legend, [that] is not something that I’m really trying to relive.”
However, Nance said the footage is going to look “pretty sick” and “monumental” whenever it comes to the light.
“Kobe would say something in the locker room, and I would kind of think about it like, ‘Oh, that’s gonna look pretty sick when they film it,'” Nance added. “Or, you know, that 60-point game or [him] playing in Philadelphia that last time. ‘This is pretty monumental. I’m so glad somebody’s going to have a way to remember this.'”
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