Kobe Bryant service ends with Oscar-winning film
February 24, 2020 1:16PM AKST
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A selection from the short film “Dear Basketball” that won Kobe Bryant an Academy Award played on the big screens at Staples Center to wrap up a public memorial for the former Los Angeles Lakers superstar. He won a 2018 Oscar in the animated short category for the film based on a poem he wrote after ending his 20-year career basketball career in 2016. The memorial for Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others who died in a helicopter crash last month featured heartfelt stories from Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, NBA legends Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal and other friends in the basketball community.