Kobe Bryant service ends with Oscar-winning film
February 24, 2020 1:16PM AKST
Sneakers and flowers along with messages for NBA star Kobe Bryant are left at a memorial for Bryant while fans gather to pay their respect near Staples Center in Los Angeles Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday, Jan. 26. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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.
