Kobe Bryant has made repeated references to his passion for storytelling since his announcement about 13 months ago that he would retire from basketball, and now we're starting to see what he was talking about. In May, Sports Illustrated announced that Bryant's "Dear Basketball" poem would be made into an animated short film. On Friday, ESPN announced that the first of six short "video presentations" from Bryant would air on Christmas Day during the 2 p.m. ET edition of NBA Countdown on ABC.
The series is called "Canvas" and each video will focus on "an NBA on-court topic, through the eyes of Bryant." The one airing Sunday is titled, "Guarding the Greats," and it will be about -- you guessed it -- defending the best of the best.
Bryant is one of the smartest players the league has ever seen, and his attention to detail was nearly unmatched when it came to preparation, studying film and learning every little trick of the trade. It makes sense that he'd want to share that knowledge now that it's no longer a competitive advantage. This idea has a lot of potential, so let's hope that it has been executed properly.
