Kobe Bryant may have retired from the Los Angeles Lakers, but he certainly isn’t kicking back and relaxing. Ever since his final game, Bryant has seemingly been everywhere. He appeared in a commercial for the Copa America Centenario, the massive soccer tournament currently taking place in the United States, he was named “Athlete of the Decade” by Spike TV, and he even appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”, where he showed off his comedic chops when he took part in a hidden-camera prank.
On Friday, Bryant popped up at a ceremony hosted by the American Film Institute to honor legendary composer John Williams. The AFI presented Williams with a lifetime achievement award for his work creating the unforgettable cinematic scores for films such as “Star Wars”, “Indiana Jones”, “Jurassic Park”, “Jaws”, “E.T.”, and “Harry Potter”.
USA Today gave this description of Bryant’s speech:
Bryant referred to Williams as his muse and said he called a meeting with the composer in 2009, because “John’s music achieved a level of perfection I wanted to replicate on the basketball court.” The former NBA player had chosen Williams’Imperial March from Star Wars as his entrance music in 2003, when he returned to the court after an injury.
That Bryant met with Williams in 2009 is not surprising. He has always looked to innovators across many different fields for insight and inspiration, attempting to discover what quality allowed that person to find success and apply it to his own life. Bryant has mentioned a desire to become a storyteller now that he is retired, and has been involved with several documentaries about his life.
His presence at an AFI gala suggests that he will continue to pursue film as a creative outlet. Given Kobe’s tireless work ethic, it’s no surprise that he has already found a new challenge to conquer now that his Lakers career is over.
