The world is stunned and saddened by the news of the death of legendary NBA player Kobe Bryant and his 13 year old daughter Gianna Maria – along with 7 others (Bryant’s private pilot Ara Zobayan; John Altobelli, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa; Christina Mauser; Mother and daughter Sarah and Payton Chester) – in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 26th.

Kobe Bryant Dear Basketball

Sports publications and tv outlets everywhere are sharing some of the athlete’s greatest moments, career highlights and dunk-compilations. The numerous tributes on social media to Bryant by friends and fans alike are heart-wrenching.

If you’re not an avid Bryant fan, you may not know of his 2015 poem, Dear Basketball, an ode to the sport, written upon his retirement, that was turned into an Oscar-Winning animated short.

Here we share with you the poem as it appeared on The Players Tribune in 2015 followed by the short animated film.

Bryant’s “Dear Basketball” won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 2018 Academy Awards. The six-minute film is based on the poem (shown above) Bryant wrote that was published in The Players Tribune in 2015, when he announced his retirement from the NBA.

Kobe Bryant will forever be known as one of the world’s greatest basketball players. May he and his daughter rest in peace. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the Altobelli Family, Sarah and Payton Chester, Ara Zobayan and Christina Mauser.