KOBE BRYANT AND JOHN WILLIAMS

On April 23rd, 2017, 18-time All-Star and 2008 NBA MVP winner, Kobe Bryant premiered his animated short film, Dear Basketball, at the Tribeca Film Festival. To deliver the film’s score, Bryant trusted no one else other than legendary composer John Williams, who the basketball star had been a fan of since childhood admitting that he, as a boy, ran around to the “Superman theme” with a towel around his neck. “The first thing I told Kobe was, I’d never seen a basketball game,” Williams said,”High school, college, professional, or television.” Bryant laughed.

According the LA Times, Bryant responded to Williams saying, “Hedwig’s Theme puts Natalia to sleep, that has put Gianna to sleep, and now it puts Bianka to sleep. I lay them on my chest and I hum it to them, and the vibrations of it just relaxes them.” During their collaboration, Williams told Bryant “I do classical pieces, and it’s all by hand,” to which Bryant responded, “The piece will be hand-animated by Glen Keane, who is you in the animation space. I want it to have the human touch. I don’t want it to be poppy, I don’t want it to be hip-hoppy. I want timeless, classical music.”

Bryant and Williams gave a showing at the Hollywood Bowl — the venue where the two would see each other backstage at Williams’ concerts over the years. Bryant narrated alongside Williams conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The runtime is five minutes and has appeared numerous times at the iconic concert space.

The film is the first time Williams composed music for traditional animation. The score was written as “a gift” for Bryant taking a break from writing Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It was recorded with a full orchestra on a Sony scoring stage. Bryant, of course, was present. “Oh my God,” he said. “I almost lost my mind. As soon as his hands went up and then the music started, I almost yelled out loud — but I had to remember that the red light was on and we’re recording… [Williams] has been a part of our family for so many years, without even knowing.” So to actually have a piece that he composes on something that I have written, and to see him do it there with the orchestra…it was the most unreal experience I could ever have.”

Dear Basketball is based on the letter Bryant wrote to the The Player’s Tribune on November 29, 2015 announcing his retirement. Bryant had hoped to hire Williams again.