The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their full list of Oscar nominees for 2018 today, and Kobe Bryant was among the list of Hollywood's elite.
Bryant's short animated film, "Dear Basketball," will be competing against "Garden Party" (by Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon), "Lou" (by Dave Mullins and Dana Murray), "Negative Space" (by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata) and "Revolting Rhymes" (by Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer) for the 2018 "Animated Short" Oscar.
The film, which was directed by Disney animator Glen Keane and scored by John Williams, is an animated version of the "Dear Basketball" poem that Kobe wrote for the Players Tribune in 2015 as he wrapped up his illustrious NBA career. Bryant voices his poem in the short film as animation portrays Kobe’s love of the game.
Shortly after the Oscar nominees were announced, Kobe took to social media, "What?? This is beyond the realm of imagination," Bryant tweeted. "It means so much that the @TheAcademy deemed #DearBasketball worthy of contention. Thanks to the genius of @GlenKeanePrd & John Williams for taking my poem to this level. It's an honor to be on this team. #OscarNoms."
Kobe will find out if he's adding another piece of hardware to his collection on March 5th at the Academy Awards, airing on ABC.
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