Kobe Bryant - Leader Of The New School

To the surprise of many, Kobe Bryant has avoided coaching, managing or even being involved with an NBA franchise in any way since his basketball retirement. Instead, he’s publishing young adult books and guiding his 12-year-old daughter’s team with zen master-like instruction. Welcome to the latest chapter of the black mamba’s life, where business is booming, the kids are learning and the awards keep on coming.

Kobe Bryant was 37 years old when his second half started. Now, nearly three nba seasons later, there are few reminders of his first half, of his five championships, 20 years and 33,643 points as an I.A. Laker laying around his spacious Orange County, CA, office.

Instead, Bryant’s deep-seated couch and coffee table are littered with piles of advanced copy books and worn classics. The shelving, which is on the other side of the half-court sized room, boasts more literature and a gleaming gold Oscar, which he won in 2018 for his poem-turned-animated-short Dear Basketball. Feet away, Bryant’s desk, which is wider than Shaq and heavier than Oliver Miller, is covered with a tree’s worth of white paper dotted with a yellow highlighter and handwritten edits. The only other items on the surface are some pens, a laptop and family photos.

It is in this floor-to-ceiling windowed room, at the nerve center of Granity, his company, studio and, in a way, the universe, that Bryant is sitting this morning. The CEO and president showed up at around 8 a.m., later than usual but early if you consider the fact that he and his wife Vanessa arrived home from the Academy Awards and Jay-Z's exclusive afterparty in the wee hours of the morning. Still, Bryant has abounded with energy.

“Listen to this,” he says. Bryant swipes away at his phone with a finger that was mangled on the court and pulls up the audiobook version of his upcoming novel, The Wizenard Series: Training Camp. “I think this one is going to win a Grammy.”