Dwyane Wade shares how Kobe Bryant inspired him off the basketball court.
During the performance at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon On Friday, Wade, 42, discussed the impact of Bryant’s 2018 Oscar win for animated short Dear basketball had on him as he pondered the late NBA legend’s legacy outside of sports.
When asked by host Jimmy Fallon if he thought he’d see basketball players win an Oscar, Wade replied, “No, I didn’t even know that was a thing…you’ve got to see somebody do something again.”
“I remember when Kobe won his Oscar,” he continued. “It showed me and it told me that if you get behind something that you’re really passionate about, that people can feel your heartbeat through it, then great things can happen which you obviously know through their basketball.”
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Speaking further about the win, Wade said: “When he won that, as a guy who had just retired, I was sitting there knowing that my time was coming, I said, ‘Well, now I’ve got to go win an Oscar!’
“I mean, I try not to get too behind all the accolades, championships, gold medals,” the former Miami Heat player added. “… so please voters, let’s do it!” he was rushing the camera.
Wade is the executive producer of the 2023 documentary The Barber of Little Rock, which was nominated for an Oscar in the category of best short documentary. The film deals with America’s widening wealth gap and follows the story of a barber from Little Rock, Arkansas.
The NBA star’s remembrance of Bryant’s Oscar win comes on the fourth anniversary of the Los Angeles Lakers star’s untimely death in a helicopter crash.
Wade spoke about Bryant’s influence on him on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’.
Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty
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Bryant was killed along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, 13, whom he shared with his wife Vanessa Bryant, on January 26, 2020. He is survived by Vanessa, 41, and their daughters Natalia, 21, Bianka, 7, and Capri , 4.
In 2018, Bryant took home the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film Dear Basketball, which he narrated, based on a poem of the same name he wrote for The Players’ Tribune where he announced his retirement from basketball in November 2015.
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Speaking after his win, Bryant told reporters at the time, “I feel better than winning the championship, I swear. Growing up as a child, I dreamed of winning championships and worked very hard. But then something like this comes out of left field.”
“I’ve heard a lot of people say to me, ‘What are you going to do when you retire?’ I want to be a writer and a storyteller,” explained the late sports star. “I got a lot of, ‘That’s cute.’ I got so much. To be here right now and feel validated, this is crazy.”
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Source: HIS Education