Kobe Bryant had a personal film crew in final NBA season
With so much talk about the ESPN and Netflix documentary ‘The Last Dance,’ about the 1998 Chicago Bulls and their quest for a second three-peat, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes has made an interesting revelation regarding Kobe Bryant.
According to Holmes, the late Lakers’ legend allowed a film crew to follow him throughout the 2015-16 campaign, his final season in the NBA.
“They had unprecedented and, by far, greater access than anyone else ever,” said John Black to ESPN, who had been with the Lakers’ public relations department for 27 years, last serving as vice president. “We certainly allowed them to do everything we could within what the league would allow, and sometimes, with a wink and look-the-other-way, allowed them even more.”
While the film crew were limited on the amount of actual game footage they could shoot, they were still allowed to attend every game, practice and shoot around. They were also able to continue recording in areas that were traditionally deemed off limits and followed Bryant everywhere both on and off the court.
Bryant was tragically killed along with eight others in a helicopter crash on January 26th. Holmes’ report goes on to suggest that the footage had been in the editing process for quite a while and is intended to be used in a documentary years’ from now. Bryant had reportedly seen some of the edited footage and provided feedback prior to his untimely passing.
The former Lakers’ star spent his entire career in Los Angeles, playing 20 seasons with the franchise and winning five championships during that time. He had quite the illustrious career to say the least, being named to the NBA All-Star team 18 times, winning the NBA MVP in 2008, and claiming two NBA Finals MVP awards.
Unlike in ‘The Last Dance’ though where Michael Jordan’s Bulls ultimately won the 1998 NBA Championship, Bryant’s last season with the Lakers was a massive disappointment for both the player and the club. The Lakers finished with just 17 wins and had the second-worst record in the entire league. Only the abysmal Philadelphia 76ers ended the campaign with less wins. Bryant did manage to make 66 appearances in his final season though, which was more than he was able to muster in either of the two seasons prior. He made just six appearances in 2013-14 and 35 in 2014-2015. At the age of 37, Bryant averaged 17.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists before calling it quits.
2015-16 was also one of just five seasons in which Bryant didn’t make the postseason over his 20-year career, but the Lakers were in the middle of rebuilding and had an eye towards the future at the time.
Nobody knows when or if we will ever see the footage from Bryant’s last season but the mere thought of what it holds is enough to have any basketball fan foaming at the mouth in anticipation.
