Kobe Bryant. He is known for many things. He is a five-time NBA champion, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, an 18-time all-star, an 11-time all-NBA fist team, and an NBA MVP just to name a few. But his basketball accolades stopped in 2016 when he retired after playing his final game against the Utah Jazz.

Since then, Kobe has moved on with his life off the court. He now devotes his time to creating media projects, such as the short film: Dear Basketball, for which he just won an Oscar. My first memory of Kobe Bryant is when he knocked out the Denver Nuggets in the conference finals. But never, since then, did I even think I’d hear the phrase, “Kobe won an Oscar!”

Dear Basketball, to me, seems to be Kobe’s final message for the game of basketball. And it is because of this final message to the game of basketball that makes Dear Basketball all the more monumental.

Since Kobe’s retirement, he has created numerous short videos that mix creative narration, animation, and his knowledge of the game of basketball. But this one has been the greatest in terms of narration and animation. In most of Kobe’s previous videos, he just stitched basketball clips together, whereas in this one, he created a voice over for an animated video.

Personally, I am incredibly excited that this happened. In the past, basketball players usually rest on the laurels in their post-playing career, become business men, sports teams owners, or go on to become TV analysts for the game. Never before, have I seen a basketball player become a media creator and win an Oscar.

Hopefully, this will spur many professional athletes to contemplate what they want to do with their life in the post-playing career and maybe we will see more professional athletes be in the running for creative awards such as the Oscar.