Kobe Bryant Was Set To Make An Unexpected Career Move Before His Tragic Death
The devastating death of Kobe Bryant, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, stunned everyone all over the world. However, hearing more about his big ideas for life after basketball makes it even more heartbreaking.
Upon his retirement in 2016, Bryant had plans to spend a lot more time with his wife, Vanessa, and their daughters. However, he also was developing media content. The NBA legend had created his own production and content company, Granity Studios, which spawned the Oscar-winning short, "Dear Basketball." According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bryant was also working on young adult and middle-grade books, including "The Wizenard Series," which hit the top of The New York Times' bestseller list. Developing content and sharing new stories was something else that he really enjoyed. "I was fortunate to retire from the game and find something I love to do and that is the art of storytelling," he shared with Forbes in 2019. "There is nothing like having a blank page and outlining a story, a world, a character."
Now, it's come to light that the late basketball player also had surprising plans to appear on a reboot of a cherished '90s sitcom.
Kobe Bryant was going to appear in the Saved By the Bell reboot
Kobe Bryant was set to make a small appearance in the pilot for the short-lived reboot of "Saved by the Bell." Two of the show's actors, Josie Totah and Alycia Pascual-Peña, shared the tidbit on an episode of their podcast, "Dare We Say." To Totah, the idea of working with Byrant was completely unreal but exciting. "I remember the costume girls had gotten his sizes from his stylist, he fully was on the call sheet and all of that," Totah shared.
Bryant had previously shown a bit of his acting chops in small roles on shows like "Moesha," "Sister, Sister," and "Modern Family." However, he tragically never got the chance to appear on the Peacock reboot. The pilot was set to film just two days after Bryant's death in January 2020. While the cast and crew had been greatly anticipating filming the pilot and Bryant's appearance, Pascual-Peña admitted that "the energy on set had shifted greatly" after his death. Though Bryant never had the opportunity to appear on the show, the actors acknowledged his great legacy will live on forever across the globe.