Part Of Kobe Bryant's Retirement Is Writing Jingles About Brad Stevens
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Kobe Bryant is retired, but he is one busy man.
Still, he apparently has time to share his love for Brad Stevens -- in jingle form. And it's not just a throwaway "Bradddddddd Stevens" to the old "by Mennon" jingle.
Once a feared competitor on the hardwood, the former Laker is now Mr. Entertainment. Bryant runs his own production company with 10 full-timers on his staff, and like most normal folks, he even has his own cubicle. Everything Bryant and his crew creates is geared toward kids, from podcasts to a trio of upcoming young-adult novels, as highlighted in a great piece by Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins on Bryant's post-basketball career.
Bryant, who recently won an Oscar for his animated short Dear Basketball, would like to see those novels eventually hit the big screen. In one case, he'd like to see it take Broadway. Bryant appears to be much, much busier now than when he had 82+ basketball games to play, so he really doesn't have much free time.
But despite his 8+ hour work day, he still makes sure to pick up his kids from school. And that is where Jenkins revealed another one of Kobe's talents; the jingles. They're for animated segments called "Musecage" on ESPN, and one of those jingles just so happens to be about the beautiful young mind of Brad Stevens.
You can see what happens, I can see why, I can see adjustments made in real time.
You can see who's open, I can tell you how and why, For this is a game of the mind.
Kobe better clear a space next to that Oscar. Stevens has received many accolades during his five-year run as Celtics head coach (just not a Coach of the Year nod, yet) and made it to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals, but having Bryant both pen and sing a jingle about his play-calling acumen has to be the highlight of his career thus far.
After visiting with the New England Patriots earlier this offseason, now we'll wait to see if Bryant has a Bill Belichick jingle in the works.