Kobe Bryant’s final Lakers season documented with all-access film crew
The late Lakers superstar wanted to control his own narrative
Kobe Bryant’s final season with the Los Angeles Lakers got all the all-access treatment for a possible documentary.
ESPN reports that Bryant, 41, allowed cameras to follow him during the final stretch of his illustrious 20-year career during the 2015-16 season. Six personal film crews followed him into the locker room, while training, at home, and while he was on the road.
The Lakers ended that season with a 17-65 record but Bryant dazzled in his final game with an epic 60 points dropped in a 101-96 win against the Utah Jazz.
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“They had unprecedented and, by far, greater access than anyone else ever,” said John Black, who led the Lakers’ public relations department for 27 years. “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.”
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The success of Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance documentary, detailing his final season with the Chicago Bulls, has fans wishing for the same with Bryant. The late icon was already ahead of the curve, planning his own documentary to be released at a future date.
Bryant saw some of the edited footage and provided commentary before his tragic death in January that also killed his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
“Just watching them and being able to view what the cameras were doing to [capture] Jordan’s pregame routine, I mean, it’s the same thing,” says Marco Nunez, who served as the Lakers’ assistant athletic trainer that season. “Just flash forward … take out No. 23 with the Bulls and insert No. 24 with the Lakers. Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty much identical.”
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Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers holds his daughter, Gianna, after the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in Game Five of the 2009 NBA Finals on June 14, 2009. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
“It’s hard for me to not watch that and sort of see those [similar] instances,” added former Lakers head strength and conditioning coach Tim DiFrancesco.
Sources say that Bryant, who produced and starred in his 2015 documentary Muse and won an Oscar for his Dear Basketball animated film, wanted to control his own narrative which is why he allowed filmmakers so much access.
However, it took some adjustment for the team as the crew was very invasive. Nunez describes it as “controlled chaos” but the historical aspect made the difficulties worth it for those behind the scenes.
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 26: Kobe Bryant (2nd L) and his family attend the premiere of Disney’s “A Wrinkle In Time” at the El Capitan Theatre. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
“Kobe would say something in the locker room and I would kind of think about it like, ‘Oh, that’s gonna look pretty sick when they film it,'” Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. says. “Or, you know, that 60-point game or [him] playing in Philadelphia that last time. This is pretty monumental. I’m so glad somebody’s going to have a way to remember this.”
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