Just hours before he played his last game, basketball legend Kobe Bryant was engrossed in some other work: editing.
At the WSJDLive conference in Laguna Beach, California, yesterday (Oct. 25), the former US National Basketball Association player discussed his new projects now that he’s retired from sports. Among them, Bryant said, is writing and editing, which he’s so passionate about that he got lost in it on the day of his last game in April.
“I was actually at the office until 4 or 4:15 editing a bunch of short stories, and lost track of time,” Bryant told the Wall Street Journal’s Dennis K. Berman. “And I looked at my watch, ‘Oh…I better go home. I got my last game to play.'”
This isn’t the first time Bryant has shown his literary side. In May 2013, while recovering from surgery for a torn Achilles tendon, he tweeted that he was thinking about writing a book:
Bryant told Berman he didn’t have a title for the book yet, and declined to reveal the plot, but said its purpose is ”to inspire.”
Known for his work ethic and intellectual curiosity, Bryant has said his post-basketball life will include Kobe Studios projects like novels and films. In August he revealed plans to start a venture capital fund called BryantStibel, and last fall Bryant announced his retirement with a poem called “Dear Basketball.”