Warner Bros.’ bold bets on films in 2025 have paid off at the box office, and the studio is likely hoping its latest acquisition, a speculative script chronicling the late Kobe Bryant’s rise to becoming a Los Angeles Laker, follows the success of recent hits like Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” James Gunn’s “Superman,” and Zach Cregger’s “Weapons.”
According to Variety, the project from screenwriters Alex Sohn and Gavin Johannsen had attracted the interest of several studios. Instead of dealing with a potential auction, the studio optioned to pick up the script, which has been tentatively titled “With The 8th Pick,” although Bryant was actually taken by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th pick.
As the story regarding Bryant’s draft night goes, the Hornets traded Bryant’s draft rights to the Lakers in exchange for center Vlade Divac, however, then-New Jersey Nets General Manager John Nash has expressed that he intended to draft the future Hall of Famer with the 8th pick, but was overruled by current University of Arkansas head basketball coach John Calipari.
The script is described by insiders as “Moneyball” meets “Air,” the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon picture that details how Nike courted the player Bryant patterned much of his game after, His Airness, Michael Jordan.
“Air” details the competing negotiations of Jordan’s rookie season in 1984, when he almost signed with another shoe company, but instead he chose Nike and transformed that shoe brand and pop culture in the process.
According to Variety, when they asked representatives of Warner Bros. about the project, they didn’t give a comment.
Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star played all 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping the organization to win five championships, including a rare three-peat alongside Shaquille O’Neal in the early 2000’s. Eventually, Bryant would supplant even Magic Johnson as the greatest Los Angeles Laker ever. Like Magic, he was drafted to the organization and never left while he delivered multiple championships.
According to The New York Times, Bryant’s long-time marriage to his wife, Vanessa, was threatened in 2003 when he was accused of sexual assault by a 19-year-old woman.
It wasn’t until 2018, seven months after he won an Oscar for best animated short film, that he and the world were reminded of his transgressions after a petition created bad press and he was dropped from a film festival jury.
“This is an urgent time to say NO to toxic and violent behavior against women, the petition said in an effort to call on organizers of the Animation Is Film Festival to distance themselves from Bryant.
Kobe, as he had done in the past, declined to discuss the sexual assault case, only remarking that he was “disappointed” and wanted to focus on creating “diverse stories, characters and leadership” through which he hoped to change the world.
Bryant’s escape of his legal troubles after the accuser refused to testify birthed his “Black Mamba” alter-ego, which in turn begat the Mamba Sports Academy, Mamba Mentality commercial spots with Nike, and the nickname “Mambacita” for his daughter Gianna, whom he would often take to WNBA games with him before they died in a fiery helicopter crash alongside seven others in January 2020.
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