Andscape, a content studio from Disney and ESPN, debuted “Eight on Eight,” which is a documentary telling the quiet benevolence of Hall of Famer and five-time NBA champion and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.
It is a one-hour film exclusively available on ESPN+ with excerpts and vignettes being aired across The Walt Disney Company’s platforms as part of ESPN’s “Black History Always” sports content series.
This documentary was written and directed by Andscape’s senior writer Jerry Bembry, who co-directed another ESPN+ exclusive “On & Coppin.” Eight on Eight is a newsroom-driven series that shares the stories of eight individuals and the impact that Bryant had on their lives.
“Basketball fans are familiar with the intensity Kobe Bryant brought to the basketball court,” Bembry said in an ESPN press release. “What they might not be as familiar with is the passion he brought to his encounters with everyday people, and his willingness to go the extra mile to help them when they were in times of need.”
Vice President and Head of Storytelling of Andscape and Co-Executive Producer of Eight on Eight Dwayne Bray built on that point: “Most viewers will be seeing several stories in this film for the first time for the simple reason that Kobe Bryant didn’t always want his good deeds to be publicly known. This movie shows a more humanistic side of the Lakers legend.”
A few of those stories being shared include Kristen O’Connor Hecht, who asked for an autograph from Bryant for a terminally ill patient named Kobe in Phoenix, Arizona. Wholesomely, the Lakers legend visited the ICU, where he spent about an hour tossing a basketball with the five-year-old patient.
Jarid Gibson met a 17-year-old Bryant in 1995 at the Beach Ball Classic in South Carolina. Gibson would write a letter to him after the time they spent together, which the 20-year veteran revealed inspired him through his lengthy basketball career.
At the end of the day, it is always great to get a peek behind the curtain and see how basketball players are off the court to provide humility. Eight on Eight cashes in on that to share the kind of person Bryant was before the Lakers legend’s untimely passing.
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