Kobe Bryant - Far Out Magazine
(Credit: Keith Allison)
Sat 23 August 2025 16:10, UK
A biopic charting the rise of the late NBA star Kobe Bryant is reportedly in the works.
According to Variety, the project is currently in development and will come with a script courtesy of screenwriters Alex Sohn and Gavin Johannsen.
Rather than follow the full length of his career, which saw Bryant make himself a legend of basketball by winning five NBA championships and making the All-Star on 18 occasions, it will instead explore the wild story of how he joined the Los Angeles Lakers.
Over the course of his 20-year career at the top of the game, Bryant remained with the Los Angeles Lakers for the entirety of his stay in the NBA.
The film is currently titled, With the 8th Pick? However, Bryant was actually the 13th pick in the NBA draft in 1996 when he was selected by the Charlotte Hornets, who then traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers in a swap for Vlade Divac.
The movie’s title is a reference to the New Jersey Nets, who had the eighth pick. Their general manager, John Nash, was determined to pick Bryant; however, he was overruled by their coach, John Calipari, changing the course of NBA history forever.
In 2021, former Nets player Jason Kidd told ESPN about the sliding doors moment: “It changes the landscape of basketball. It would have made New Jersey an attractive place, a basketball hotbed with a player like that. When you have a player like Kobe Bryant and what he can do, he would definitely have gotten talent. And maybe Shaq would have been one of those pieces.”
At this stage, there are no reports of any actors or directors being attached to the project, which remains in the developmental stage.
Related Topics
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.