-Thank you so much for doing the show.
Last time I saw you, you didn't have an Oscar.
You have an Academy Award? [ Cheers and applause ]
No! -It's crazy, man.
It's crazy. -What's that feel --
I mean, we were talking about the film,
and then, for it to get nominated
was just a goal in itself. -Yeah, yeah.
-But then you won. -What the hell, right?
[ Laughter ]
You know, it's just one of those things,
man, where you play basketball your entire life...
-Yeah.
-...and then you move on to something else.
And you wind up working with great people.
-Yeah. -And the next thing you know,
you're sitting at the Osc-- I mean, I was sitting there
with Vanessa at the Oscars like,
"What in the hell are we doing here?"
[ Laughter ] -"How did I get here?"
-Yeah, "What -- Meryl Streep's right there."
[ Laughter ]
-Speaking of surrounding yourself with good people,
who are these young ladies right here on the cover?
-The one with the eyebrow there and all the attitude,
that's our middle daughter, Gianna.
-Oh, yeah.
-And this is our basketball team.
These are the girls that I coach every single day.
-Now, you coach them every single day.
-Every day. [ Cheers and applause ]
-How's it to have Kobe Bryant be a coach?
How are you as a coach?
I mean, you've worked with some of the best.
But I mean, what do you -- -[ Laughs ]
I mean, listen, we practice every day.
-You do? -Yes.
So, like, Gianna wants to play at UConn.
I have a few kids that want to go to Stanford.
Some want to go to Notre Dame and play.
And it's like, "Listen, three days a week
ain't gonna get you there, right?
You got to really work."
And so we run the triangle offense.
-No.
-Oh, yeah, the girls run the triangle offense.
-I mean, that is insane. -Yeah.
-Does Phil Jackson know this? [ Laughter ]
-So, he does, actually. So, I'll --
The girls really ran, like,
a really complicated triangle-offensive sequence.
-Yeah, it is tricky. -It is tricky.
And I sent him the video of them running it.
-Did you really? -I did, and he was like,
"Oh, my gosh. They ran it beautifully."
And I was like, "Yeah, well,
they kind of got a better coach, so..."
[ Laughter ]
It's okay, man. It's all right, man.
-That's so cool that you did that.
I got to say congrats to you and Vanessa.
You're expecting another girl. Another Bryant.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Yes!
Four girls, man. Four girls.
-Four girls? -Four girls.
-All women in the house, dude.
-I spend most of the time at the house
literally talking to myself.
[ Laughter ]
I think they're listening -- -Oh, yeah, they are.
-And then, they just go off talking about something else,
and I just face the wall. [ Laughter ]
-Wow. That is gonna be wild, man.
-It's nuts. It's awesome, though.
-Are they excited to get a sister?
-Yeah, they are. Really, really excited.
Our eldest -- her and Gianna both
do a great job looking out for Bianka right.
-It's the best news, having a baby.
-It's awesome, man. -It's the greatest.
I heard somewhere that you said that your youngest daughters,
you're not even gonna, like --
that you don't want them to really know you as
an NBA legend or your basketball past.
-Yeah. -You think they're gonna
know you as something different?
-Well, yeah, they'll never actually see me play.
You know what I mean?
So they'll be like, "Wait. You played ball?
What?" [ Laughter ]
-"Whatever, Dad." -"What? Whatever.
I can outshoot you," and that sort of stuff.
Yeah, because Bianka's 2,
so she doesn't know me as a basketball player.
-You think they know as, like,
a writer and director and producer.
-How about that? -I think that's pretty cool.
I like that, actually. [ Cheers and applause ]
-It's awesome. -That's amazing.
I'm pretty sure they'll know you as a basketball player, too.
[ Laughter ]
I want to talk about this. This is awesome.
This is the "Wizenard" series.
Now, this is a mix of fantasy,
almost like, I'd say, "Harry Potter"
or "Game of Thrones," mixed with basketball.
-Yeah. I had to try and describe it
to somebody when I first came up with the idea.
They're like, "What is it?
You got to give, like, elevator pitch, elevator pitch."
-Elevator, yeah.
What can you pitch me in an elevator?
-"Harry Potter," Olympics, had a baby.
This is what we're making.
[ Laughter ]
And they look at me kind of weird, but, "Okay, I get it."
-And that is what you made. -Yeah.
-And who is Wesley King?
-Wesley King's the author. You know, just brilliant.
This is five books in one.
So it's told from the perspective
of five different athletes.
And he managed to write five books simultaneously,
and he's just absolutely brilliant.
I don't know how he did it. [ Laughs ]
-It's amazing. -But he did it, yeah.
-But there's great stuff in here,
if you like that fantasy world and the wizards.
But also, really good advice and coaching stuff,
things you do learn if you're on a good team.
-Well, yeah, the important thing in this story
is the story of self-acceptance.
We all have fears, and we all have anxieties
and things of that nature. We can't ignore them.
When you ignore them, they fester,
and they have control over you.
What these young men have to learn through magic
is how to have the courage to face those fears
and use those fears to help themselves
be better basketball players and better people through it.
So that's the journey. -That's right.
Good for you. [ Cheers and applause ]
"The Wizenard" series.
Actually, I heard that you were thinking maybe
making this into a Broadway production?
-Yes. -Really?
-Yes. [ Cheers ]
-And that you might be getting someone fun
to help out write some of the songs?
-Somebody standing -- sitting right over there.
-Tariq. [ Cheers and applause ]
-I mean, listen.
I mean, as a lyricist, he's extremely well-known.
-Yeah. He's the best.
-He does okay. Right? -He does okay, yeah.
-So, I'm like, you know, if I'm gonna go to somebody
to write this thing... -You go to the best.
-Come on. -Oh, I see what you're gonna do.
You just got the Oscar. Now you're gonna get the Tony,
and then you're gonna get a Grammy.
You're going to be the first athlete to ever have an EGOT.
-Yeah. -That's gonna happen.
Mark my words. There you go right there.
[ Cheers and applause ] I'm so happy for you.
Congrats on the baby. -Thank you.
-Congrats on the Oscar. Congrats on the book.
Kobe Bryant's new book
"The Wizenard Series: Training Camp" is out today.