Days after the death of basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter accident, the NBA star’s 2017 animated short film Dear Basketball is no longer available to stream for free.
How to stream Kobe Bryant’s Oscar-winning Dear Basketball for free
As of Tuesday, the film has been taken offline. It’s unclear if it will resurface on a streaming service.
The film was briefly made free to stream online on Monday by Granity Studios, Bryant’s production company. It could be watched at dearbasketball.com, as well as Vimeo.
It features hand-drawn animation and a musical score by John Williams. The film is based on Bryant’s 2015 letter in the Player’s Tribune detailing how his love for the sport began at an early age.
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Online, the film and excerpts of the original letter have been shared by fans in mourning. For students, the film has been used to inspire an exercise in writing.
“Many students had a difficult time yesterday with the passing of Kobe Bryant,” One user wrote. “We talked about it and read/watched his poem ‘Dear Basketball.’ Students then wrote about something that means as much to them as basketball meant to Kobe.”
Many students had a difficult time yesterday with the passing of Kobe Bryant. We talked about it and read/watched his poem “Dear Basketball”. Students then wrote about something that means as much to them as basketball meant to Kobe. @OrdePublic pic.twitter.com/Mun2XxvEwU
— Andreya Padmore (@andreyapadmore) January 28, 2020
A high school coach wrote that after students watched Dear Basketball in class and were asked about what they wanted their legacies to be, he decided he wanted his legacy to be the kids he’s coaching.
“I work at a school in the neighborhood I grew up in. And I coach (football) at the high school I played at,” he tweeted.
Teacher had the kids watching the Dear Basketball video from Kobe and made them write what they want their legacy to be. Then she asked me.
I want my legacy to be the kids, man. I work at a school in the neighborhood i grew up in. And i coach 
at the high school i played at.
— Coach Quan Edwards (@QuanDBtalk) January 28, 2020
When the film was made available to stream for free, fans took advantage—and maybe needed some tissues.
“Just watched Dear Basketball at 6 am and cried for 25 minutes,” one user wrote.
Just watched dear basketball at 6 am and cried for 25 minutes
— 
(@davidsingh97) January 28, 2020
Update 3:15pm CT, Jan. 28: The video is no longer available online.
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