The unfinished work of late Kobe Bryant children’s book with author Paulo Coelho has been deleted by the Brazilian writer following the death of the NBA player and Oscar winner.
The book, which was yet-to-receive a title upon completion had been in talks between the duo since 2016, but started to be scripted some few months ago. “I deleted the draft because it didn’t make any sense to publish without him. It wouldn’t add anything relevant to him or his family. That doesn’t stop me from writing someday about things I learned from Kobe and how much of a larger-than-life person he was. But the children’s book did not make sense anymore,” Coelho disclosed to the Associated Press on Monday.
According to Coelho, the book was very dear to Kobe’s heart and was penning it down to inspire underprivileged children to help overcome adversity through sports, “Kobe was very concerned about making a book that was a positive example for children, especially those coming from humble beginnings.”
‘The Alchemist’ published in 1988 by Coelho was a favorite of Kobe amongst the author’s many written works. The late NBA player described it as his favorite novel and recommended it to anyone he came across including former teammate Kyrie Irving, Rob Pelinka as well as LeBron James, who was photographed reading it before his shootaround in the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference finals.
Under his Granity Studios, Kobe brought into the novel market middle grade and young adult books including ‘The Wizenard Series: Training Camp’.
Kobe together with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 26 along with seven others on board. He was aged 41.
“I saw him enough times to assure he had much more than sports on his mind; it wasn’t all about competition,” Coelho said. “His tragic death has shown already how he was important to the world, not only to the United States. We will discuss his legacy for many years, much beyond sport.”
