Kobe Bryant has retired, but we're certainly not done hearing from him, or about him.
The Undefeated published two stories about Bryant on Tuesday -- one by Ramona Shelburne, the other by Mike Wise -- that revealed lots of interesting nuggets about the former Los Angeles Lakers star.
Here are five things that particularly caught our eye:
A Spice Girls fan -- well, sort of: Wise shares an anecdote from an interview he conducted with Kobe way back in 1998, when he was just 19. They were in Bryant's car, and after listening to some Jay Z, Kobe switched to a Spice Girls CD. "You like the Spice Girls?" Bryant said. "A lot of people hate them, but the positive image they project, how they make kids feel, I admire that." Whether he really liked them is another matter -- read Wise's article for more.
Mythology? Really? At the beginning of Shelburne's story, Kobe talks about his plans after basketball. "There's an entire mythological universe I've created," he said. "There are certain rules that make up this world. Within this world, I've built in a lot of room for really talented writers to come in." Turns out he's met with people like J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, and J.J. Abrams, director of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," among other things. Stay tuned.
Mad Man: What does Kobe have in common with Don Draper? He's really into advertising, too. Back in January he trademarked the phrase "Friends Hang Sometimes, Banners Hang Forever." If he had gone to college, he would have majored in the subject. "I've studied advertising for years," he said. "I wrote 90 percent of my own commercials."
He (Don't) Got Game: Back in the summer of 1997, after Kobe's rookie season, director Spike Lee offered him the role of Jesus Shuttlesworth in "He Got Game" alongside Denzel Washington. Bryant passed, choosing to focus on working in the gym that summer. Lee cast Ray Allen instead.
Classical genius: Kobe can play the piano, and he taught himself how to do it. A couple of years ago he wanted to learn how to play something for his wife -- Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," to be more precise. But he wanted to challenge himself, too. "Sitting down and taking lessons would be too easy," Bryant said. "So I taught myself by ear."
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