In Feb. 2017, Rob Pelinka became the Los Angeles Lakers general manager when owner Jeanie Buss seized control by firing former executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak.
A year later in March 2018, Kobe Bryant won an Oscar for his short film, “Dear Basketball.”
Ever since retirement, Bryant has been asked with consistency if he has any dreams of joining the Lakers in a front office or coaching role, something he vehemently denies every time.
Now, it seems that Bryant’s post-basketball dreams were always different than the sport as he revealed. He also shared that Pelinka has achieved dreams he set for himself a long time ago, according Bill Oram and Sam Amick of The Atheltic:
“We had a pipe dream in 2003,” Bryant told The Athletic back in October. “We sat back, and we used to do these exercises where you’d say, ‘OK, in 20 years, where we going to be?’ And it just seemed so ridiculous, but (you had to name) the most ridiculous dream that we could ever, ever, have. ‘What is the most ridiculous dream that we could have in 20 years?’ And mine was building a studio and winning an Oscar (which he has done). And his was being GM of the Lakers.”
Bryant and Pelinka were always a ruthless pair during their days as a player and agent, respectively. As a result, it seems only fitting that the two barely even needed 15 of those 20 years to achieve their ultimate dream.
And now with this story coming to light, it seems even more unlikely that Bryant will ever join the Lakers in the front office or on the coaching staff. Because in 2003 when Bryant was coming off three consecutive championships in four seasons, he still knew that he wanted to get away from basketball when he retired.
As for Pelinka, he has his dream job and has an opportunity to prove he deserves it amid conflicting reports.
