''Kobe Doin' Work'' is a 2009 documentary film directed by
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...
. It focuses on then professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
player
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...
before, during, and immediately after one game of the
2007–08 Los Angeles Lakers season
The 2007–08 NBA season, 2007–08 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 60th season of the franchise, 59th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 48th in Los Angeles. During the offseason, the Lakers re-signed point guard Derek Fisher. T ...
against the
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
. Bryant granted filmmaker Spike Lee and 30 cameras total access to his life for one day. Bryant agreed to wear a microphone throughout the day capturing in-game, bench, and locker room conversations. Lee's cameras were also given unprecedented access to the Laker locker room. ''Kobe: Doin' Work'' premiered on ESPN on May 16, 2009.
Plot
''Kobe Doin’ Work'' is an 84-minute exploration of Kobe Bryant's work ethic, his in game mentality, and the bluntness that made Bryant a great competitor.
Lee uses multiple cameras, sound from the in-game broadcast, the
Staples Center
Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...
, a microphone worn by Kobe himself, and a follow-up narration while he watched the footage to illustrate every detail of Kobe's performance, strategy, and inner thoughts.
Bryant shot 6 of 14 from the field, scored 20 points, and played 32 minutes. The game was a crucial game in the end of the regular season, as the Los Angeles Lakers hoped to keep first place in the Western Conference with a record of 55–25. In an NBA.com 2009 Q&A (now archived) Spike Lee explained in an interview why he chose Kobe Bryant as the subject for this documentary: "I'm a big basketball fan. It was obvious. He was having an MVP-type year, in which he did win the MVP. Also the Lakers looked like they were going to take it to the Finals. And I wanted them to beat the
Celtics. I hate the Celtics. But the Celtics won. But I don't think I was taking a gamble by choosing Kobe." Also, according to Spike Lee, "He (Kobe) said several times how much fun it was just doing it."
The 84-minute documentary ran on ESPN commercial free.
The documentary also focuses on Bryant and the team in huddles and during time-outs. The cameras also get full access of coach
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson is a 13-time NBA champion, having won two as a player and 11 as ...
in the locker room with the team during half-time. Bryant provided the voice-over for the documentary on February 2, 2009, hours after he scored 61 points against the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...
at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
, (then a single-game record at the arena, which has been broken since). Spike Lee said that he was excited for Bryant to do the commentary following a game at Madison Square Garden, but no one expected a 61-point performance from Bryant. "I know that if he had a terrible game the commentary would not have been the same. Guaranteed. But Kobe said he made a point to make sure not to lose the game or he would hear it from me."
Bryant indeed said in an after game interview that he was going to give the game his all in order to show Spike Lee a thing or two about Bryant's skills on the court against the Knicks. "On a lighter note, I'm going to review this documentary I'm doing with Spike Lee tonight after the game and I didn't feel like sitting next to him and hearing him talking trash about the Knicks, so that was added incentive as well. Seriously. He's going to get an earful tonight."
Reception
Ryan Cracknell writing for movieviews.ca appreciated the insight into Kobe's game but criticized the "angle switches, speed changes and repetition" as "distracting".
Similar sports documentaries
''Kobe Doin' Work'' is in the same genre as the 2006 sports documentary ''
Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait'',
as well as the film ''Football As Never Before'' (), a documentary made in 1970 by German filmmaker
Hellmuth Costard about
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
footballer
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
.
See also
*
List of basketball films
References
External links
*
{{Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
2009 television films
2009 films
American sports documentary films
Documentary films about sportspeople
Films directed by Spike Lee
ESPN Films films
2009 documentary films
Documentary films about basketball
2007–08 NBA season
2000s American films