Kobe Bryant on 'Dear Basketball' and the car ride home after his last-ever NBA game

Twenty years. That's how much time Kobe Bryant spent with the Los Angeles Lakers -- his entire career, drafted as a teenager to become a five-time NBA champion and permanent franchise legend.

In 2016, Bryant's storied career came to a end, ending a chapter in Bryant's life as well as one in Los Angeles' history. Joining the NBA was a childhood dream that consumed Bryant all through childhood and adolescence, a vocational calling fueled by an undying love for the game. That undying love is the crux of "Dear Basketball," an animated short film about Bryant's journey from tossing crumpled paper into wastebaskets to dunking on LeBron at LA's Staples Center.

Written and narrated by Bryant, the stirring animation comes from Glen Keane, the man who brought Disney characters like Ariel and Aladdin to life. The score is a creation of John Williams, arguably the most iconic American composer in modern history, and the finished product -- an 2018 Oscar contender -- is a must-watch on Go90.

Read on for AOL Entertainment's condensed conversation with Kobe Bryant about "Dear Basketball," his incredible career and his family-centric new stage of life:

AOL Entertainment: What was your reaction when you first saw the animated version of yourself come to life on-screen in "Dear Basketball"?

KOBE BRYANT: I was blown away. Seeing the finished piece left me speechless, actually.

In creating the story, was it emotional for you to reflect on your childhood?

Yeah, it was emotional, but it wasn't so much a reflection on my childhood as it was like, how do I express who I am through the game? All the things I feel about the game that I've never had a chance to tell -- what would I say, how would I convey that? What's the most beautiful way I could tell the game how much I feel about it? That was the genesis of writing the letter.

Have your own kids watched the film?

They have, they have. [Bryant has three daughters with wife Vanessa Laine.] They became teary-eyed. They said, "Dad" -- I used to tell them this all the time -- "Dad, hard work makes the dream work." I just looked at them and smiled.

Did you watch it with them?

I put it on for my kids and for my wife and let them watch it and kind of walked away.

Can you pinpoint one moment in your career where you just thought to yourself, 'Wow, I can't believe this is my life'?

In the car after my last game. [Bryant scored 60 points in the final game of his career, landing the Lakers a 101-96 win over the Utah Jazz.] I was in the car with my wife and daughters, and they were just giving me crap, saying, "It's about time you had a game like that!" My one daughter said, "I've never seen you play like that before -- I've heard about it, but I've never seen it." Just giving me crap, and I was just laughing and smiling, thinking, This is awesome. This is what it's all about, right here.

It must be great to be able to spend so much more time with your family now.

Yeah, you know, the [pro basketball] schedule is so inconsistent. You're here for a week, you're gone for two, you're back for two days -- it's hard as a parent because you want to give your children as much consistency as possible. So now I'm able to do that: Take them to school, pick them up, after school practices, dinner. It's been wonderful to be able to hang with them.

What's it like to see new, talented players just entering the NBA?

Oh, it's funny because I know the mountain they have to climb. It's a very, very steep one, and it's a very, very long one. And I'm excited for them, because I know they have the energy to climb it. I look back myself and think, How the hell did I climb that mountain in the first place? I could not imagine starting from the beginning right now -- because where my body is, my knees, my back, I just can't imagine doing it. But I'm really excited to see this next generation of talent starting their own journeys.

Are there any particular players you've spoken to?

I speak to a lot of them, actually. A lot of them reach out for advice or suggestions about how to handle particular defenses and training. I've been around for so long, they figure -- I've been around the block a few times. I'm more than happy to talk to them.

A weird thing about retiring from pro sports is that you're certainly not old when your career wraps up. What are you excited about doing during this next stage of your life?

I'm really excited about what we're creating. "Dear Basketball" was our first project, and we've been working quietly on building other things to follow. I'm really excited about sharing those things with the rest of the world.