The news of Kobe Bryant’s untimely death, and that of his eldest daughter Gianna and seven others aboard a Sikorsky helicopter in Calabasas on Sunday has been a sobering shock to so many who loved and admired the basketball star.
And despite some controversial news about an MSNBC reporter flubbing her words during a broadcast and even Little Nas X receiving backlash about his poorly timed Grammy win remarks on Twitter, overwhelmingly, most are mourning the sudden loss of Kobe Bryant and the enormity of this tragic accident.
HBO Real Sports announced their change to the premiere lineup, adding today that their January 28 premiere will include a comprehensive retrospective segment on the career and life Kobe Bryant.
What will HBO Real Sports report on?
According to HBO via a press release sent to Monsters & Crititcs on Monday, the episode will feature a career retrospective of Bryant. This will be the 274th episode of the long-running series that is headed by journalist Bryant Gumble.
The episode, which was previously planned, will now include a newly produced retrospective segment on Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant, who, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, died tragically on Sunday in a helicopter accident in the hills off of Las Virgenes Road and Agoura Road near Juan de Anza Park in Calabasas, California.
Real Sports producers say that the segment on Bryant revisits two previously done long-form pieces on Bryant that bookended his prolific career: First, the 2000 feature, reported by James Brown, when Kobe was in his fourth season.
The other is the 2016 profile from correspondent Andrea Kremer, which focused on Bryant ending his NBA career and transitioning to new endeavors in entertainment, sports, and business.
Additional information about the premiere of Real Sports on HBO
This episode begins Season 26 of enterprise reporting when the program’s 274th edition debuts tomorrow exclusively on HBO.
Additional segments include The Reconstruction Games, which will give us a look at how Japan is preparing to host the 2020 Summer Games just nine years after an earthquake and tsunami caused a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima.
In The Spotlight will feature correspondent Soledad O’Brien, who interviews Erin Andrews of FOX about her career in sports reporting and the challenges she’s faced throughout her career.
In total, this HBO series is the most honored sports journalism program on television and has won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports News Anthology five times in the past seven years and winning 34 Emmys in 24 years. The executive producers of the series are Peter Nelson, Rick Bernstein, and Joe Perskie.
Real Sports with Bryant Gumble airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on HBO.