Kobe: Oscar nomination shows I can do more than 'dribble and shoot'

The Los Angeles Lakers paid Kobe Bryant just shy of $330 million during his 20-year career, but he wants to prove his worth off the court too.

The future Hall of Famer took his post-NBA career in a new direction as the animated short film he collaborated on, "Dear Basketball," was nominated for an Oscar in that category. Though Bryant was focused strictly on the game while he was in the league, he's found new passions since retiring.

"I've always been told that as basketball players, the expectation is that you play," Bryant told Kelley Carter of the Undefeated. "This is all you know. This is all you do. Don't think about handling finances. Don't think about going into business. Don't think that you want to be a writer - that's cute. I got that a lot. What do you want to do when you retire? 'Well, I want to be a storyteller.' That's cute. This is … a form of validation for people to look and say, 'OK, he really can do something other than dribble and shoot.'"

The future projects he's interested in have something in common.

"They all center around sports," Bryant said. "How do we take sports and tell beautiful tales, beautiful stories that connect to human nature? If you look at sports as a whole, it connects people worldwide, on a global scale. Much like music does. But what separates music from sports is that sports is ... something people do together."

The Academy Awards will be presented Sunday in Los Angeles.