"This is a tremendous honor," Bryant said. "I feel extremely honored to be able to do this. It's never something I actually thought about when I was watching movies. I never thought my hand and foot prints would be sitting right here at Grauman's Chinese Theatre."
Bryant is turning more into a celebrity, as he will soon feature in a new film called "The Black Mamba." His last film was with Spike Lee's Kobe Doin' Work.
"I can't believe I've been in L.A. 15 years," Bryant said. "It went by so fast. I can remember like it was yesterday being 17 years old and coming to L.A. and not knowing the freeways; the 405, the 101. I had no idea what was going on. I feel like I've grown up in this city. We've had a lot of ups and downs but here we are with five championships and plenty more to go."
Bryant is an easy future Hall-of-Famer and has lead the Lakers to five rings.
"It's fitting that Kobe Bryant would have a place in Grauman's Chinese Theatre because although he's not an actor nor does he have any experience in theatrical arts he is -- wait, why is this fitting?" Kimmel said. "I'm not sure exactly. The closest Kobe has ever come to acting is pretending he's going to pass to Luke Walton."
Jimmy Kimmel joked with Bryant about being imprinted, though he has never had any television or film credit. But Kimmel had a theory of why Bryant has never acted.
"I think this is where Kobe saw the movie 'Kazaam' and decided basketball players should never act; they should just play basketball," Kimmel said. "It is remarkable to be alongside so many legendary actors, especially considering his biggest acting credit was a role on 'Moesha.' It gives you an idea of what an impact this man has made. This is the highest honor you could bestow on an athlete short of winning a Kardashian's hand in marriage."
But Bryant could be part of television and be an actor after his career. Does he?
"No," Bryant said. "But I could see my vision behind the camera as a director."
Nice.
Photos of Bryant at Grauman's Chinese Theatre:
