Vanessa Bryant, the widow of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, announced the publication of her late husband’s newest book, NBC News reports.
Bryant’s The Wizenard Series: Season One was published by the Los Angeles Lakers star’s Granity Studios on Tuesday. It’s a sequel to The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, the young adult fantasy novel that Bryant and author Wesley King published last year.
“Welcome back to Dren!” Vanessa Bryant wrote, referring to the fictional land where the novels take place. “We hope you are all ready to catch up with the West Bottom Badgers for another magical basketball season.”
The newest book in the series focuses on Reggie, a subpar player on a losing basketball team who nonetheless works hard at honing his skills. The publisher describes the book as “a story of strain and sacrifice, supernatural breakthroughs, and supreme dedication to the game.”
Kobe Bryant was widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He died in January in a helicopter crash that also took the lives of his daughter, Gianna, and seven other people.
After his death, books that he wrote or conceptualized, including The Wizenard Series: Training Camp and his nonfiction book, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play, topped the bestseller charts.
On Twitter, Wesley King paid tribute to Bryant, writing, “Bittersweet without my collaborator, but grateful to see the words live on. This [is] a book about chasing your dreams.”
Official release day. Bittersweet without my collaborator, but grateful to see the words live on. This a book about chasing your dreams. @Granity #KobeBryant #basketball #youvsyou pic.twitter.com/LbWtXwREE6
— Wesley King (@WesleyTKing) March 31, 2020
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.