Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant says he spoke to tennis champion Serena Williams for his new children’s book ‘Legacy of the Queen’ – the story of Legacy, an amateur tennis player in the magical kingdom of Nova in hope to win a tennis tournament.
The book is written by Annie Matthew and Bryant spoke about his discussions with 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams at the Orange County Children’s Book Festival at Orange Coast College. “We sat on the phone for about an hour and just talked.
We talked about technique, we talked about practice, we talked about the emotional struggles of being a young athlete. I think a lot of times as athletes we feel like being sensitive is a weakness. I wanted (Legacy) to be a great example for my daughters, for all young women, that your sensitivity is the source of a lot of your power, your inner magic”.
The book is one of two books Bryant has published – the other being “The Wizenard Series: Training Camp”. He says he would be working on four more books in the Wizenard series and a sequel to the Legacy story. .
He also hoped to have his books adapted into feature films. Bryant hopes children will be positively impacted by his work. “If we could give them really complicated messages from an early age: how to deal with emotions, how to deal with good, bad or indifferent things, the world would be a better place.”