When I first heard that ESPN would debut its new (paid-subscription-based) ESPN+ app by touting a film-breakdown show narrated by NBA legend Kobe Bryant, I wasn’t too excited.

Kobe doesn’t play anymore, for one, and film breakdown? That’s been offered for free by various YouTube users (including your author) for years.

I finally came around to give the app a shot, based on some other content ESPN+ had to offer. I watched a few episodes of Kobe’s Detail — where Kobe breaks down and critiques several clips of a specific player from a past game — and have come away very impressed.

While the breaking down of game clips isn’t completely new, Kobe’s show has two things going for it.

He’s Kobe. His words carry more weight just because of the person who’s speaking them. This isn’t good nor bad, just a clear truth. If Kobe Bryant is talking basketball, you listen.
Kobe lives up to the name of his show, by going into the minute details of what’s happening, stuff that the average fan — and even many players, which Kobe makes clear without saying in so many words — would never notice.