Paolo Coelho to stop work on children’s book he and Kobe Bryant were working on

Paulo Coelho, who is best known for his 1988 book The alchemist, revealed that he has no plans to continue a children’s book he and Bryant were working on, and has in fact deleted the draft as, in his words, “this book has lost its reason”. Bryant had been a fan of Coehlo’s writing for some time, and shared an exchange he and Bryant had about writing a book together.

For reading addicts reports “You were more than a great player, dear Kobe Bryant. I learned a lot by interacting with you,” Coelho said. “Will delete the draft right now, this book has lost its reason.”

As The Guardian reports, while we may never see the book now, Coelho said it’s aim was to show underprivileged children how they could overcome adversity through sport. Coelho said Bryant was “always very concerned about making a book that was a positive example for children, especially those coming from humble beginnings”.

“It went from there. Little by little we were going ahead,” he said. “I saw him enough times to assure he had much more than sports on his mind, it wasn’t all about competition. His tragic death has shown already how he was important to the world, not only to the United States. We will discuss his legacy for many years, much beyond sport.”