Kobe Bryant not surprised by US World Cup exit

Bryant, who was a leader on the USA's 2008 and 2012 Olympics champion teams, said a healthier and hungrier US team could come back stronger at next year's Tokyo Olympic Games.

"Health plays a big factor. We have a lot of guys who are not healthy enough to play this year. Hopefully next summer guys will be healthy and we could go out there and perform to our best ability," said the 41-year-old.

Three years into his retirement, Bryant has now channeled his enthusiasm for sports to storytelling and writing through animated cartoons, podcasts and books produced by his Granity Studio.

The Chinese version of his first sports-fantasy novel, The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, which tells the tale of a struggling teenage basketball team and its magical coach, is now available for pre-order, while the second book Legacy and the Queen, inspired by tennis has also about to hit the shelves.

"The first book was a basketball book. This book I want it to deal with the internal struggle," said Bryant.

"What happens when it's you there and only you challenging the inside of yourself. You don't have teammates or coaches that you could lean on. What sport creates that environment? It's tennis. Because of that I feel like I need this book to focus on tennis and try to inspire the next generation with a story inspired by the sport."