At the 2019 Winter Institute in Albuquerque, Kobe Bryant appeared on behalf of the publishing arm of his multimedia content company, Granity Studios. His appearance elicited a range of reactions from attendees, and in response, ABA has issued the following statement:

“Approximately 120 publishing partners participated in this year’s Winter Institute, and the event is designed to provide access to and information about their titles. Granity Studios, founded by Kobe Bryant, was one of those publishers, and the pre-event information about Wi14 noted the house’s participation. The participation of any company does not signify ABA endorsement, and ABA does not evaluate the personal conduct of any attendee other than that which occurs during our events. To be sure, however, moments like this are always opportunities to re-evaluate our practices and procedures, and we fully intend to do so. ABA has already received feedback about Kobe Bryant and Granity’s participation in Wi14, both positive and negative, and we are always seeking to garner additional member feedback. If members have thoughts or opinions they would like to share they are encouraged to reach out to ABA at [email protected] [4]. We always want to hear from our members.”