Kobe Bryant just got rejected at the rim by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- which just denied membership to the Mamba ... claiming he doesn't have a good enough body of work.
You know what he does have? AN OSCAR!!!!
Kobe won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short for "Dear Basketball" -- which was based off a retirement letter he published on The Players' Tribune back in 2015.
Kobe is credited as the executive producer and writer of the film.
Worth noting, Oscar winners are automatically considered for membership -- but it's not a shoe-in. The board votes on who gets membership based on a specific criteria.
One of the items on the checklist for producers -- "have the equivalent of 2 producer screen credits and perform the majority of the functions of a producer on theatrical feature films of the caliber which in the opinion of the executive committee reflect the high standards of the Academy."
For the record, Kobe produced the docu-series 'Muse' -- but it doesn't appear that would qualify under the Academy's standards because it was produced for TV.
Still, there are some people who believe the membership denial is due to Kobe's controversial past and the rise of the #MeToo movement.
Despite the fact Kobe was cheered on by the Academy when he won at the Oscars, there has been serious blowback.
So, is this really about Kobe's resume ... or bad P.R.?