--- title: Watch Kobe Bryant on Jimmy Fallon description: Kobe Bryant wants to know, "Did I do that?" as he reads the poetry of Steve Urkel from Family Matters. canonical: https://time.com/4753994/kobe-bryant-steve-urkel-poem/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-25T14:44:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:43:06.277Z og:title: Watch Kobe Bryant's Dramatic Reading of a Steve Urkel Poem og:description: The black turtleneck really makes it extra dramatic og:url: https://time.com/4753994/kobe-bryant-steve-urkel-poem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Kobe Bryant's Dramatic Reading of a Steve Urkel Poem twitter:description: The black turtleneck really makes it extra dramatic twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Kobe Bryant Did a Very Dramatic Reading of a Poem About Steve Urkel by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 25, 2017 2:44 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 25, 2017 2:44 PM UTC If you have been wondering what [Kobe Bryant](http://time.com/4133199/kareem-abdul-jabbar-kobe-bryant/?iid=sr-link2) has been up to since [retiring](http://time.com/4128802/kobe-bryant-retire/?iid=sr-link3) from the LA Lakers (and [playing pranks ](http://time.com/4309925/kobe-bryant-sweat-problem-jar-ellen-degeneres/?iid=sr-link10)with Ellen DeGeneres), he revealed the answer on _The Tonight Show_ on Monday_—_writing very dramatic poems about Steve Urkel. Bryant stopped by the show to promote his new short film, _Dear Basketball_, and managed to lay to rest any doubts that he can handle drama on the screen as well as he could handle it on the basketball court. Bryant proved his acting chops with a very dramatic performance of a slam poem dedicated to every ’90s TV fan’s favorite nerd, Steve Urkel. Clad in a black turtleneck (the true mark of a poet) and lit by a sole spotlight, Bryant delivered a heart-touching and dramatic ode to the _Family Matters_ nerd and his transformation from “nottie to hottie” to win the heart of Laura Winslow. Bryant even managed to fit in Urkel’s catchphrase, “Did I do that?” because he has as much skill in a slam poetry reading as he ever did on the [basketball court](http://time.com/3562591/kobe-bryant-michael-jordan-greatest-basketball-player/?iid=sr-link6). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4753994/kobe-bryant-steve-urkel-poem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4753994/kobe-bryant-steve-urkel-poem/"},"headline":"Kobe Bryant Did a Very Dramatic Reading of a Poem About Steve Urkel","datePublished":"2017-04-25T14:44:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:43:06.277Z","description":"Kobe Bryant wants to know, \"Did I do that?\"","url":"https://time.com/4753994/kobe-bryant-steve-urkel-poem/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","jimmy fallon","The Tonight Show","Kobe Bryant","Late Night Television","Late Night Comedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4753994/kobe-bryant-steve-urkel-poem/","name":"Kobe Bryant Did a Very Dramatic Reading of a Poem About Steve Urkel"}}]}] ```