Author Topic: Good article on Kobe (Read 358 times)

Teddy Roosevelt · « **on:** May 31, 2007, 11:16:06 PM »

Kobe Bryant doesn't need a trade. What he needs are a mirror, a microphone, a spotlight, a camera and – most of all – a mute button.

In a series of dizzying disclosures yesterday, the Los Angeles Lakers' dribbling diva told Stephen A. Smith's radio audience he would like to be traded, that his issues were irreparable, that, “At this point I'll go play on Pluto,” only to completely contradict his self-absorbed self during another radio appearance later in the day.

“I always dreamed about retiring as a Laker,” Bryant told ESPN's Dan Patrick. “I just hope and hope that something can be resolved. Something can be figured out. Just something so I can stay here and be in this city and be with the team I love.”

To which I can only add, HUH?

No stranger to 180-degree spin moves, Bryant set a new standard for shameless doublespeak yesterday. Having opened with a salvo as unambiguous as The Animals' “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place,” he suddenly changed his tune to reprise Randy Newman's “I Love L.A.” after a phone call from Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

If his goal is to make Lindsay Lohan appear stable, Bryant hit nothing but net. If his goal is to be taken seriously, however, count this as another of his conscience-free, off-balance bricks.

He has never sounded sillier. He has never looked more ridiculous. He continues to feed the perception that the decline and fall of the Lakers dynasty was primarily the product of narcissism, only now that lament is drowned out by a laugh track.

Whatever Bryant might say – and he covered most of the possibilities in his various pronouncements yesterday – this is all about vanity. This is all about Bryant's ongoing search for a stage suitable for his inestimable talent and incomparable ego. Everything else is a diversion. Everything else is about distributing blame.

Sure, Bryant has been frustrated by the Lakers' recent inability to advance in the playoffs. Sure, he'd find comfort were Jerry West to return to the front office (even/especially if that undercuts the authority of General Manager Mitch Kupchak). Sure, it was owner Jerry Buss and not Bryant who made the ultimate decision to trade Shaquille O'Neal.

But for Bryant to behave as if he were an innocent bystander as the organization has imploded is disingenuous. For Bryant to posture as if he has a divine right to play on a championship team is hubris. And for Bryant to adopt opposite positions in the same news cycle speaks to the immaturity at the heart of this ongoing soap opera.

“Kobe has not told us directly that he wants to be traded,” Buss cautioned in a statement distributed yesterday afternoon. “We have made it very clear that we are building our team around Kobe and that we intend for him to be a Laker his entire career.”

Whether that's still practical is an open question. Bryant's remarks can only poison his relationship with teammates and Lakers management, and certainly compromises the team's ability to make an equitable trade. In this, his statements were both selfish and short-sighted.

Again.

Though they would win three NBA championships together, Bryant chafed at being perceived as O'Neal's wingman, and at Jackson's insistence that the basketball be delivered to the low post before Bryant jacked up a jump shot.

“Turn my game down?” Bryant bristled in December 2000. “I need to turn it up. I've improved. How are you going to bottle me up? I'd be better off playing someplace else.”

At the time, the Lakers were defending NBA champions, and they would win two more titles in succession. But Bryant's priorities – then as now – were, in order, me, me and me.

Escaping O'Neal's bloated shadow has enabled Bryant to be recognized as the NBA's transcendent talent, and to twice win its scoring title. Yet though he is no longer “bottled up” by Shaq's presence or Jackson's philosophy, he has found confinement anew in the lesser players who surround him.

While Bryant's ability ensures that the Lakers will not be quite lousy enough to qualify for the NBA's draft lottery, his salary inhibits their ability to attract free agents and his teammates are too limited to enable him to compete for a championship. Thus Bryant has succeeded in simultaneously attaining basketball autonomy and irrelevance.

“(The Lakers) obviously want to move in a different direction in terms of rebuilding,” he told Smith. “Three years ago, when I was re-signing, they should have told me they wanted to rebuild.”

Later, after Bryant's conversation with Jackson, his tone shifted from combative to conciliatory.

“When Phil and I spoke, he was optimistic and determined that we'll both be back,” Bryant told Patrick. “Phil is somebody I listen to. I lean on him a lot. He assured me things are going to be OK: 'Things are going to be all right. Don't go full bore just yet. Take a deep breath and let us work these things out and everything will be all right.' Which was very encouraging.”

Thus mollified, Bryant declared that he wanted to remain with the Lakers for the rest of his career. If he changed his mind a second time before he went to bed last night, he neglected to alert the media.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/sullivan/20070531-9999-1s31sullivn2.html

Now_Im_Not_Banned · « **Reply #1 on:** June 01, 2007, 12:10:35 AM »

Listen to KLAC. Everyone connected to the Laker organization agrees with Kobe, from Magic, to Matt Money Smith, to Phil Jackson, to known Laker haters like Steve Hartman, as well as hundreds of thousands of Laker fans all across the globe calling in. This guy sounds like nothing more than another Kobe hater.

Teddy Roosevelt · « **Reply #2 on:** June 01, 2007, 09:56:42 AM »

Sullivan ain't no hater.

Now_Im_Not_Banned · « **Reply #3 on:** June 01, 2007, 10:49:08 AM »

Quote from: Ted Is Unofficially Voting for Ron Paul 2008! on June 01, 2007, 09:56:42 AM

Sullivan ain't no hater.

How so? How is this a "good" article? LOL! It's implying that Kobe is all about himself, when it's beyond obvious that what he's truly all about is.....yup......WINNING.

Teddy Roosevelt · « **Reply #4 on:** June 02, 2007, 12:17:16 AM »

Sulivan writes for the San Diego Union Tribune. I read his articles all the time, he ain't a hater. Keep in mind since San Diego doesn't have a team, the SDUT covers a lot of Laker news.