Kobe stays classy

[Drucci]

Great article from Tim Keown of ESPN.

Here are the best parts :

The strangest moment of the NBA playoffs took place during Game 3 of the Lakers-Rockets series, when Kobe Bryant hit an 18-foot turnaround jumper from the left elbow with Shane Battier's right hand in his face. Bryant immediately began shaking his head with a look that indicated he smelled something really bad. This -- as you know -- is Kobe's dismissive face, the one he now makes after nearly every basket.

But that wasn't the strange part -- after all, how can something be strange when it happens anywhere from 10 to 25 times a game? The strange part came afterward, when he started back downcourt and turned to the TNT broadcasters at center court and yelled toward commentator Doug Collins.

"He can't guard me," Bryant said. Shaking his head, his mouth curled downward in a semicircle of disgust, he stared down Collins and said it again, "He can't guard me."

There was a pause on the broadcast. OK, that was meant for us, you could almost hear them thinking. So ... what do we say now? They couldn't ignore it, because it was clear to everyone watching that they were taken aback and that Kobe was the reason. Kevin Harlan acknowledged that Kobe was targeting Collins, one of the most even and knowledgeable minds in the game. When Harlan asked his partner what it was all about, Collins sounded genuinely perplexed. "I'm not sure," he said, and they quickly and quietly moved on.

You see, I want to be able to enjoy Kobe's talent. I want to see it the way I see LeBron's: transcendent, mostly pure and emanating outward. It probably will never happen, though. Kobe won't let it.

For a guy with such a constant flow of creativity running through his game, it's amazing to see how calculated he is about his image. He comes across as though he's reading a script, and he's all wrong for the part (maybe Alan Alda reading a part meant for Harvey Keitel). There are just too many false notes, and the worst part is, he actually seems to believe this is what people want from him. This is the persona he has cultivated, and he's going with it no matter what. It's really kind of sad.

And this is where Kobe veers from the arrogant antihero routine perfected by someone such as Barry Bonds. Bonds didn't care what you thought about him. He thrived off the anger he generated. But this preening, jaw-jutting, head-shaking character is what Kobe believes people want.

Thoughts?

[Donoghus]

Sounds a lot like the way that people describe A-Rod and how he always seems concerned about how the public perceives him. 

Guess its not shocking that I can't stand either of them. 

[nickagneta]

This on top of ESPN's pushing Spike Lee's project of a day in the life of Kobe Bryant, forget it's name I think it's somehting like "Kobe at Work" or something and is on this Saturday.

I think the guy is a megalomaniac who tries to portray two different demeanors, one, the on court, bad-ass, urban b-ball player demeanor and the other the off the court, family man, good guy citizen demeanor. Personally, I think he's neither and puts on an act to fulfill his delusional fantasies of grandeur of himself.

[Reggie's Ghost]

Haven't read the whole article, but the quotes you've selected sound right on...

[RAcker]

Yeah, I pretty much picture him as the ideal model of what Holden Caulfield would have despised.

[indeedproceed]

The image comparision between Arod and Kobe is right on in my opinion, TP. They both to me seem like guys that aren't comfortable being themselves in public (or have been advised not to be themselves), and aren't comfortable being who they think they should be in public. They never really seem comfortable at all.

[guava_wrench]

The image comparision between Arod and Kobe is right on in my opinion, TP. They both to me seem like guys that aren't comfortable being themselves in public (or have been advised not to be themselves), and aren't comfortable being who they think they should be in public. They never really seem comfortable at all.

Is there evidence that Arod isn't actually a nice guy?

[indeedproceed]

The image comparision between Arod and Kobe is right on in my opinion, TP. They both to me seem like guys that aren't comfortable being themselves in public (or have been advised not to be themselves), and aren't comfortable being who they think they should be in public. They never really seem comfortable at all.

Is there evidence that Arod isn't actually a nice guy?

No, and thats a good point. This is all just blatant "gut feeling" from watching interviews and reading columns and stuff (no sarcasm intended, I really am not intimating to have any kind of knowledge of what kind of person A-Rod really is), but he just doesn't even seem genuine. He might well be the nicest socially awkward baseball player around. Just to the fan's eye (and I use that loosely, I hate baseball), he just seems cold and distant.

[Thruthelookingglass]

Is there evidence that Arod isn't actually a nice guy?

I cannot condone who A-Rod associates with.  Thank goodness the Sox have their number so far this year.

[cordobes]

For a guy with such a constant flow of creativity running through his game, it's amazing to see how calculated he is about his image. He comes across as though he's reading a script, and he's all wrong for the part (maybe Alan Alda reading a part meant for Harvey Keitel). There are just too many false notes, and the worst part is, he actually seems to believe this is what people want from him. This is the persona he has cultivated, and he's going with it no matter what. It's really kind of sad.

Nothing to see here, this is old news: Kobe has always been like this and it has been noted many times before. The best article I've read about this issue was the classic by Sam Anderson published on Slate a few years ago:


Since Michael Jordan's final title in 1998, NBA superstars have suffered mightily from what Harold Bloom termed "anxiety of influence." The Jordan myth—a morality play about how dedication, respect for the game, and loving your parents makes you the undisputed greatest person in the world—has stifled an entire generation of great players. But, as Jordan's most talented immediate successor, Kobe has been uniquely warped. He's plagiarized MJ's game so expertly that, in many ways, he's ahead of the master's curve—Kobe is stronger than the 27-year-old Jordan and has a deadlier outside shot. But for all his miraculous skills, Kobe is painfully bad at mythmaking. Since he's a Jordan-like talent, Kobe clearly thinks that he's entitled to the Jordan mythology, but he doesn't have any of Jordan's charisma or imagination. As melodramatic and managed as Jordan's career was, there was some authentic core—it was original and seemed to mean something. Kobe exists entirely within quotation marks.

http://www.slate.com/id/2141287

It's a great read, whether you agree with the author or not. 

[Chris]

Well, it's a heck of a lot classier than what KG would have yelled to anyone within earshot.

[waltzero]

Please, KG is not insane, so he'd be yelling at somebody he was competing with. Probably to mess with their focus or break their nerve for the day. Have you seen what Arnold Schwarzenegger did to Lou Ferigno in the documentary Pumping Iron? What KG does is part of the mental game, which is very important. The more unshakable players are always going to try shaking up the shakeable guys. KG is good at it but Larry was the best.

Meanwhile Kobe was calling out Doug Collins and it was a complete non-sequitor. They wouldn't have been stunned like that if that wasn't what it was. Maybe it's time to adjust Kobe's meds, whatever he's on.

Hehe really though what is happening is that the front running press has cooled off on the Lakers because Houston has done so well against them. Doug Collins for a few awkward moments became the focal point of all that. Darth Kobe just finds their lack of faith disturbing. He even tries to force choke people some times(but hey who doesn't).

[EJPLAYA]

Kobe STAYS classy?! Don't you actually have to have some class in the first place to stay that way?!

His definition of classy is turning them around first so they don't have to see what is happening to them...

[RAcker]

His definition of classy is turning them around first so they don't have to see what is happening to them...

Whoa.  Wacka Wacka Zing and/or Ouch!

TP, sir.

[Scalablob990]

Paul Pierce guarded him very well in the finals, what does the therapist have to say about that?