<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe Bryant has been accused of a sex crime. He has received hate mail like you receive fliers for two-for-one pizzas. He has been booed and abhorred in his hometown of Philadelphia. And suddenly he has skin thinner than the paper on which these words are printed? Sorry, not buying it. How is it possible that a man can survive ? even succeed wildly ? during a time when his life might be broken, yet he is left as a meandering, embarrassing mess because a promise was broken? No way. Remember Bryant leaving a Colorado court that was attempting to crush him, then returning to Los Angeles and lifting an entire city with his late-game dramatics? He was the personification of will and perseverance, his mental strength almost mystifying. Now here he is, sighing deeply, breathing with labor and pausing on account of the pain because his basketball team isn't good enough? Beyond belief. After conducting, at last count, 454 radio interviews, during each of which he talked about being tired of talking about it, Bryant had his act mastered. He was the grieving victim leaning on the cozy shoulder of the latest rump-kissing talk-show host. Pathetic. That's what this past week has been for Bryant and the Lakers. Ridiculous, as well, as if a professional athlete possibly changing teams is worth all this anguish and Kleenex. Gotta give him credit, though. Bryant worked ESPN like he works a last-second shot. Brilliantly. And, often, triumphantly. There's plenty of emotion here, no question. Bryant has a long history with the Lakers, and winning three titles in purple and gold is a solid way to cement a relationship. We're not suggesting he has taken a position that's completely phony, just a position that's choreographed and accentuated, to the point of being comical. Think of Bryant driving to the hoop, launching himself for a shot, being stripped of the ball, then throwing his hands in the air and hollering in agony, as if he barely averted a mugging. Seen it more than 100 times, right? It's the same thing now. Bryant, believing he has been wronged, going diva, overselling his point, begging child-like for help, spectacularly and laughably making a scene. Uh, no. Bryant can put himself in a million roles, from world's best basketball player to basketball's most hard-core competitor to fairly regular, decent dude who likes to refer to others as "bro." But victim? Hardly. So Jerry Buss told Bryant one thing and Phil Jackson another about the Lakers' direction. Here's a flash: Bosses lie to appease employees and get what they want. Happens each day. Do you think Buss put himself in position to own the Lakers without burning a few folks along the way? People who reach such levels of achievement generally climb that high because of all the bodies stacked under their feet.</div> Source: OCRegister Ouch.
More hate! I think we all expected it. Whatever, I'm glad he did what he did. This organization now has a fire under their ass to change things because Kobe and the fans aren't going to settle for mediocrity. The media can hate all they want, it gets them reads but if they're really convinced that Kobe is the bad guy here, then they're 100% pure stupid.
The article does have a point; it's not really hating on Kobe, but rather saying that he did all this to instigate the front office, which might have very well been his motive because I'm sure saying "trade me" was definetly not on his list of priorities. I think if Kobe had just said the trade demand and left it alone, he would have done much better in this situation. The fact that he kept saying it and kept taking it back just confused the hell out of everyone and made it quite easy for people in the media to bash him, which of course, they did.
kobe does seem a bit like a spoilt brat sometimes, we have to admit that. The whole "trade me now, i want to be a laker for life, trade me now, i wanna stay" thing was uneccessary and if he really wanted the front office to make big changes then why didnt he tell them face to face, instead of using the media to blow everything way out of proportion. kobe does have alot to complain about, but he is being a bit childish in the way he is doing it. i love kobe and he is one of the greatest players ever to play in the NBA, but there are guys like KG who stick it out and handle these sort of things in a more mature way, maybe KG isnt the best example of settling things because the wolves still suck, but there are plenty of players im sure, that talked to the front office in private and requested to be traded or for them to trade for some better players. If kobe doesnt get what he wants he is terribly unhappy about it and cannot bear the fact that he wont be a contender, well fair enough, im sure most players in his situation would feel just the same, i know i would, and you cant blame him for feeling that way. But the way he expressed his emotions through the media and the words he chose to describe what he wanted out of this club were immature, and in a way, unrealistic. i mean he doesnt actually expect that by trading odom they will find a better player? odom is not the problem, yet he is the only tradeable piece we have if we are trying to aquire a superstar player. our problem is the PG position and the C position. they suck right now and if we dont find two new players who fit those roles then we are screwed.
"So Jerry Buss told Bryant one thing and Phil Jackson another about the Lakers' direction. Here's a flash: Bosses lie to appease employees and get what they want. Happens each day." Exactly. I said that from day one. Either the Lakers management have no soul or Kobe is naive, i can't figure out which.
What the author didn't take into account was that Kobe likely pented up all his feelings all these years, and it finally broke out into one crazy outburst ...
<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">"So Jerry Buss told Bryant one thing and Phil Jackson another about the Lakers' direction. Here's a flash: Bosses lie to appease employees and get what they want. Happens each day." Exactly. I said that from day one. Either the Lakers management have no soul or Kobe is naive, i can't figure out which.</div> Even though this happens quite often, I don't think it makes it right. The management should have been upfront about it, especially in the tight nit NBA community. Word gets around quick, and you never know when you might cross paths again with a player or coach. Because the bosses weren't upfront **** hit the fan and Kobe's paranoid about who he can trust. If you found out your boss was telling you one thing and everyone else the exact opposite, wouldn't you pissed off and confront him or her on it? For example, your boss tells you, you're next in line for a promotion to manager. Then you leave the room, he tells the rest of the people, there is no way in hell that guy is management material. Your friend in the room tells you what your boss really thinks of you. How would you respond?
Exactly... Just like bosses who lie sometimes to get their way, same thing happens with the employees; they bitch and complain to management to have their demands met...
