I planned on waiting till the end of the season to comment on this, but then decided that with the injury to Bynum and all the other injuries plaguing the Lakers at the moment who knows when the season could take a turn for the worst. Shape has mentioned this at various times throughout this season and last as well... but Kobe Bryant's and the Lakers' recent success does shed a bright light on the bias of the media and many fans as well. Anyone remember the numerous articles written contrasting Kobe as a selfish ballhog who could not make his teammates better, lead a team, or work in tandem with another superstar ala Dwayne Wade who was busy winning a Championship in Miami? Now we have Wade struggling with an underachieving Miami team in the Leastern Conference, Shaq on vacation.. er I mean... out with another injury and Wade having to carry the entire Miami team on his surgically repaired shoulder. Where are the bitter sportswriters now? Where are the articles contrasting Kobe with the next "fallen" superstar not named Lebron James now? And just wait till Lebron shows his kryptonite later in the season... It seems like Kobe Bryant is used as the measuring stick for perimeter/guard play in the league. Every year the media picks one or two guys to measure up to Kobe in an effort to put him down. Kobe can't make the players around him better. Kobe can't share the ball. Kobe Bryant has to have his own way or no way at all. Kobe Bryant is uncoachable are the cries we hear all while putting up examples of their media darlings doing what Kobe Bryant supposedly could not. Now the shoe is on the other foot and instead of heaping praise his way, or even a "remove-foot-from-mouth" acknowledgement or, better yet, a similar article challenging the abilities of the "media darlings" to live up to the measuring stick that is no. 24 all we hear is .... silence. I understand its a tribute to Bryant's greatness that he is ahead of the pack and so can only be stabbed in the back... but all I want to see is a reasonable amount of fairness from the naysayers. Either similarly crucify Kobe's peers the same way you guys went after Kobe or start throwing buckets of credit Bryant's way! And think twice before you throw the next superstar up for measurement.
Well written Fiyah. You know the ink and pen is ready to bleed if the Lakers start losing. I can already predict the headlines ... "Kobe cannot win without Bynum." Just last night Joe McDonald was ripping on Kobe for supporting Kwame Brown after the fans booed him. Isn't a leader supposed to support his teammates through the good and bad times? If Kobe didn't support Kwame and said the fans were right, then I'm sure Kobe would be criticized for being a bad teammate and throwing Kwame under the bus. There's always a Catch-22 for Kobe and he's always dealt a negative spin on his accomplishments.
Couldn't have said it better Shape. No matter what Kobe does, his accomplishments are always looked at in a bad way. Like when we went 47-35 a couple years back and Kobe averaged 35+ per game, people were saying he's selfish and should have deferred more. Then low and behold, come playoff time, he does, and when the Lakers lost that series, he got criticized for not being aggressive enough. No matter what Kobe does, he just doesn't get the credit he's due, which is why, if the Lakers win 50+ this year and end up in the top 4 seeds out West, they'll still find a way to screw him out of the MVP, even if it deserved.
