http://www.blacksportsonline.com/bso.html Jack Bauer: The Evolution of Darth Kobe Bryant Written by Robert Littal Previously on Darth Kobe: When dealing with athletes and celebrities in general, there are normally two sides to that individual. The side they want you to see and the side that they really are. Oftentimes, agents, managers, stylists, parents, record companies, professional teams, and a bevy of other handlers and hangers-on carefully craft the side they want you to see. The common man has been so manipulated by these images; it is very hard to tell what is real and what is silicone. Let?s take someone like Britney Spears whose image was so masterfully created that when she was 16, she had 30-year-old men thinking thoughts they shouldn?t and 12-year-old girls running out buying Catholic girl school uniforms. But after cheating on her pop star boyfriend, hooking up with a backup dancer who already had 1 kid and a baby mama who was 9 months pregnant, getting knocked up twice herself and walking around looking like the most expensive trailer park trash woman in the universe, she has shown another side that is both shocking and sad at the same time. You can?t go 5 minutes without seeing a picture of her with he legs spread-eagle, and now that her fame has taken a step backward, you are probably seeing the real Britney. Last year when I wrote the piece ?Darth Kobe? about how Kobe Bryant still reeling from his dry humping incident in Colorado needed to change his image now that people knew the real Kobe, not the perfect Kobe that the media perpetuated before the incident in Colorado, people thought I was insane. They said there was no way he would ever be as popular as he was in the past, but I counter that villains are always more popular than the hero, so if he embraced the ?darkside? and with some strategic maneuvers, he could even be bigger than he was before the ?dry humping? incident. One year later the transformation is almost complete, as Bean has gone from Kobe Sykwalker to Darth Kobe and now Jack Bauer. If you don?t know Jack Bauer or the hit Fox show ?24? shame on you. Immediately go to Best Buy (to get the dvds) or get on the Internet and watch the first 5 seasons. Jack Bauer is a conflicted CTU agent (Counter Terrorist Unit) who each season has to battle a terrorist attack while dealing with personal drama (this list is so long, but includes his wife getting kidnapped then murdered by his mistresses who turned out to be a terrorist, his daughter dating his partner whose hand he had to chop off, a heroin addiction, the killing of his own boss and I can go on, on). Jack walks a fine line between being a hero and a maniac, which makes for gripping television. Right now, Kobe is walking that fine line between being a good guy and being a bad guy. When you balance the two, you can become the most talked about player in the NBA. There were certain things that had to happen before Kobe got back on top of that mountain. I touched on some of them in the ?Darth Kobe? article but let?s review what has happened since that time to help this transformation: 1-His wife didn?t leave him and on top of that they pop out another kid. Call this the Michael Jordan and Juanita Jordan rule. As you already know by now MJ and his wife have called it quits after 17 years of marriage. What you don?t know is that marriage was over a long time ago, but for the sake of MJ?s image, Juanita?s bank account and their children they kept up the facade of a happily married couple. The worst thing that could have happened to Kobe is Vanessa leaving him because next thing you know, she would have been on Oprah spilling her guts out and it would have been game over. So whatever he had to keep her around and off the talk shows it was worth it. On top of that she popped out another kid for him, which only helped the perception. Now five years after he retires he can divorce her and no one will care. 2-Shaq burying the hatchet. They will never be best of friends, but the facts were as long as Shaq had an ax to grind with Kobe a lot of the Shaq groupies in turn were going to have an ax to grind with him as well. Shaq still whines occasionally about their years together and will throw a jab at Bean every once in awhile, but it is pretty much old news. This allowed Shaq loyalists in the media and around the league to give Kobe a fair shake. In essence people, in general felt that if Shaq could give him a pass even after he snitched on him the Colorado PD why should we hold a grudge. 3-Phillip came back. You know Bean idolizes Jordan and Jordan only respected Jackson (sorry Doug Collins). Jordan only won titles with Jackson and Bean has only won titles with Jackson. Kobe wouldn?t listen to any other coach but the Hemp Master. Phillip is the only one who has to balls to call out Kobe when he goes into his Pete Marvoich mold. In essence, the Lakers had to hire Phillip back or it would never have worked out as well as it has and I know what you are thinking and the answer is no. There is no way Coach K could have handle the pressures of the pro game.......... TO CONTINUE READING THE EVOLUTION OF DARTH KOBE BRYANT INTO JACK BAUER CLICK HERE..
