http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writ...kobe/index.html guy from si.com saw it, kobe said some pretty harsh things: I had to see it for myself. For no other reason than curiosity's sake and, to be honest, an all-too-tempting meeting location near Diddy Riese, the legendary cookie store in Westwood, Calif. I'm here to see the infamous "Kobe Video," which has taken the world by storm it seems. The 24-second video clip was shot in late May, a few days before Kobe Bryant went public with his trade demands on national radio. It catches Bryant criticizing Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak for not pulling off a mid-season trade that would have sent Andrew Bynum to the New Jersey Nets for Jason Kidd. "It's been crazy," says Ron, who introduces himself as a representative of "The Kobe Video Guys," a couple of college-aged guys who talk to Bryant in the video but wish to remain anonymous in fear of the backlash they might get from Lakers fans. "Everyone wants to see it." I meet Ron, who appears to be just out of college himself, wearing a backpack and nervously looking around, inside of a nearby bookstore. "Let's go upstairs," he says, being followed by two well-built dudes who he jokingly (I think) calls his bodyguards. "I don't want anyone else watching." He then pulls out a laptop from his backpack and places the computer in front of me and hands over a set of headphones. "Are you ready?" he asks after I put the headphones on. "Here it is." The video, which was taken on a digital camera by a friend who was taking pictures of Bryant talking to the two inquisitive fans, begins with Bryant, standing in front of the Newport Coast Shopping Center and wearing a red shirt and sunglasses. He is talking about the trade that the Lakers reportedly turned down last season that would have brought Kidd to the Lakers for Bynum. "Andrew Bynum? What the f---?" Bryant says in disgust. "Are you kidding me? Andrew Bynum? F---ing ship his ass out. Are you kidding me? We're talking about Jason Kidd. But they didn't even want to do that. Now we're here in this f---ed up position." The tandem then asked Bryant what he thought about Bynum's potential. Bryant smiled and started to shake his head as if he was about to go on another tirade. "You know what man? Let me tell you something. Mitch Kupchak had the nerve to ask me..." At this point the 24-second video clip ends abruptly and we are left to wonder what Bryant says next. "The Kobe Video Guys" say that Bryant went on to say, "How good do you think Andrew Bynum is going to be in 10 years? Are you f---ing kidding me? I'm trying to win this s--- now." A week later the duo again ran into Bryant in Newport Beach, after he had made his trade demands public, and pulled out a cell phone and recorded one of them telling Bryant, "Please tell us you're staying." Bryant responded by saying, "Get a Bulls uniform fellas."
