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K obe Bryant is cutthroat, and calculating, and manipulating. Kobe Bryant is selfish, and obnoxiously confident, and narcissistic, too, which is only to say, leave the guy alone, America.
The traits that make you hate Bryant are the same ones that make him the most valuable player in the NBA. So let's get real, and get off Bryant's back. While everyone is miffed at whatever tactic Bryant was using while lying low in the first half of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, it's worth recognizing that some of us are missing the point.
He won his team the game, and unless someone can stop Bryant, he's going to bring the NBA championship back to Los Angeles.
Dislike him if you want. But you have to appreciate him as well.
A few years ago I wrote a column about the men who play for the military academy football teams. The athletes are punctual, and obsessive about their uniforms, and robotic. They can be arrogant and sure. And after all that, it is worth noting that you have to appreciate the fact that the same qualities that irritate you in a college football player are exactly what you want in a soldier charged with defending the United States.
Why not cut Bryant the same break?
He's the best individual player in the league and he instills such confidence in his teammates that, down by 20 to the Spurs, you figured the Lakers were one Bryant flurry from being in control.
Bryant scored 25 of his 27 points in the second half. And because he attempted to first get his teammates involved, and waited one half to take over the game, he's being criticized and mocked. There's something about all the hate that feels misplaced.
You don't like him, so you don't want to hang out with Bryant. You don't want him marrying your daughter. You don't want to dine with him or debate politics with him or have him coach your child in basketball. But he's paid to play basketball, and currently there's nobody who does that better than Bryant.
We're watching the most dominant player since Michael Jordan. It's worth pointing out that Jordan possessed the same confidence and shrewd drive. Except Jordan smiled more and was likeable, and your kids wanted to wear his sneakers.
As a result, you loved Jordan.
So what do you do with Bryant?
You boo. And you shake your head. And you brag about your hate for him, call him a drama queen and tell anyone who will listen that Bryant's pass-first at ude in the first half was laced with some absurd ulterior motive.
What you leave out is that Bryant wiped all that away in the second half when he willed the Lakers to victory. Reporters who cover Bryant and ask him tough questions will tell you he's unforgiving and vindictive on the court, but it's those same qualities that make him dangerous.
It's not in Bryant's nature to go easy on anyone, and maybe we shouldn't go easy on him, either. But there's something that doesn't feel right about those among us who want to criticize him for his on-court personality when those qualities are exactly why the Lakers lead the series with San Antonio 1-0.
We're always telling our children to find their own iden y.
Why do we want Bryant to change his?
John Canzano: 503-294-5065; [email protected] Read his blog at blog.oregonlive.com/ johncanzano Catch him on the radio on The Bald-Faced Truth, 3-6 p.m. weekdays on KXJM (95.5).
Huh?
Kobe doesn't need love. He wins.
That should be enough. Embrace the Hate.
That's ONE thing Laker fans and Spurs fans share: Everyone HATES us.
EDIT:
And comparing Kobe to a soldier serving our country is a sick joke.
Military service > basketball
Plus he rapes underage girls.
Underage sunday school-going girls: Bowen, Udoka, Ginobili, Barry
Anyway, Jordan had his share of haters as well... until he won 6 rings.
I like the Spurs and the Lakers.
I'm jealous of their success and wouldn't want them to beat the Pistons. But, I like both teams, both franchises.
Yeah, Kobe raped a chick who had the of three different guys in her underwear when examined.
He is going to rape the *purs in this series, I just hope he wears a rubber so he doesn't catch anything.
I hated Jordan too. Does that mean I get to continue ting on Kobe?
I don't hate Kobe at all. He's got game, and you can't hate someone who can ball like that.
If you aint got no haters, then you aint doin somethin right.
I rooted for Cobra against G I Joe.
Darth Vader > Obi Wan
I always pick the underdog in sports.
And I HATE the Lakers, the Yankees and the Patriots.
(I'd hate the Cowboys too, if they could win anything recently, and the only reason I like the Spurs is because even when they win, it looks like they're going to lose.)
I wouldn't mind if Robert Horry hip checks Bryant into the scorers table.
Wow, you're just evil. I actually liked the Magic Johnson Lakers back in the day, though the recent Shaq/Kobe/Phil Lakers could have crashed into the side of a mountain for all I care. Well, except for Horry.
And I actually liked the Patriots, though the arrival of Randy Moss did take a little luster off. I was still pulling for them over the Giants.
But I am totally 100% behind the Yankee hate. I hate them for what they do. I hate them for creating such an easy target for hack writers who want to talk about what's wrong with America's pasttime, and try to sound like crusaders. I don't even like baseball, but I hate the Yankees.
Duncan still better than Kobe as a difference maker in a series - lost in the game 1 hype was the fact that Duncan was also huge and that portends well for the Spurs. Be very afraid Lakers and NBA.
Lebron is Lebron, CP3 is CP3 and TD is TD. Look at Bryant, he has the swagger like MJ, moves like MJ, talks like MJ, sometimes sticks his tongue out like MJ. That's why people dislike Bryant, he's like an MJ clone, he doesnt have his onwn image.
"Kobe". "Beef".
I get it.
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